There are colliding devices in several countries already - including a couple of big ones in the US (which seems to be where these claims of 'concern' mainly stem from).

In my view it's plainly just an obvious load of idiotic nonsense exploiting the general public's ignorance.

The 'Large Hadron Collider' is nothing new, it's just the biggest and best of the type.

It's funny what people cook up in their heads about imminent disaters. I guess people have gotten used to so many bad things happening that even the implausible seems plausible. Or I could say that people fear what they don't understand.

If you can't mount it on to a shark's head, what use is is? Is that too much to ask, Sharks with fricken lazers on their heads

Yes agreed the best physicists in the world are working on the LHC, the watchdogs are a bunch of rag tag weekend "physics warriors" who enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

Still our universe is exciting and you never know what will spawn from the LHC, hopefully they'll be able to prove some of those extra dimensions and avoid the "inter dimensional monsters" coming through and destroying us all (that last part was for the watchdogs lol)

Can't wait until they turn the LHC on!

This article is one sided. It should also point out that those collisions are traveling at speeds close to the speed of light. The black holes created would then also be moving at speeds close to the speed of light. They would not be able to pickup matter quick enough to grow large enough to affect the earth. However, the holes created a the LHC will be relatively stationary. Therefore they could be pulled by the earths gravity to center and there have plenty of time in 1 million years to devour the earth. By then though, it would not matter to me and you reading my comment.

The biggest fear should not be creating a mini-blackhole. Provided they can even exist, they would be too small to actually absorb surrounding matter. You need the mass of about a pick-up truck to make black hole the size of an atom, and CERN is definitely no where near that energy range. However, a naked singularity could be far more dangerous. In that by definition the effects of a naked singularity are unknown. The end of the world might be the least of our problems.

None of the 100,000 or so cosmic rays of the same energy have ever been at rest on the Earth. They have always hit the Earth at nearly the speed of light. After traveling such a vast distance they could have changed from something far more dangerous.

Personally, I am in favour of the LHC proceeding, because we should not be afraid of the dark. However, if you are going to be afraid, you should be afraid of the right things.

Well at least we won't have to listen to all the idiots running around crying about global warming.

Fermilab has been practicing this experiment for years at a lower energy and all that has ever happened is that Chicago now glows in the dark...
So maybe they knock a hole in the space-time continuum and we pass through it into better times and better places.
Did you ever think of that?

Oooo, my brain hurts now.

The fact that there are those that have reservations about unleashing energy that humans have never before been able to create, is compeltly understandable. While the all the research and studies show that nothing "SHOULD" happen, there is always the possibility that something does go wrong. It may even be something we cannot detect, and therefore would never know about, however inconsequential it may be. Being wary of the unknown is a quintesential human trait, and one that has most likely led to the continued survival of the species. I, personally, cannot wait for the LHC to be turned on, and the possibilities for the experiments it will conduct, I can respect the opinions of those that are wary of the unknown outcomes of such a powerful machine.

Do this on the surface of Mars or the Moon.

That way, it's not endangering your home planet.

There is no faith in your projects, because clearly, you are out of your league.

Try getting off the planet first before experimenting with forces you can't understand.

What is the purpose of these tests, except to find out that what you do not know?

I have 5 more days to cause as much mayhem as I can before we all die.

how about you deal with shutting the hell up about things you don't even know the first principles of?
particle collisions happen all the time, CERN is just going to use the LHC to intentionally cause this in a controlled environment so as to acquire accurate information.

"do this on the surface of mars or the moon"
looks like somebody has been watching WAY too many cheesy science-fiction movies.
have you looked at the world economy recently? do you think we're in any shape to send billions of dollars of equipment to the moon?


honestly, go pay attention in some physics classes before posting in science-related topics, it'll teach you to actually understand things rather than believe what some crap movie visualised for you.


like I said before: that mentality of not trying things we don't know is bad, if we maintained that mentality in the past, we'd have never come out of our trees(caves for the creationists amongst us) and it'd be the raccoons who now had a world economy and internet connection.

what a retard! why are these people tryin to scare us?

