On Wednesday, European scientists will flip the switch and turn on their brand new Large Hadron Collider (LHC), smashing protons together at such high speeds that their energy will create conditions similar to those that existed in the first one-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. But on an infinitesimal scale, of course.
The currently accepted "Standard Model" in physics predicts an array of subatomic particles, all of which have been identified experimentally except for one -- the so-called Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is a particle that's needed to explain why we all have mass and aren't just clouds of disembodied energy. If it turns out that there's no such animal as the Higgs boson, then it's back to the drawing board to explain why we seem so sure that we're solid
One alternative explanation would be that perhaps ten or twelve additional physical dimensions to the universe exist, beyond the three that our human senses can perceive. This theoretical assumption would fit into the proposed "string theory" of the universe, which I don't really understand and you don't either -- don't try to BS me that you do. Another alternative would be that every elementary particle has a "supersymmetric partner," with various unusual qualities, a partner particle that we haven't been able to detect, but that might explain the nature of "dark matter."
But the truly fascinating question about the LHC start-up on Wednesday is the possibility that it could create a tiny black hole, a black hole that would begin gobbling up everything within reach as it grew bigger and bigger, ultimately sucking you, me and Britney Spears into the perimeter of its event horizon, thereby causing some significant changes in our plans for next weekend.
European scientists scoff at this fear, but a lawsuit has been filed in federal court to block the LHC's start-up. I doubt if the federal judge hearing the matter is going to find she has jurisdiction to issue an injunction preventing European scientists from conducting an experiment in a laboratory located on the French-Swiss border. And beyond jurisdictional issues, the evidence offered to support such an injunction is a lot of complex and controversial -- not to mention speculative -- theoretical physics, evidence she will have difficulty absorbing between now and Wednesday.
Anyway, some scientists foresaw a possibility that the detonation of the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo would start a chain reaction that would consume the entire world. Ha! We dodged that bullet, right? Anyway, only 18 percent of voters in an MSNBC poll are worried that the experiment might destroy the world. That's a pretty small minority, and I'm sure the rest of the voters polled know what they're talking about.
So flip that switch, dudes! But I'm not bothering to mow my lawn until after Wednesday.
---------------------ILLUSTRATION (J. Pequenão / CERN / ATLAS) Artist's conception of particle tracks expected to be generated if particle collision results in creation of a black hole that instantaneously decays.
12 comments:
I understand string theory. That is, I understand that I don't need to understand it, because some guy over at the LHC does.
Oh, and it's under the French-Swiss border, isn't it?
You're absolutely correct. Thanks, and correction made.
Also, although the LHC will be activated Wednesday, the first particle collisions won't occur until later in the fall, so I'll have to mow my lawn after all.
Yeah, my roommates and I were talking about it last night, joking that we didn't need to do our homework. Then I read that the first full-speed collisions take place on October 21, and we were so disappointed.
We're definitely planning on partying on the night of October 20. Since it's in Europe, the first collision will probably be early early morning U.S. time on the 21st.
That's the spirit!
I saw a news story about a girl in India who committed suicide (by swallowing pesticide) because she was so upset that the LHC would cause the world to end today.
Please don't do that.
One scenario, by the way, is that the earth's gravitation will cause tiny black holes to fall through the earth, as they are created, and collect togther at the center, where they will merge together and hollow out the earth from the inside. I don't know how long for the black hole to gobble its way to the surface, but we might eventually find ourselves walking around on "thin ice." I suppose we'll suspect something has gone amiss when New York City drops into the void.
I know, I'm sick.
That would definitely be interesting. Since the black hole couldn't gather any more mass than it takes away, we wouldn't notice any difference in gravitation, until parts of the surface started dropping away.
You know your physics. Does that result depend on maintaining the spherical symmetry of the earth as the black hole eats its way to the surface?
This is probably going to be incredibly confusing, but it makes sense in my mind:
It would only work assuming each layer of the earth's interior has a consistent makeup. In other words, if at some point the black hole could more easily eat away at higher levels on one side of the earth than the other, there would then be less mass on that side, causing a slight shift in the center of gravitation. Then the earth would probably just collapse.
Check this out:
http://www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com/
Genius.
Hahaha! The website nicely sums it up.
Your other post actually answers more than I meant to ask. I was just wondering if you thought that there would still be no noticeable change in gravitation if the earth's mass didn't remain symmetrical.
As you say, the center of mass would then be off center. Since gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of of the earth's mass, it would then be stronger at some points on the surface than at others.
Does that sound right?
Right, and if that happened, the earth would collapse.
Odd are, the first collapse would be under one of the oceans, which would create a rather awesome waterfall.
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