Re: CERN Atom Smasher May End the World

On 2008-04-13, Batroc Z  Leaper <hotfrog@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> This is just idiot junk science.  Ultra high energy cosmic rays far more

> energetic than anything any human collider can produce have been hitting

> the earth for billions of years.  We're still here.  

Ultra high energy cosmic rays far more energetic than anything any
human collider can produce couldn't possibly have less than Earth's
escape velocity, either.  Any black hole produced in such a collision
would have a velocity within a whisker of c and would go straight
through the Earth without noticeably slowing.

A micro black hole created in a collision from particles moving in
opposite directions theoretically could be created moving slow enough
to remain within Earth's vicinity.  So I don't think that particular
argument is valid.


Of course even if it didn't decay immediately, the odds against it
having such a tiny momentum in all three axes energy are astronomical.
In the unlikely event that one was created and didn't decay, it is
billions of times more likely that scientists would notice a particle
signature from the first few zipping off at a respectable fraction of
the speed of light without decaying.  That would be incredible news in
itself.  Even that isn't necessarily dangerous though - it is quite
possible that such a small black hole couldn't actually consume
anything.

But at least *then* there would be a rational reason to consider the
experiment too dangerous.


- Tim