Back in 2000 or 2001, the same people were spouting off the same nonsense when the (then world's largest, most powerful) LHC went online in the US (I think at Fermilab, but I could be wrong). No black holes appeared to gobble up the earth, and I seriously doubt we will see any this time around either.

In any event, if one did form, it would be too short lived to cause any harm. IIRC, a black hole with the mass of an atom would "evaporate" (to borrow the usage of the term from Stephen Hawking) within microseconds of birth.

CERN argues that danger is not plausible and is excluded.

Independent scientists argue that danger IS plausible and has NOT been excluded.

CERN's safety review did not include contrasting opinions over fundamental assumptions or experts "arms-length from the project" as recommended by European Commission guidelines.[13].

PHD level scientists protest![4]

In 2004 CERN announced possible micro black hole creation at one per second.[2]

Physicists wrote papers concluding black holes do not radiate.[1][3][10]

In 2007, Nuclear Safety Officer Walter L. Wagner discovered flaws with CERN's safety arguments and filed a law suit to require proof of safety.[5]

In response CERN scientists created a safety report in 2008.[6]

After review, German senior Physics PHD Dr. Rainer Plaga concluded CERN's safety report does not prove safety. He proposes additional safety procedures including proceeding slowly. [7]

On August 14th, CERN's Dr. Ellis stated they will not proceed slowly.[8]

German Chaos theory contributor and founder of Endophysics Dr. Otto Roessler theorized micro black holes could destroy Earth in decades or centuries.[9] Dr. Roessler requests an emergency safety conference and he is due to meet Swiss President Pascal Couchepin to discuss safety.[11]

On August 26, 2008, a European law suit alleged the Large Hadron Collider poses grave safety risks.[12]

[1] xxx.lanl.gov/abs/gr-qc/0304042 Do black holes radiate?. Dr. Adam Helfer (2003)

[2] cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29199 The case for mini black holes, CERN Courier (2004)

[3] arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0607137, On the existence of black hole evaporationyet again, Prof. VA Belinski (2006)

[4] www.lhcdefense.org/lhc_expertssay.php What the Experts Say (2008)

[5] www.lhcdefense.org/lhc_legal.php US Federal Lawsuit Filings - Walter L. Wagner (2008)

[6] public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/Safety-en.html The safety of the LHC, Web Site - CERN (2008)

[7] arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0808/0808.1415v1.pdf On the potential catastrophic risk from metastable quantum-black holes produced at particle colliders - Rainer Plaga Rebuttal (2008)

[8] www.lhcfacts.org/?p=72 CERN?s Dr. Ellis tells only half of the story - LHCFacts.org (2008)

[9] www.wissensnavigator.com/docum...CKHOLE.pdf Abraham-Solution to Schwarzschild Metric Implies That CERN Miniblack Holes Pose a Planetary Risk, Prof. Dr. Otto Rossler (2008)

[10] www.wissensnavigator.com/docum...essler.pdf A Rational and Moral and Spiritual Dilemma - Otto E. Rössler Safety Counter Arguments (2008)

[11] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_of_the_Large_Hadron_Collider Safety of the Large Hadron Collider (2008)

[12] lhc-concern.info/?page_id=28 European Legal Action (2008)

[13] http://www.ingentaconnect.com/...1/art00006 Scientific Peer Review to Inform Regulatory Decision Making: A European Perspective (2006)

um.. ok.. so you think moving a black hole to the Moon would save Earth? Ok, maybe for a few.. years? Better yet we'll take it to Mars.. yea.. then it can never hurt good ole Earth right? um.. taking the lead from Johnny I would assume that you've never actually taken a physics class, so I'll clue ya in. There's a small black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which, science believes kinda holds our entire Galaxy together.
And if you really wanna be a stick in the mud, running a collider of this size in near zero G would make things very interesting, wouldn't it? I'd be willing to wager we see one in the next century or so. It's the only way we'll find our way into the Q Continuum... ummm..

"The sky is falling!" "The sky is falling!"

My theory is that the LHC is Dr Evil holding the world to RANSOM! http://tinyurl.com/6kfezl

You know, this looks like the kind of machine that could create a portal to other dimensions....

