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Post by davidbmx on Sept 7, 2008 2:40:52 GMT -11
Well i didnt really know where to put this so i put it here. Anyway ive been hearing alot lately about the possible end of the world on September 10th due to the large hadron collider where they are going to smash particles to see what happened a billionth of a second after the big bang. Many people believe it could create small black holes which will grow and destroy the earth. The project leaders insist nothing of the kind will happen, I personally believe nothing will happen but what are your views on this? heres a link to the suns article on this subject: www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article1630897.ece
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Post by LCellini on Sept 7, 2008 4:51:05 GMT -11
Lol first thing I thought when I read that was "Is this a Dan Brown book?"
But I'm curious to know how they know the black holes will close. Have they done small scale experiments so that they know? Or are they just like well we did some math and it'll be enough.
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Post by graphicsguy on Sept 7, 2008 5:08:31 GMT -11
Lol first thing I thought when I read that was "Is this a Dan Brown book?" But I'm curious to know how they know the black holes will close. Have they done small scale experiments so that they know? Or are they just like well we did some math and it'll be enough. The particle accelerator IS the small scale experiment. From what I hear, it isn't the black holes you need to worry about, it's the possibility that it would create a stranglet. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but when I hear people talk about them, they make them sound like Lex Luthor, Galactus, Darkseid and Carrottop combined (translation for non-comic geeks: that's bad).
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CougarBob
Hermes
Where is Everybody???
Posts: 997
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Post by CougarBob on Sept 7, 2008 5:31:41 GMT -11
Wikipedia says:If the strange matter hypothesis is correct and a strangelet comes in contact with a lump of ordinary matter such as Earth, it could convert the ordinary matter to strange matter. This "ice-nine" disaster scenario is as follows: one strangelet hits a nucleus, catalyzing its immediate conversion to strange matter. This liberates energy, producing a larger, more stable strangelet, which in turn hits another nucleus, catalyzing its conversion to strange matter. In the end, all the nuclei of all the atoms of Earth are converted, and Earth is reduced to a hot, large lump of strange matter.
The danger of catalyzed conversion by strangelets produced in heavy-ion colliders has received some media attention, and concerns of this type were raised at the commencement of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) experiment at Brookhaven, which could potentially have created strangelets. A detailed analysis concluded that the RHIC collisions were comparable to ones which naturally occur as cosmic rays traverse the solar system, so we would already have seen such a disaster if it were possible. RHIC has been operating since 2000 without incident. Similar concerns have been raised about the operation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN but such fears are dismissed as far-fetched by many scientists.
In the case of a neutron star, the conversion scenario seems much more plausible. A neutron star is in a sense a giant nucleus (20 km across), held together by gravity, but it is electrically neutral and so does not electrostatically repel strangelets. If a strangelet hit a neutron star, it could convert a small region of it, and that region would grow to consume the entire star, creating a quark star.
It should be remembered all the issues discussed above relating to the conversion of ordinary matter to strange matter only arise if the strange matter hypothesis is true, and its surface tension is larger than the afore-mentioned critical value.In other words, if this is true, you won't have to worry about washing dishes and paying bills ever again.
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Post by JoeGeist on Sept 7, 2008 5:37:51 GMT -11
Ice Nine ..huh? Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut another excellent book.
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nowhammies
Artemis
Big bucks, No Whammies, STOP!
Posts: 392
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Post by nowhammies on Sept 7, 2008 6:39:51 GMT -11
I'd be okay with not having to pay bills anymore.
I've been watching the LHC for quite some time now - because I find it really cool. I actually wrote a short story in which it was a key player.
I liken end of the world worries with the LHC to the Y2K stuff. We fear the unknown.
OTOH - if we all die, we all die. More the reason to live like you only have this moment.
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Post by graphicsguy on Sept 7, 2008 8:10:58 GMT -11
Okay, so... let's think of the happy, yet totally implosible scenario....
The supercollider creates a strangelet, which begins to create more strangelets and strange matter. Soon, the whole world... nay... the whole universe if strange matter. Down is up, left if right (or in Whammies case, right is left - see other posts), ghost show up on Ghost Hunters and telethon girl actually calls me for a date.
Then someone creates a larger supercollider, one bigger than the one that created the strange universe. And people begin to fear. Just what exactly is this "normalet" that scientist speculate could be created by the supercollider...
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Pinkberry
Artemis
I've looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful
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Post by Pinkberry on Sept 7, 2008 15:25:06 GMT -11
I guess well all find out in 3 days time =P
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CougarBob
Hermes
Where is Everybody???
Posts: 997
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Post by CougarBob on Sept 7, 2008 15:44:43 GMT -11
Does this mean that I don't have to pack and prepare to move anymore?
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Post by JoeGeist on Sept 7, 2008 15:59:07 GMT -11
I guess well all find out in 3 days time =P I just robbed a bank the end better be here, else I'm screwed.
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Post by «Foz» on Sept 7, 2008 16:06:57 GMT -11
The particle accelerator IS the small scale experiment. From what I hear, it isn't the black holes you need to worry about, it's the possibility that it would create a stranglet. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but when I hear people talk about them, they make them sound like Lex Luthor, Galactus, Darkseid and Carrottop combined (translation for non-comic geeks: that's bad). All I had to read was "Carrottop" to know that we'd be screwed.
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Post by ♥~KarinaKay~♥ on Sept 8, 2008 0:31:35 GMT -11
If these little black holes suck in planet Earth before I get to meet Mickey Mouse on the 26th, I am soooo tracking these people down in the afterlife and giving them a piece of my mind!
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Damini
Artemis
Whatever....
Posts: 489
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Post by Damini on Sept 8, 2008 1:47:50 GMT -11
I'll be out of town in business meetings all day.....figures....world ends and i'm working!
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Post by blondeness on Sept 8, 2008 2:49:11 GMT -11
I keep hearing the REM song in my head when I read the title of this thread:
'It's the end of the world as we know it..."
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Damini
Artemis
Whatever....
Posts: 489
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Post by Damini on Sept 8, 2008 2:57:34 GMT -11
great...thanks....now i'll be singing that song all day....
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