New CERN Safety Report - Still No Doomsday Scenario
Critics of CERN's new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project have very serious concerns - basically, they are worried that the attempt to re-create energies near those of the big bang will create miniature black holes that will swallow the Earth, or trigger new expanding universes which will consume our own. In the words of a new report:
Concerns have recently been expressed on the possibility that microscopic, stable, neutral black holes may be produced at the LHC and then accrete matter sufficiently fast to pose a risk to Earth.
The good news is that this report goes on to completely rebut these concerns and assures us that this is not a realistic danger, firmly based on current scientific findings and analysis. You can read the lay-language version of the report for yourself or, if truly daring, try the full report. However, the report was prepared by the LHC Safety Assessment Group (LSAG), so those concerned with bias can read the review from the CERN Scientific Policy Committee (SPC) which issued their own report on the report.
The report essentially concludes that any black holes formed by the collision would be unstable and pose no danger, based on the creation of similar black holes by cosmic ray collisions. Supposing that such collisions could create stable black holes would result in logical paradoxes with the observed universe - they would continually be eating neutron stars and white dwarves when created by cosmic rays. The fact that neutron stars and white dwarves continue to exist is presented as evidence that these black holes are not stable.
All this talk of black holes, however, does put me in mind of the 1990 science fiction novel Earth by physicist and futurist David Brin. In it, a scientist creates a stable black hole singularity which gets "lost," falling into the Earth's crust. Scientists from around the world join together in an attempt to expel it into outer space before it can create devastating planetary consequences. It's been years since I read the book, so I don't recall all the details, but I do recall enjoying the book at the time.
Do I think this scenario is plausible at the LHC? Not really. These collisions happen all the time in nature and there is no indication of these sort of run-amock consequences, so I don't see why running them under specifically controlled circumstances would create problems. Still, I've got a copy of Earth sitting on my shelf, so if there are any problems, I guess I do have a plausible game plan of how to deal with errant black hole singularities ...
Related Articles:
- CosmicLog @ MSNBC - Report Rules Out Subatomic Doomsday
- European Organization for Nuclear Research - The Safety of the LHC (report summary) and Review of the Safety of LHC Collisions (full technical report) and SPC Report on LSAG Documents (a review of the report by non-LHC experts)
- Tests for the Large Hadron Collider Computer System - May 2008
- Large Hadron Collider Delayed Again - June 2007
- Black Hole Controversy - June 2007
- What Is a Black Hole?
- What Is the Big Bang Theory?
Comments
Good article but I take issue with the quote “completely rebut these concerns“.
The new report provides reasonable evidence that when a stray cosmic ray particle collides with Earth or a Neutron star, dangerous black holes are not produced.
Unfortunately the report does not directly address the safety of colliding thousands of tightly packed anti-matter particles head on against thousands of tightly packed matter particles at 99.9999991% of the speed of light with powerful magnets and exactly opposing momentums to focus the energy. Planned conditions at the LHC that might create dangerous black holes.
This report simply asks us to make one hell of an assumption, that a single cosmic ray particle impact with Earth or Neutron stars will produce the same results as colliding thousands of anti-matter particles head on against thousands of matter particles with powerful magnets and exactly opposing momentums to focus the energy. We are asked to accept that these conditions must create the same results, without a single scientific explaination to support what appears to me to be a rather far fetched assumption “hence neither will the LHC“.
