This entry was posted by GreekHouse on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am and is filed under WGOM Headlines. It is one of 43 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post. Why?
15 LTEs
Sorry, The WGOM is no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this article.
Loading ...
The worry was that it would be creating a world-destroying micro black hole, and shoot, there's know way to know for sure unless we try, right?
Yeah, that's what some people say. I always say, if you're gonna destroy the world, you gotta do it right. No more messing around with global warming, let's just do it quickly and with a lot of flair.
I thought the pictures were really cool.
This business will get out of control! It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it!
+10 for whoever gets that reference
Crazy Ivan!
hey, aren't "Crazy Ivans" submarine maneuvers?
oooh. I'd forgotten the Serenity usage.
That quote is from The Hunt for Red October, isn't it?
When I was a kid we thought it was hilarious to suddenly stop when someone (preferably one of my brothers) was following close behind... Crazy Ivan!
The Hunt for Red October is one of my favorite movies. Connery's "Russian" accent is comedy
goldplatinum.My bro and I were talking about this collider coming online over the 4th of July. I had just been down to trinity, and couldn't help but make a comparison to some of the Manhattan project physicist's fears that an atomic detonation would start a chain reaction that could push the earth out of orbit and doom us all.
I wonder what scientists will think of this black hole discussion in 50 or so years? That is, of course, if the collider doesn't open up a black hole.
I work in a very large physics department and this is the first time I've ever heard of this. After a quick scan on the internets, this looks like a complete non-issue. Using the term black hole to describe both the traditional black hole and the hypothetical micro black holes is about the same as using the term "major league hitter" to describe both Barry Bonds and Darnell McDonald.
and that's an analogy that I can agree with.
falling off the edge of the earth was a pretty scary thought at one time, too
If said micro black hole developed, how long would it take to swallow up the earth? BTW, I believe you that there is really no threat from this, I'm just curious what would happen if somehow we did create one.
I believe some current theory has it that micro black holes may be popping in and out of existance in space naturally, but nothing has been observed that would back this theory. I guess it would matter if the micro black hole was created and wasn't transient.
I couldn't really tell you without spending a bunch of time looking into it, since I'm in a different sub-field. Generally speaking, though, lots of crazy shit is possible on very short time scales (and consequently very large energy scales) or very small energy scales (with long time scales) with quantum mechanics that is highly improbable and not worth worrying about.
And when I say highly improbable, I don't mean like "it's highly improbable that the Mariners would score 10 runs in one inning to crush my spirits" but rather "the odds of Glen Perkins getting a pitch to quantum mechanically tunnel through the top layer of atoms on Joe Mauer's glove is orders of magnitude less than one in 10^40." In essence, so improbable that even repeated attempts over really long time scales (for instance, the age of the universe is only roughly 10^18 seconds) would still give ridiculously long odds against such an event happening. With a lot of those quantum mechanical effects, it is often more useful to say that they are not possible than it is to say that they are possible but highly improbable because the odds are just that strongly against such an event happening.
or, to quote Wayne's World, "Sh-yeah, and monkeys fly out my butt!"
All I've really read is the cosmologists' take on it, but needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of results they come up with. And sleeping well at night.