I find it looks nowhere near the teleporter from HL1.

reminds me more of a stereotypical underground base with poorly insulated devices like on a Russian spacecraft. so it looks like a science-fiction soviet device :)

LHC IS DANGEROUS !!!!
On that note, just remember not to sail over the edge of the world lest the monsters get you !!!!!
Do not go outside if the rooster crows over the West side of the house.
Torquemada is in control !!!

Of course you can argue that it is very unlikely that this will lead to the end of humanity but why risk it? Wouldn't it be much better to play it safe and take the actions necessary to ensure that we will not be causing something that could kill us all?

After all that is a common argument put froward by the global warming bimbos so why shouldn't people be overreacting hysterical fools in this instance also?

In our scientific investigations my colleagues and I utilized portable proton accelerators. The energy levels of the beams produced by our accelerators were nowhere near the levels of the LHC, yet we were always aware of the dangerously awesome potential for destruction that these tools could yield.

In the mid 1980's, this potential was exploited when we encountered an unusually large paranormal event. We focused multiple beams on a single point. The result of crossing our beams was catastrophic, resulting in the creation of a minor rift fortunately the enormous amount of PKE that was present at the time was able to close rift almost as soon as the rift was created. Had this rift not been sealed by the Gozerian PKE, I estimate that the entire island of Manhattan, sections of New Jersey and Long Island would not be here today.

Black holes are not a material only phenomenon. They are a modification of space. The tiny "black holes" are theoretically expected to dissolve. Just in case this "dilution is the solution" theory fails, we must have public access to the following information.
- Precise location in space (not geographic coordinates)
- Projected paths of encountering these locations in the future.
- Tracked encounters with these locations.
- Interaction of these locations with other celestial objects. Particularly high mass-energy sources like the sun or stars.

Also, full disclosure of the intent of this experiment is necessary. If someone is planning to "mark" the space itself with some tiny reference dots to measure absolute motion of other objects and the location is picked to be within the projected path of the planet for ease of measurement; this is a really bad idea. We don't know the absolute motion of space and it may allow these points to travel through some very high "mass-energy" sources.

the first thing when it goes wrong is that it will blow up or in case of black hole, sucked in the scientist that knows the most about it and build it....
haha...
so good luck.

BUT, the natural small black holes (should they exist) from the cosmic rays appear as a result of the collision of a very fast particle coming from the space and a slow particle from the earth. the resulting black hole is thus incredibly fast and escapes the earth before to be able to acquire even one additional particle. The microscopic black holes (again, should they exist!) produced in the LHC will be the result of the collision two particles with the SAME SPEED BUT OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS, hence will be small and will stay captured by the gravitation of the earth. Some scientist (Prof. Rossler) say the need as few as 50 Months to gain enough mass to destroy the earth.

Hi I’m a Canadian and I feel your research will kill this planet why are you all not thinking. I feel this experiment should be done around the time we have another planet to escape to please rethink what you’re doing. The public and the people of the planet haven’t even heard of this device before. I was told about this machine only yesterday and you already have it cold and are aligning the beams. I feel that it’s a good idea to learn more about the building blocks of life but it’s not a good idea when you could be destroying all walks of life on this planet.

Hi I’m a Canadian and I feel your research will kill this planet why are you all not thinking. I feel this experiment should be done around the time we have another planet to escape to please rethink what you’re doing. The public and the people of the planet haven’t even heard of this device before. I was told about this machine only yesterday and you already have it cold and are aligning the beams. I feel that it’s a good idea to learn more about the building blocks of life but it’s not a good idea when you could be destroying all walks of life on this planet.

Honestly, the chances of us even surviving long enough to get a second planet to "excape" to are slim to non. It's human nature to be aggressive, one day we will make something that will kill us all, why delay the inevitable?

They thought when making the first cars that if you went over 25 miles an hour you would get a concussion.

They thought that the first time we broke the sound barrier, a vibration would destroy the earth.

They thought the earth was flat.

they thought the sun revolved around the earth. (and excommunicated anyone that said otherwise).

They thought that the mass of something effected the speed at which things fall.

Point being, everyone fears the worst when they do not understand it. I think we should leave it up to the people that have spent their lifes trying to figure this stuff out.