A Black Hole? In Switzerland?

It would not consume us all "suddenly". It would be quite painful and take a while to die from all the radiation and heat.

There was a similar worry about the first atomic bomb. Some postulated that there would be an atmospheric chain reaction that would destroy us all. Of course, it never occurred. This, however is a different kettle of fish. Now, we're mucking about with the very building blocks of EVERYTHING. I have nothing against science and experimentation, but I sure hope these guys know what they're doing. If something does go wrong and the worst happens, how will we know it? I suppose someone over in the next galaxy will note that a new black hole formed and is causing some disturbance in the local area. Little would they know that it's just kids playing with matches.

Peter, while they don't explain the threat very well (the NY Times article takes it a bit farther), if the threat is a earth-consuming black hole, it would probably exponentially accelerate, and from our point of view, be very very very quick.

Cool!

They are going to try and create the conditions after the big bang. Ok the one thing that didn't occur from the big bang is a black hole. Think about it. If a black hole was created, we wouldn't be here would we.

Wasn't this creating a lab black hole a movie on the sci fi channel?

Hmmm.. how about creating a bubble universe instead of a black hole? These two dudes need to chill, they live in Hawaii for God's sake... worry about something real, like the economy or what's on Telemundo tonight.

Interesting... but think, if... just if... they could control that back hole... Imagine how much more storage we could have in our closets or wallets!

WOO HOO the final solution to global warming.... end the world.

Would've made a great April Fools joke if they had turned it on today and proclaimed that a black hole had been created...and we have only a few seconds to live!

Well, since cosmic rays 100,000,000 times more 'powerfull' then this experiment have already collided with the earth without too much effect I wouldn't sweat this 1 too much.

Although 'if' a black hole was created here we'd have something besides Global Warming to hear about interminably.

For the mini-black hole would instantly 'fall' through the earth to emerge at the exact same height on the other side of the planet-punching a hole/tunnel about an atom's width in the process. Since the bulk of the earth would offer less resistance then air a 'hot knife through butter' analogy would be inadequate.

It would take many millions of oscillating passages to slow down this black hole sufficiently such that it settled at the center of the earth and THEN ate it! (And that's ass-u-ming the black hole was stable and didn't 'evaporate' in a picosecond.

More 'troublesome' is the Strangelet scenario.
'If' THAT happened ALL the atoms in the earth would transform almost immediately.
We'd be dead before we even knew it and before a congressional committee could even figure out how to tax it!
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One thing I haven't seen in any of the news articles - what are the credentials of the guys bringing the suit? Are they scientists? Environmental activists? What?

Without this information, we have no way of judging whether there's any scientific merit to their case. Please, news people - give us better information in these stories.

Is this the modern mans version of the "Tower of Babel"? There are stories of advanced civilizations on earth that existed logn before us and that disappeared suddenly.(Atlantis?) I hope we don't open a door that we cannot close.

Just let me know b4 I pay my bills this month....plz

The big bang started with the explosion of a theoretical object called "the singularity" which exploded, possibly after an ultimate implosion from a previous universe, or another universe.

If a singularity is imploded and then explodes, the LHC scientists will indeed 'recreate the conditions present right after the big bang'. In fact, they will recreate the big bang, and the present universe may end. If definitely would in the vicinity of the earth.

The black hole and strangelet threats are very real. Some physicists have reckoned the change of a world-destroying catastrophe as one in fifty million. That's like hitting a lottery. If ANY chance of world destruction exists, to any percentage or degree at all, then the whole LHC project should be SCRAPPED. Sorry, would-be godlings who want to play with reality; your ennui and self-aggrandizement just aren't worth the destruction of everybody and everything else.

The entire field is theoretical. Many of the theories are untested and for good reason--there is no empirical data in existence for the outcome of some events, and since human beings are not omniscient, the only way we can find out the truth is to "run an experiment and see what happens". I'm reminded of the many times this has been done with disastrous results (there are many examples), but the sheer arrogance and greed driving this project are out of hand. To put it bluntly, it is grossly unethical.

Support the legal challenge. More work needs to be done to determine the possible effect of the LHC.

A generation is going, and a generation is coming; but the earth is standing even to time indefinite

Note from Ned--

Elisabeth asks a question about the qualifications of the men bringing suit. Mr. Wagner is a lawyer who studied biology in college; Mr. Sancho lives in Spain and was included, apparently, so that someone in Europe would be a plaintiff. I had that in my first draft and somehow dropped it--my apologies. I've now reinserted a line.

yes, this is all very intresting, but can we weaponize it?

Mike, a chance always exists for world destruction in the form of a whole fleet of asteroids, comets, etc., sailing around our solar system. In that case, man has no control over what happens. In the case of LHC, man does have control, to a certain extent, but what's the difference if the worst does happen? We're dead in either case, and the Universe will little note nor long remember what we did here today. With apologies to Mr. Lincoln.

"Support the legal challenge. More work needs to be done to determine the possible effect of the LHC."

Umm, what sort of 'work' would satisfy you and the unnamed "experts" such that the actual work of the LHC could be conducted?
i.e., Are you demanding 'Prove it before you do it'???
How's THAT work, exactly?

Of course it was feared that cars/trains/etc could NEVER go faster then 60 MPH. If so, people couldn't breath and the gas tanks would spontaneously explode.
Likewise, as Andy pointed out the 1st Atom Bomb test was to cause a runaway fission/fusion event that would consume the earth like it did/will in 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes'. (A pity Zera and Cornelius didn't testify to THAT in their congressonal interrogation such that the guilty bomb wasn't built in the 1st place!)

But then as I mentioned, MUCH more powerful collisions have, do and will occur from cosmic rays and you're still here and alive to worry about what pi**-ants humans do in Geneva.
Likewise in all of the discovered and studied nuetron stars in the universe (Of which we might 'know' less then a %) only ONE seen MIGHT be composed of strangelets.
'If' nature in her laboratory can barely make a stable strangelet in the core of a nuetron star I hardly think we need to worry about Geneva doing 'better'.

Maybe you should also insist that the ITER experiment be cancelled immediately too. Controlled Fusion is just too much of an unknown and cheap, clean and unlimited energy for millions of years just doesn't justify the risk!

Jettster,

It's an issue of ethical responsibility, and that's the bottom line.

If a chance for world-destroying disaster exists--and some physicists think it does--then it should not be done. Period.

If these guys want to play god with subatomic reality (and hence all reality), then they need to pack up their collider and move to some dark object beyond the Kuiper Belt, and leave the rest of the solar system out of their potentially world-ending shenanigans.

Did every person on earth get to vote on whether or not they should play russian roulette with our world? I don't think so.

Put it to a world-wide vote and let's see what humanity says as a whole. Until then they should stick with theorizing about neutron stars, not creating them (as in strangelets run amok and converting the planet into dense gray stuff), or sucking us all into super-dense, miniscule oblivion.

I think that the rewards are worth any risk. The quest for knowledge has always been a risky venture, and the reward potential here vs the odds of us getting 'sucked up' are stacked heavily in our favor. Go for it...if we die, I'm sure we won't even notice.