Comments on: I Hate to Be a Worrier

By: Sisyphus

Sisyphus — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:22:34 +0000

This is not really something to worry about. In the event that quantum black holes are actually created by the Large Hadron Collider, they will almost instantly dissipate in a burst of energy and various elementary particles.

Why would black holes dissipate? As shown by Hawking, virtual particles near the event horizon of the black hole will split off, with some becoming real particles (so-called Hawking radiation), and the others being swallowed by the black hole. The net result of this is that each virtual particle pair with an escaping real particle reduces the mass-energy of the black hole by the amount of the mass-energy of the escaping virtual particle. In plain American English, a quantum black hole should disappear in a burst of radiation almost instantly.

Strange quarks were a more worrisome problem than quantum black holes, but there’s a good reason not to be too worried about anything the LHC can produce. Basically, anything we can do nature can do better. Supernovas and the interactions of cosmic rays with our atmosphere have produced everything we are capable of producing. If some particle could be created that would destroy the earth, it would have already happened.

By: The Don Wood Files

The Don Wood Files — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 15:28:44 +0000

Of course you should worry. These scientists are acting recklessly. But it is not just atom smashers that may be a risk. There is also a huge boondoogle called the National Ignition Facility that is way over the top. No one seems to care about these grandiose and dangerous schemes except you and me.

See here:

http://dw-links.blogspot.com/2005/05/192-lasers-and-fate-of-earth.html

By: Stephen Gordon

Stephen Gordon — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:59:39 +0000

Black holes, baby universes, new branes – we have no clue how any of this could affect us. It strikes me as particularly irresponsible to push forward under those circumstances.

“I destroyed the universe. My bad.”

Or he might get lucky and just destroy this solar system. That’s a pretty big risk.