Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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The Psychology of Hadrons
September 10, 2008 4:25 PM
The Large Hadron Collider in the Alps has not destroyed the local universe yet. But whatever it does for physics, it's also become a giant social experiment.
Is it dangerous? You can't see the subatomic particles it smashes; you can't see the miniature black holes it supposedly could create (harmlessly or otherwise). So anxiety hovers.
Here is how CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which runs the collider, has tried to reassure people:
"LHC collisions present no danger," it says. "Whatever the LHC will do, Nature has already done many times over during the lifetime of the Earth and other astronomical bodies." The full text is HERE, including a link to a report by the Collider's Safety Study Group.
The principal doubter in the U.S. appears to be Walter L. Wagner, a lawyer in Hawaii who formed Citizens Against the Large Hadron Collider. Their site is HERE. "It is not possible to know what the outcome of the experiment will be," it says, "but even CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) scientists concede that there is a real possibility of creating destructive theoretical anomalies such as miniature black holes, strangelets and deSitter space transitions. These events have the potential to fundamentally alter matter and destroy our planet."
Biographies say Mr. Wagner majored in biology and minored in physics at Berkeley before getting his law degree. He and his cohorts are not physicists by profession; they counter that there is a clubbiness in physics.
I wrote a POST on the collider in April, and it's getting a bit of traffic now.
Stephen Hawking, the British physicist, has weighed in: "There is no danger that collisions between particles will cause a rip in spacetime and destroy the universe."
Is anyone persuaded?
September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (92)
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So cool
Posted by: pewpew | Sep 10, 2008 4:47:35 PM
Whether or not it works will, of course, be up to the scientists on the project. We'll have to take their word for it. If, on the other hand, it does cause a black hole and gobble up Earth and local space, no one will be alive to report it, so it's really a non-issue. It will be the one time that all of humanity will be equal.
Posted by: Andy | Sep 10, 2008 4:49:49 PM
I really dont think it should be allowed by any government for things such as this to be invented, but again thats only my opinon
Posted by: Jess | Sep 10, 2008 4:56:31 PM
Remember the first A-bomb detonation? They thought that would destroy the whole earth.
Posted by: faulpelz | Sep 10, 2008 4:59:51 PM
We're all going to die....
Posted by: Jon | Sep 10, 2008 5:02:17 PM
The same crazies made the same outlandish claims when the RHIC collider started up on Long Island in 1999. But instead of getting a black hole or a strangelet, we got George W. Bush. I'm not sure that was a good deal.
Posted by: James Cleveland | Sep 10, 2008 5:12:56 PM
I don't know ... but I feel like I'm being pulled in several different directions lately!
Posted by: Jeff | Sep 10, 2008 5:13:43 PM
The Earth is constantly being bombarded by high energy particles that exceed the enery of the Collinder by millions of times. Face it, there is NO chance of a black hole gobbling up the Earth. It would be absolutely astounding if we could even amass the amount of energy to do that.
The media is hyping this up because stories like this sell. If it involves danger to us, it sells like crazy. News corporations like ABC know this and are exploiting it. You are NOT going to die. End of story.
Posted by: CommonSense | Sep 10, 2008 5:14:13 PM
This reminds me of a line from Jurassic Park when Dr. Malcolm said
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
Posted by: jakersmh | Sep 10, 2008 5:15:12 PM
One more thing. This is not like the Nuclear Bomb. The bomb WAS DESIGNED to KILL. This is designed for research. Not only that, but the scientific community is 100% certain that this will not kill us all. Thats why they are scientists, they have more knowledge about the intricaies of how these things work.
Posted by: CommonSense | Sep 10, 2008 5:19:04 PM
Great no more worries about bills and loans if it happens..
BUT theese collisons happens all the time around you so no need to worry.
lol imagine putting the accelerator next to big bang and measure the size of theese two..
lhc size is about 0,00billionsbillionsbillionsbillionsbillionsbillions0001 smaller
Posted by: Christian | Sep 10, 2008 5:19:07 PM
Im too young to die!!!!!!!!
Posted by: kim | Sep 10, 2008 5:19:26 PM
Maybe this has happened before and everyone died??? Don't do it again!!!
Posted by: Corey | Sep 10, 2008 5:24:33 PM
Hey USA!
Switzerland is threatning to destroy the world and you haven't sent one marine...
Posted by: pete | Sep 10, 2008 5:30:24 PM
It could take one to four years before the beams collide...Is it the countdown to the end???
Posted by: Tasha Dilbeck | Sep 10, 2008 5:42:47 PM
The only people who would be frightened by this are people who are scared of science.
Posted by: jock59801 | Sep 10, 2008 5:48:45 PM
You know, the Mayan calendar (among others) ENDS in 2012. So maybe you are correct, Tasha.
Posted by: roberto | Sep 10, 2008 5:56:17 PM
I think this is a giant step forward for all of those that love science.
Posted by: Satori | Sep 10, 2008 5:57:43 PM
I did get a headache today....??
Posted by: Barbara | Sep 10, 2008 5:58:35 PM
I've read the reports on the safety of the device and unfortunately, they are not 100% certain it is safe. There is a very very small percentage that certain things could happen. When they used insurance liability numbers times the 6 billion people on the planet, it came out to only about 123 people affected so they accepted the risks. I think it is really stupid to use insurance math for science that could potentially affect everyone on the planet.
I have a really bad headache today... Anyone else?
Posted by: DeMartian | Sep 10, 2008 6:00:53 PM
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