I predicted a couple years ago that CERN would eventually be met with some socio-political pressure to stop its work with the Large Hadron Collider, and it appears I was right. CERN scientists admit that their work is a huge leap for particle physics, but, ah, what they’re trying to do nobody really understands.
Now, some wah-I’m-a-baby-I-don’t-want-mini-black-holes-to-destroy-earth-wah protesters are trying to sue the CERN project into inactivity:
The world’s physicists have spent 14 years and $8 billion building the Large Hadron Collider, in which the colliding protons will recreate energies and conditions last seen a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Researchers will sift the debris from these primordial recreations for clues to the nature of mass and new forces and symmetries of nature.
But Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho contend that scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, have played down the chances that the collider could produce, among other horrors, a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth. Or it could spit out something called a “strangelet” that would convert our planet to a shrunken dense dead lump of something called “strange matter.” Their suit also says CERN has failed to provide an environmental impact statement as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Although it sounds bizarre, the case touches on a serious issue that has bothered scholars and scientists in recent years — namely how to estimate the risk of new groundbreaking experiments and who gets to decide whether or not to go ahead.
(via Neatorama)
8 responses so far ↓
Neal Watzman // April 28, 2008 at 8:31 am
Thought stimulating post, Jeff. Although I think the lawsuit and protest is a bit over the top, it raises the questions about social responsibility in research.
How much due diligence should research projects take to consider potential/possible environmental impact? Where is that line?
JTankers // April 28, 2008 at 10:20 am
I am one of those protesters, I think that science and reason is on my side in this case however…
CERNs web site states that we have not been destroyed by effects of cosmic rays and micro black holes will evaporate.
However, cosmic rays strike relatively stationary objects and results travel too fast to be captured by Earths gravity, while colliders smash particles head on, may focus all energy to a single point and can be captured by Earths gravity. Einsteins relativity theory predicts that micro black holes will not decay but instead only grow, and Hawking Radiation contradicts relativity, is unproven and is disputed by at least 3 peer reviewed studies that find no basis in science to support it.
The LHC Safety Assessment Group has been trying for months to prove safety without success. However science may still be a few years away from being able to prove safety or not.
Professor Dr. Otto E. Rössler (winner University of Liège Chaos Award and René Descartes Award), Dr. Raj Baldev (Director of the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research) and others are warning of a very real, very possible, very present danger to the planet from the Large Hadron Collider. Dr. Rössler predicts that a single microblackhole could destroy the planet in as little and 50 months. His calculations have been released for peer review.
If this experiment is so safe, why arent CERN scientists allowed to express any personal fears they might have about this Collider?
Alleged in the legal action: Chief Scientific Officer, Mr. Engelen passed an internal memorandum to workers at CERN, asking them, regardless of personal opinion, to affirm in all interviews that there were no risks involved in the experiments, changing the previous assertion of minimal risk. (Statisticians generally consider minimal risk as 1-10%).
Previous safety studies ruled out any possibility of creating microblackholes in a collider. But predictions have changed and CERN has estimated the possibility of creating 1 microblackhole per second in the Large Hadron Collider. No peer reviewed safety study has ever been produced that I am aware of that speaks to the safety of creating microblackholes on Earth.
If we delay for a safety study, some scientists at CERN may not be the first to discover some new science, and some Nobel prizes may be at stake.
But which would more wise, conduct a full and independent adversarial peer reviewed safety study first, or just turn it on now and discover science as quickly as humanly possible?
JTankers
LHCConcerns.com
Mea Culpa // April 28, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Twinkies are yummy.
notepad // April 29, 2008 at 4:21 am
This is a quote from http://www.notepad.ch
Strangelet, black hole or wormhole?
Source: CERN
Somebody which I meet at a park here in Geneva, Switzerland where our 2 labradors love to play together, told me today that it looks like during the experiement the CERN is starting this autumn 3 things could happen:
1. If all the calculations where right (and it’s the first time we try this) it should give the world a BIG BANG
2. If somethings goes wrong only one of these things (and not both together) could happen:
A black hole
Just, depending on its size, sucks us slowly or faster in and could make us changing time zone in a funny way. But finally all this universe would get sucked in.
A wormhole
This means that an unique potential time travel awaiting (please fasten your seatbelt ;-). That actually has a good chance that we will time travel instantly, peacefully and in first class.
Well, OF COURSE I did not believe this person. But I was intrigued. This web site is just to diplay the views and opinions on this issue.
I think he has part of this information from the movie ‘The Black Hole’
Now I understand it’s (possibly incomplete list) about a collapse, a wormhole, a strangelet or a black hole
This blog has been completed in 24 hours. Why? Because only a few days are left until the warming up systems status is implemented at the LHT. A few days that may be the last we have.
As I live in Geneva, I would much care if a black hole sucked me in or if I would be on timetravel through the universes if the wormhole comes.
WE MUST DEMAND
A IMMEDIATE HALT TO FURTHER WORK ON THIS PROJECT
A SECURITY ANALYSIS BY AN INDEPENDANT TEAM OF TOP SCIENTISTS DURING AT LEAST 1 YEAR
OPEN AND COMPLETE INFORMATION THROUGH THE MASS MEDIA AND SPECIALLY FROM THE CERN
SUFFICIENT DISCUSSIONS, TALK SHOWS TO LET THE PUBLIC THINK AND EXPRESS ITSELF CONCERNING THE LHC
To give background about this immense project in the outskirts of the City of Geneva, which is rich in opinion and enough technical info to get the picture, the main content of this forum are quotes from News about the Geneva LHC, where important data is shown in bold.
admin
Paul M. Curran // June 11, 2008 at 4:01 am
Irina Aref’eva and Igor Volovich are working on something that will change our world! Let the future take over…
F. W, McClure // June 16, 2008 at 6:36 am
Where has the funding for this project come from.
We are all concerned about Terrorism, isnt this Terrorism on a global scale, and if so, arrest those behind it no matter who they are. Is the government of France allowing this and if so where is the paperwork that these scientists can get away with an experiment that possibly could destroy the world as we know it. By what right? Is whose name? Whoever is reading this. Ask yourself how comfortable you would be having this built under your area. The recent earthqualkke under China was started from a depth of six miles under ground. It killed thousands. Remember the sumami. Whose taking responsibilty for the aftermath of putting this experimemnt into action.?
F. W, McClure // June 16, 2008 at 6:37 am
Where has the funding for this project come from.
We are all concerned about Terrorism, isnt this Terrorism on a global scale, and if so, arrest those behind it no matter who they are. Is the government of France allowing this and if so where is the paperwork that these scientists can get away with an experiment that possibly could destroy the world as we know it. By what right? Is whose name? Whoever is reading this. Ask yourself how comfortable you would be having this built under your area. The recent earthquake under China was started from a depth of six miles under ground. It killed thousands. Remember the sumami. Whose taking responsibilty for the aftermath of putting this experimemnt into action.?
Fut // June 25, 2008 at 7:20 am
In god we trust!
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