Who thinks the LHC will end the world or have any chance of doing anything harmful?
- Thread starter speed
- Start date
your opinion doesnt bother me at all. The fact that the fear is based in scientific ignorance means you can be educated not to be afraid anymore if you open your mind to the information. You arent alone in your fear either, as evidenced by many of the responces in the two threads and throughout the world over the upcoming experiements. The thing is, Im pretty sure early man was afraid of fire the first time he saw it too. The benifits far outweigh the possible consequences. Sometimes risks (in this case infintisimal risks) need to be taken to make quantum leaps forward.
The results of these experiments could in fact lead to discoveries that would open the hardest to imagine bits of science fiction and turn them into science fact. Things like "warp travel" become possible. Granted we are a long way from that, BUT, baby steps that direction should be taken.
EDIT:
The results of these experiments could in fact lead to discoveries that would open the hardest to imagine bits of science fiction and turn them into science fact. Things like "warp travel" become possible. Granted we are a long way from that, BUT, baby steps that direction should be taken.
EDIT:
cant cover it any better than Dr. Kakuspeed;1126189 said:
Dr. Kaku is a modern day Einstein in how he can explain complex problems in simple terms that everyone can understand.
Definately a gift...
Definately a gift...
Tanya;1126182 said:
^ Relax Tanya, it's jsut the internet.
Besides, they watcha show ion the History channel and they all know all abou tit. :icon_bigg
I personally think it's awesome.
IJ.;1126008 said:
Well we have to make assumptions but here we go.
If in fact the find a particle or collection of particles that impart mass on matter (Higgs-Boson is what they call it but if it is a collection of particles, that name goes out the window). If the particles for "mass" do exist then there is a direct correlation between matter and gravity as gravity is dereived from mass (hence why you hear black holes have x times the mass of our sun). The more mass, the more the gravitational force.
Of course we might learn what dark matter/dark energy is during this process which will give some insight as to one of the biggest things we are missing.
BTW Steven Hawkings postulated on Micro-black holes in a very nice book. Basically he goes on to say that if they do exist, they would disappear as their energy was exhausted almsot as quickly as they were created. Why? Quantum Mechanics and just like everything else so far, black holes follow basic Entropy laws also (ie the "system", If it is 100% efficent, can produce as much energy as it consumes but never more than it consumes).
So why would this matter? So we know that the speed limitation of the speed of light is due to mass going to infinty at that point, well what if mass was 0. Infinity of zero is still zero
This of course is just theory and nothing more but it opens up the gates for lots and lots of possibilities 
Me: "HEY! We're still here, obviously those guys didn't make a black hole."
SC: "Or maybe it's just growing slowly. Have you checked to see if England is still there? Or maybe they made an inter-dimensional rift. They could be dealing with face crabs over there. That's how Half Life started, y'know. One moron with a particle accelerator."
Me: "Goddammit, Mike."
SC: "Or maybe it's just growing slowly. Have you checked to see if England is still there? Or maybe they made an inter-dimensional rift. They could be dealing with face crabs over there. That's how Half Life started, y'know. One moron with a particle accelerator."
Me: "Goddammit, Mike."
Haha - win!
Well, England is still here, i can assure you of that, but if it starts sucking things in, we'll make sure the government is standing the closest, so they can plug the hole with the sheer mass
Although Mike, it wasn't a particle accelerator in Half Life - it was an anti-mass spectrometer
Well, England is still here, i can assure you of that, but if it starts sucking things in, we'll make sure the government is standing the closest, so they can plug the hole with the sheer mass
Although Mike, it wasn't a particle accelerator in Half Life - it was an anti-mass spectrometer
MK-111;1126414 said:
QFT.
IMHO, science will one day resolve all the conflicts that Tanya listed, that makes us an immature race. Without advances in technology that bring the world closer together, it'll be the same shit, every day. One person shooting another, one country shooting another. The meanstreaming of the internet has broken down many barriers of distance in the world. Imagine what the next great advances will be. But, before you do, try imagining something like the internet in 1955... it would be beyond comprehension: Any techonology of suffiecient advancement will seem like magic to those not educated in their inner workings.
There's also the fact that while the direct effect of the thing may not be much, there *is* a shitload of supporting machinery that runs at pretty high power levels. An industrial type accident has a decent chance of creating a reasonable boom. Not the Earth Shattering KaBoom type, of course, but a few dead scientists and a billion dollars in damage type.
again, just because that could happen doesnt mean its going to. There is a staggering amount of money tied up in this thing, you dont think they are going to fire it up without being extremely confident that everything is A-OK do you?