LHCFacts.org
I would re-read JTankers post comment, and the CERN LSAG reports, and compare again!!! The physicists really do not know the outcomes. We will not know the outcomes until between October 2008 and sometime in 2009, when full power collisions are actuated. My concern is with ALICE, and the Lead(Pb) Heavy Ion Collisions; eventually these experiments shall be financed! This is where the Quantum Wormhole, Blackhole, and Strangelet creation, may reside. If nothing disasterous occurs, then They, and We, were extremely lucky! If an unforeseen anamoly exists, then it shall be comparable to: “Alice Through the Looking Glass, and What She Found There”!!! Science Fiction, and Reality, may meet head-on in an undeniable way, or it might not?!? I for one, am willing to keep an open mind, until show-time; however, I am appalled, disgusted, and SHOCKED, at the way CERN LSAG has handled it’s response (one on one) at the public concern level! Why do I say this? Because: I have had direct dealings with LSAG, and their “Everything is Fine” - “We Know All” candy-coated attitude, (I feel sticky!) and it’s so familiar to the White Star Lines ‘Titanic’ “Unsinkable” repeating shield of defense. Rignt Now, CERN is grappling with many unknown- variable calculation paradoxes, and yet Micheangelo Mangano (and others) penned an expedited safety report. I would give you 8 Billion reasons, but not enough time on this post! Like children, “Don’t take my toy away, or I’ll bop you one!” Even if a Government knew full-well, that a CERN Wormhole Causality-Loop will create a repeating Earth history (over and over again), the public would never be informed; Because it’s Top Secret, and would we really want to know? No Vote, No (Real) External Oversight, and each one of us has a ring-side ticket, so enjoy the SHOW!
I think it’s crazy to have someone tell me it’s perfectly safe based on theory. What is the rush to turn it on other than delaying some physicist getting famous? I think the safety report is completely biased. It really pisses me off that we have to let a group of clowns run this machine. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE, SHUT IT DOWN. I love science and technology but not this mad scientist shit where there is no guarantee of safety. Have people really gotten to the point where they have that much faith in scientists that they can do no wrong? MORONS, this cannot be taken lightly, I don’t think people have realized there is no going back if these so called experts make a mistake. And it may not happen immediately; the damage could be done but could take years to take affect because we have no way of seeing the full effects of this machine. All I can say is they predict the LHC could be making about 1 black hole a second and the hawking radiation, which has yet to be proven, will evaporate each one produced. What is the worst that could happen? Andrew your article is typical. You just gloss everything over and say everything is going to be alright. WELL THAT IS BS, we are talking about something that should not be taken so lightly. And why are you letting a few particle physicists run an experiment that gives them the right to disregard safety to everyone and everything…? This machine does not scare me, its just the lax CERN politics and glossed over safety issues as well as the rush to run this BS experiments..for what? proving or disproving some stupid GOD particle theory at the expense of destroying earth? Nice. Yeah lets go for it….you stupid particle scientists. And you don’t have to be a particle physicist to have common sense that the whole thing is wrong.
I think it’s crazy to have someone tell me it’s perfectly safe based on theory. What is the rush to turn it on other than delaying some physicist getting famous? I think the safety report is completely biased. It really pisses me off that we have to let a group of clowns run this machine. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE, SHUT IT DOWN. I love science and technology but not this mad scientist shit where there is no guarantee of safety. Have people really gotten to the point where they have that much faith in scientists that they can do no wrong? MORONS, this cannot be taken lightly, I don’t think people have realized there is no going back if these so called experts make a mistake. And it may not happen immediately; the damage could be done but could take years to take affect because we have no way of seeing the full effects of this machine. All I can say is they predict the LHC could be making about 1 black hole a second and the hawking radiation, which has yet to be proven, will evaporate each one produced. What is the worst that could happen? Andrew your article is typical. You just gloss everything over and say everything is going to be alright. WELL THAT IS BS, we are talking about something that should not be taken so lightly. And why are you letting a few particle physicists run an experiment that gives them the right to disregard safety to everyone and everything…? This machine does not scare me, its just the lax CERN politics and glossed over safety issues as well as the rush to run this BS experiments..for what? proving or disproving some stupid GOD particle theory at the expense of destroying earth? Nice. Yeah lets go for it….you stupid particle scientists. And you don’t have to be a particle physicist to have common sense that the whole thing is wrong.
The CERN safety report concludes that because the earth, sun, etc. still exist, no danger is posed by the CERN experiments. The flaw in the argument is that we don’t necessarily know what astronomical bodies no longer exist, and whether any of those may have been lost to mini-black holes, strangelets, super-vacuums or otherwise. The lack of that knowledge makes the conclusion suspect (like saying that a particular disease may not have affected humans 20,000 years ago because nobody today is infected with that disease). I respect the work of the scientists who have reviewed the safety of CERN, but they’re too heavily invested in CERN’s operation. I would much more respect the review of a peer group that has had no involvement with the CERN project.