Anyone been following the latest news on the Large Hadron Collider?

Sounds like really exciting stuff.

Yeh, I love this stuff. Finding the Higgs Boson would be pretty damn cool.

The stats alone on this monster collider are mind blowing.
And the whole experiment is so rich in imaginative possibilities.
Theories of Everything, impossible particles which can never be actually seen, recreating Big Bang conditions...our intellectual boundaries get wider and wider...wonderful stuff, and even the little bitch fights between certain scientists provide a soap opera backdrop!!

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Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
Yeh, I love this stuff. Finding the Higgs Boson would be pretty damn cool.

The stats alone on this monster collider are mind blowing.
And the whole experiment is so rich in imaginative possibilities.

It's the largest and most complex piece of machinery ever built by man. I was watching a video with Dr Brian Cox who was talking about some of the machinery; the amount of data that is collected by this thing is unbelievable, I think he was saying that each one of the 4 detectors has thousands of sections each individually collecting data equivalent to 6 million encyclopaedia Britannica's (per second), or something to that effect from memory.

quote:

Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
Theories of Everything, impossible particles which can never be actually seen, recreating Big Bang conditions...our intellectual boundaries get wider and wider...wonderful stuff, and even the little bitch fights between certain scientists provide a soap opera backdrop!!

Hehe

I was reading this earlier.

Steven Hawking believes it is unlikely that the LHC will discover the Higgs Boson (he has $100 bet on it) nor does he think there will be any black holes, however if the LHC does produce a black hole, he will surely win the Nobel prize. Of course, if any black holes are produced (of which Hawking stated there is less than a 1% chance) they will almost instantly evaporate.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Santa's Shed,

Here is a scientific paper written to show that even if the black hole didn't evaporate it would still pose no threat whatsoever.

Yea they won't do collisions until October 21st, though I'd rather just tell anyone who says the LHC will end the world that we already did the collisions and they're stupid.

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Originally posted by Liberalkid:
Yea they won't do collisions until October 21st, though I'd rather just tell anyone who says the LHC will end the world that we already did the collisions and they're stupid.

Agreed.

Well, we need to shut down the LHC immediately!!

Already a teen Indian girl has killed herself over the imminent end of the world as will be brought about by this monstrosity!!

I don't wanna end up in a black hole!

Seriously, though, it's awful news and further proof of religion's poisoning effect on the rational mind.

A friend of mine watched a program on the History Channel about how the LHC could potentially destroy the world. She was geniunly freaked out about it. I was surprised by her reaction because she's typically a fairly sharp person. I guess people are easily scared by things they don't understand.

Sometimes I'm shocked that people actually believe what they see on TV. That's an unfortunate story about the Indian girl. Certainly no blame can be placed on CERN for it. The media is shameless when it comes to getting ratings, so much so anymore that there is a complete disregard for the descructive power of fear and panic.

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Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
Well, we need to shut down the LHC immediately!!

Already a teen Indian girl has killed herself over the imminent end of the world as will be brought about by this monstrosity!!

Are you serious?! Do folks still do that?! Why would you kill yourself because of the end of the world? How could anyone NOT even be a tad curious to see what the world would look like as it was sucked into a black hole? Do ya think it would look anything like Soundgarden's video for Black Hole Sun? (Because I LOVE that video! ) I wouldn't mind goin' out as the world ended like that! Honestly, I'd feel better about dyin' because the rest of the world was goin' with me (and in such an awesome way). It just sucks to go anywhere alone, ya know?

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Seriously, though, it's awful news and further proof of religion's poisoning effect on the rational mind.

What exactly does this have to do with religion, though? As I understand it, in most religions, suicide equals damnation.

Killing yourself because there's a tiny chance you could get killed seems pretty silly. I mean, why opt for the sure thing in that case?

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Originally posted by Monkey_Boy:
How could anyone NOT even be a tad curious to see what the world would look like as it was sucked into a black hole? Do ya think it would look anything like Soundgarden's video for Black Hole Sun?

I like that video, too.

I read an article today that said that if a black hole were large enough, it's possible for something to not even get pulled apart until after crossing the event horizon, and in that case the pull of the gravity would make light, and thus your vision, bend... for the last brief moments you could see, that is. In that case, very possibly.

From my journal today:

"Some opposers of the experiment say that its catastrophic effects won't go into action until the project begins to bloom, so to speak, in several weeks. How do I feel about this? Well, if there's any remote possibility of mankind (more specifically, the man-made LHC) destroying the world very quickly--and not just destroying, but atomically ripping to shreds, or shreds of shreds, or shreds of shreds of shreds--then I suppose there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do about it. Holding a protest is hardly going to convince a black hole to stop compressing and pulling. 'Oh--looks like you have a pretty decent argument there, peaceful humans. What's that? Less gravity? Oh, OK... sorry! Let me just find my gravity dial here...'

I just hope it happens, if it happens at all, quickly and relatively painlessly."

Is it that hard to actually do research on it and you know maybe read the scientific paper I linked and how the destruction of the Earth isn't feasible at all.

Oh, I'm not saying it is or isn't feasible. I was just commenting on, "If it were to happen..." Just ruminating, not passing judgment or anything. Sorry if my post was misleading.

Posted by Monkey Boy

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Do ya think it would look anything like Soundgarden's video for Black Hole Sun? (Because I LOVE that video! )

You bastard! You consistently.....crack....me....up! ha ha

But my comment on religion comes from the irrationality that is built into that particular game, the kind of thinking that goes with supernatural belief systems, ignoring science, but I meant it as a general comment; clearly there are religious types ( Mr. Monkey: Exhibit A) who will be cracking jokes come the end of the world rather than fearing GOD!!! ha ha

quote:

Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
Already a teen Indian girl has killed herself over the imminent end of the world

I assumed that you were taking the piss, but its true.

The first I heard about the LHC was a rumour from a friend that it was “some machine that might destroy the world.” Then when I read a couple of legitimate links, quotes from both Professor Steven Hawking, Professor Peter Higgs, and anyone slightly involved, dismissed these rumours, and continued to do so over, and over again, as the list of links from legitimate media outlets continued on.

Why the hell do people keep spreading this doomsday rumour? The LHC has been quoted as the most significant and exciting experiment since the Space Program, and all people want to talk about is crazy, dispelled theories of how it’s going to destroy the world?

Even after the LHC does the collision, I guarantee people will find some new aspect of the experiment as a foundation for more end-of-the-world-crack-pottery.

To anyone who is an advocate of this doomsday shit: watch/read the news, listen to the experts in the field, and SHUT THE HELL UP!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Santa's Shed,

It's hilarious isn't it? Doomsday prophecies never get old, they just change the method by which we will all get it in the neck!

I just hope that all the fuss made over this experiment gets more people into science studies.

That would be the best news.

Just wait until the naysayers find a way to tie one of Nostradamus' incredibly vague prophecies to the LHC...

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Originally posted by Liberalkid:
Just wait until the naysayers find a way to tie one of Nostradamus' incredibly vague prophecies to the LHC...

I think someone already has tried, I saw link with the two in a title on youtube I think it was. I remember seeing it and ignoring.

OMG WERE ALL STILL ALIVE LULZ

I'm in the black hole right now! Curiously it smells just like your mom's panties...

She's on the blink!

There'll be no colliding this Christmas, Virginia.