I have personally been inside a supercollider beyond where they normally let visitors go. One of the perks of being the son of an internatinoally recognized pysicist, I got to see the workings of Fermilab outside of Chicago when my dad was doing research there back in the 80's (I dont think it was called Fermilab then). As a high school kid more into cars I dont recall it being a big deal, and I probably appreciate the fact more now than I did then.
Ive also stood right on top of and looked directly down into a small nuclear reactor, no more than 20 feet from the blue glow of the atomic reaction taking place. That reactor has been in this small community for decades and people drive by it on a public road no more than 30 yards away. People are afraid of what they dont understand. I find the hysteria over the LHC to be quite sobering. It reminds me just how many ignorant people there are in the world.
I have personally been inside a supercollider beyond where they normally let visitors go. One of the perks of being the son of an internatinoally recognized pysicist, I got to see the workings of Fermilab outside of Chicago when my dad was doing research there back in the 80's (I dont think it was called Fermilab then). As a high school kid more into cars I dont recall it being a big deal, and I probably appreciate the fact more now than I did then.
Ive also stood right on top of and looked directly down into a small nuclear reactor, no more than 20 feet from the blue glow of the atomic reaction taking place. That reactor has been in this small community for decades and people drive by it on a public road no more than 30 yards away. People are afraid of what they dont understand. I find the hysteria over the LHC to be quite sobering. It reminds me just how many ignorant people there are in the world.
Last edited:
By no means is it likely to happen. Would I live in a house with the LHC in my back yard? Sure! The folks working there are *scientists*. They got where they are by being *smart*. Smart people rarely stay where they can get blown up.
Look around the world at Nuclear power, for instance. How many reactors are up and running? How many have had serious accidents? Err... I remember 2, and 3 mile island didn't even do any real damage. For that matter, the death toll from Chernobyl is barely over 50. The world is now up to over 12,000 *YEARS* of cumulative nuclear power plant operation - and this doesn't count the military plants. Yet there is still hysteria, mostly backed by FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
Look around the world at Nuclear power, for instance. How many reactors are up and running? How many have had serious accidents? Err... I remember 2, and 3 mile island didn't even do any real damage. For that matter, the death toll from Chernobyl is barely over 50. The world is now up to over 12,000 *YEARS* of cumulative nuclear power plant operation - and this doesn't count the military plants. Yet there is still hysteria, mostly backed by FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
GrimJack;1126570 said:
Moreover, the type of Nuclear Fission used in Chernobyl was VERY primative, and the method they use now is nothing like it. Meltdowns are pretty much 99.99% impossible now.
I feel the same way about people who are against nuclear power.
1) the ONLY waste of it comes from storing the spent rods, but have one national facility in the middle of nowhere, won't affect a thing.
2) Again, you're not a scientist. You don't even know how a nuclear reactor works. Shut up.
3) Learn how a reactor works and take a tour. Then you'll realize what a fool you sounded like.
Ughhhhhh. Ha, my mom and I got into a big argument about this a couple months ago. I love my mom, but anybody who makes a judgement on science without knowing anything about it is just asking for their foot in their mouth.
edit: This post is in no way an attack against GrimJack. Infact, I am agreeing with him. Just ranting towards the general public. Sorry for any confusion.
Last edited:
My dad and I have had the nuclear power discussion several times. (its one of the few things we agree on that has any place in a political discussion).
FUD - pretty much sums up most peoples arguments against it. And yet, any politician who includes it as part of an "energy strategy" will be chased out of town by villagers with pitchforks.
FUD - pretty much sums up most peoples arguments against it. And yet, any politician who includes it as part of an "energy strategy" will be chased out of town by villagers with pitchforks.
figgie;1126338 said:Well we have to make assumptions but here we go.
If in fact the find a particle or collection of particles that impart mass on matter (Higgs-Boson is what they call it but if it is a collection of particles, that name goes out the window). If the particles for "mass" do exist then there is a direct correlation between matter and gravity as gravity is dereived from mass (hence why you hear black holes have x times the mass of our sun). The more mass, the more the gravitational force.
Of course we might learn what dark matter/dark energy is during this process which will give some insight as to one of the biggest things we are missing.
BTW Steven Hawkings postulated on Micro-black holes in a very nice book. Basically he goes on to say that if they do exist, they would disappear as their energy was exhausted almsot as quickly as they were created. Why? Quantum Mechanics and just like everything else so far, black holes follow basic Entropy laws also (ie the "system", If it is 100% efficent, can produce as much energy as it consumes but never more than it consumes).
So why would this matter? So we know that the speed limitation of the speed of light is due to mass going to infinty at that point, well what if mass was 0. Infinity of zero is still zero
And the practical application is?