Is the world going to implode and become a black hole?

[colin_p]

Just watched that programme about Stephen Hawkin about his theories about the universe.

Anyway, there is this huge particle accelerator in Switzerland somewhere that is 16 miles in diameter. What they are going to do is accelerate particles to near the speed of light in the hope of forming minature black holes !!!

Now I'm no phyisicist, in fact I cannot even spell it but in my limited understanding of black holes, they devour everything, including light which is why they are black!

However what they are about to do is all theoretical and it is also theorised that these minature black holes will simply explode.

What if they don't?
What if they start something they cannot control?
What if the theories are wrong?

They mentioned that this thing will be switched on soon and that the commencement of these experiments is eagerly awaited. I wonder if the world will end when the press the on button?

Any other armchair physicists out there that know a bit more?

[Zod]

a gateway will open to another dimension and demons will pour through.




(that's what always happens in games)

[EDLT]

I thought they started this experiment last year.

[ironictwist]

Zod said:

a gateway will open to another dimension and demons will pour through.




(that's what always happens in games)

Or Cardiff if you watch Torchwood :/

[Demure]

It's called the LHC (Large Hadron Collider)

They aren't hoping to create black holes. The physicists are trying to recreate the conditions 1 billionth of a second after the Big Bang (and no that's not a Rod Rammage euphemism) to test the existence of a theoretical partial called a Higgs Boson.

The black holes will instantly evaporate. If you want to know more there are some Horizon episodes on Youtube about it


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fJ6PMfnz2E&fea...

Oh and ignore the first few narrations, it's delayed until May this year.

Edited by Demure on Monday 10th March 23:37

[mackie1]

I read that there is a greater than zero chance that a black hole could form on the surface of the earth but not much greater than zero. I wouldn't worry too much

[Strawman]

Yes

HTH

[shadowninja]

I think we're buggered anyway.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/07-...
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/news/08-...

[OwenK]

Just FYI he chances of the earth being instantly devoured when they start the experiment are marginally higher than the earth being instantly devoured when you turn on your kettle in the morning.

So have a think before you start brewing your cuppa tomorrow, you might be dooming us all. (what if the science of boiling water is WRONG?!)

[Parrot of Doom]

A black hole isn't "a thing" that automatically devours everything it comes into contact with. The amount of matter they're using in the collider is so small you can't even see it. Even if they do create a small black hole, it'll vanish immediately as there won't be enough mass to sustain it.

It takes something at least the size of a sun to become a black hole.

There aren't many practical applications for what they're doing. They're just doing it 'so they know', it may open doors to new technologies in the future. Knowledge is power.

[skwdenyer]

Parrot of Doom said:

A black hole isn't "a thing" that automatically devours everything it comes into contact with. The amount of matter they're using in the collider is so small you can't even see it. Even if they do create a small black hole, it'll vanish immediately as there won't be enough mass to sustain it.

I think the OP's point was that the mass around the black hole starts with the experimental apparatus and rapidly includes you and me

It is a concern that the science of black holes could be fundamentally wrong. There is a chance that Hawking's calculations are incorrect (and that the so-called Hawking Energy simply does not exist); if that were so, coupled with the fact that the micro black holes would be at rest relative to the Earth and thefore could interact with (for which read "eat&quot a lot of matter, there is a chance they could become unstable and grow in the manner the OP was worried about. There is a 2nd safety study addressing this issue at the moment.

And even if the experiments work as planned, it does not automatically mean that the conducting of them wasn't inherently risky

For my money I'd prefer to use an orbiting particle accelerator!

[Asterix]

Even if it did happen - it would be a small burp in the universe. We'd not be missed.

[skwdenyer]

mickken said:

Missed by who....are we not alone anyway?

In which case we wouldn't be missed - in either case the proposition seems likely to be true!

[SkinnyBoy]

I was watching an excellent series on the History channel about the universe over the last couple of months, they were discussing Black holes quite recently on it. They postulated that our galaxy has a massive one at the centre, as do most galaxy's. Good stuff!

[moleamol]

This is never publicised but a black hole of ANY kind will pull absolutely everything into it. Light, matter, time, the lot. If this experiment goes wrong we will all be killed to death!

[hornet]

Having watched and thouroughly enjoyed that programme, the following thought occurs...

Stephen Hawking - no Nobel Prize
Al Gore - Nobel Prize

What's that all about then?

[fluffnik]

skwdenyer said:

For my money I'd prefer to use an orbiting particle accelerator!

Makes nuking from orbit sooooo much more convenient.

[feritsbum]

Interesting stuff, but we need not worry about man playing with black holes too much.
According to what we are told, man has the power to destroy his home planet with nuclear fission by turning the Earth into a mini Sun or star.
Man has not got the power to make an instant black hole large enough to cause problems on Earth until the above has been achieved and the resulting collapsing mini star turns nova! We would of course all be dead long before anyway unless viewing from a far away world, so we would not know for sure how 'our' big man made black hole would perform and what it would do to the surrounding environment!

So long as people in charge of nuclear bombs etc don't set them all off at the same time we should be ok, for now!

[deviant]

Asterix said:

Even if it did happen - it would be a small burp in the universe. We'd not be missed.

Its interesting to think though that maybe somewhere there is another planet that does know of our existance and can see us through a telescope...and then one day we just dissapear along with the sun.

[Mahatma Bag]

mackie1 said:

I read that there is a greater than zero chance that a black hole could form on the surface of the earth but not much greater than zero. I wouldn't worry too much

I don't know, I think the process may have started in parts of Walsall.