Black Hole in NY? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

That Guy · #1 12-31-2003, 11:19 AM

Bored waiting to be let out early from work but I wondered what y'alls' thoughts would be on this - interesting stuff (may require a foil hat though).
http://armageddononline.tripod.com/science.htm

Has a scientific experiment ever threatened to destroy earth?
Only within the last 60 years have scientists had the ability to unleash the immense forces of the atom. But meddling with these forces does not go without risks. When the atom bomb was first created, scientists were worried that it would produce so much heat it would cause the air to burn, as nitrogen atoms could start fuse. If this released enough energy to make nearby atoms fuse, a chain reaction would start that would sweep the globe burning every living thing in its path. The risks of this were taken seriously enough director of the scientists researching the bomb to launch a study. Although they were later proved correct, it shows how scientists are prepared to risk the unknown and potentially devastating consequences of their research for life on this planet.

Are there any dangerous experiments now being carried out?
But now, scientists are experimenting with even smaller particles, trying to unblock more dangerous secrets. They are constructing 'super colliders', huge tubes where subatomic particles are accelerated to speeds close to the speed of light - into each other. The idea is to break them up to find even smaller particles and study them. The world's largest, Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), is now operational at Long Island, New York State. However such experiments do not come without risks.

What happens during an experiment at RHIC?
The RHIC consists of two circular tubes, 2.4 miles long. The electrons from gold atoms are removed and they are accelerated to a speed 99.9% of the speed of light (about 300,000 km/second). When they collide incredibly dense matter is created with a temperature in excess of 1 trillion degrees - 10,000 times hotter than the centre of the sun. Conditions are being created that have not existed since the formation of the universe in the Big Bang, when all the current laws of physics broke down. What could be the effects of such experiments?

Scenario 1: A Black Hole is created
The first is that a black hole is created in the laboratory. A black hole is where matter becomes so dense that nothing can escape from it - even light (hence the name, 'black' hole). This is caused by their incredible gravity, and the more they suck in the greater it becomes. When the particles are smashed together which such incredible speed, the result would be extremely dense mater - perhaps dense enough to form a black hole. One created in a laboratory could be as small as 10-15 metres (0.0000000000001 metres). However from this minute size it would grow and grow, devouring subatomic particles, then atoms, then the materials in the laboratory and eventually it would start digging a hole into the centre of the Earth before consuming it all. It would then start on the rest of the Solar System.

Scenario 2: 'Strangelets'
A strangelet is the type of tiny particle that scientists want to create with RHIC. It is a 'quark', but unlike ordinary 'up' and 'down' quarks, which make up the matter we see today. Normal matter could not exist in this 'strange' form. The worry is that these 'strange' particles might convert other normal particles into strange matter. This would be the beginning of a chain reaction that would sweep the globe, converting into as whole planet of strangelets - which would mean no substance and no life.

Scenario 3: Quantum Vacuum Collapse
Not content with potentially crushing us into a microscopic black hole and converting the whole planet into a form of matter that would leave no substance, the RHIC could create a massive explosion. Quantum theory says that the vacuum in between particles is in fact filled with energy. Enough energy in one place could break down the stability that prevents this energy being released, for example the incredible temperatures created by the RHIC collisions. If the 1 trillion degrees that is produced is sufficient, some calculations say that infinite energy would be released from the collision, creating a massive explosion that would sweep across the universe at the speed of light. Some have even suggested that massive explosion seen in space could be due to alien experiments in quantum vacuums.

Even if the RHIC is not powerful enough to do this, much more powerful particle accelerators are planned, for example the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). There is no limit to the amount scientists wish to know, so larger and larger accelerators will continue to be built. Eventually one will go too far, with disastrous consequences for the rest of us.

G-Benz · #2 12-31-2003, 11:40 AM

That sucks!

AustinsCE · #3 12-31-2003, 02:51 PM

Well, its an interesting way to go. Try explaining that to ET inside the pearly gates.

elau · #4 12-31-2003, 04:29 PM

I met an engineer who works for a huge aerospace company told me once that the US Government funded a project to produce anti-matters as weapon. But they had to stop further research and development because the experiment was getting too dangerous as no one knew how to revert those anti-matters once they were produced, which in theory can destroy anything they come into contact.

I am not sure if he was pulling my leg or not, but he is someone rather credible.

Botnst · #5 12-31-2003, 07:12 PM

I've known lots of holes:
1. Butt-___
2. Casser-___
3. Rock -n - r___
4. Sebastap-___
5. fishin' p-___
6. ____ wheat bread
7. ___-ogram
8. ___ Earth Catalogue
9. ___-y mackeral!
10. ___-ier-than-thou

Pete Geither · #6 01-01-2004, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Botnst
I've known lots of holes:
1. Butt-___
2. Casser-___
3. Rock -n - r___
4. Sebastap-___
5. fishin' p-___
6. ____ wheat bread
7. ___-ogram
8. ___ Earth Catalogue
9. ___-y mackeral!
10. ___-ier-than-thou

_____y cow!

sfloriII · #7 01-01-2004, 11:15 PM

Pretty interesting article. Thanks for the post!

I read the..... hole thing.

73MB280SEL · #8 01-02-2004, 06:44 AM

I don't think that the particle physics community has the most potential to destroy the Earth, you have to look at biological agents as more likely to accidently cause our demise. Think of some scientist looking for a vaccine for SARS or AIDS that modifies one of these viruses to be more virulent or contagious.

As an interesting side note, black holes are not forever. One of Steven Hawkings contributions to cosmology is to show that black holes "evaporate" due to particle pair creation/annihalation at their event horizon. The smaller they are, the faster they evaporate. Very small black holes would not last very long.

Sholin (amateur--very amateur scientist)

TX76513 · #9 01-02-2004, 10:00 AM

Going to go with the Quantum Vacuum Collapse

It's easier to explain

Mike Murrell · #10 01-02-2004, 01:19 PM

After reading this, I decided to go outside, fire up the barbeque pit and dig into some Miller Lite.

Alot more fun and easier to understand than black holes.

We're more likely to fall victim to the U. S. governments constant meddling in world affairs.

9/11 was proof of that as far as I'm concerned.

xp190 · #11 01-03-2004, 06:05 PM

There is a higher chance that you will step on a mine or some other unexploded explosive left over after WWII then any of the above according to a show I saw on TLC a few days ago. Mathematically speaking that is.

I also heard that 10 years ago, there was enough explosives on this planet to blow it up 150 times. What about now?

It's quite amazing how many different ways there are that our existance here could end in.

Where is my rosary....

xp

Botnst · #12 01-03-2004, 07:39 PM

Get the foil hats out and ready.

With all the probabilities for all the various opportunities for global nuclear or biological annhilation, death by cholesterol, meteor, auot accident, bathtub drowning, etc. Its a wonder we survive one day to the next. No we got particle phycists killing us. Death by quark.

I'll bet if you sumemd all teh various probabilities of death by various causes you'd end with a value greater than unity--we're already dead and don't know it!

Quickly! Don your foil hats!

Botnst

jjl · #13 01-03-2004, 08:34 PM

Talking about probability: A prominent physicist reckons that we all are ALMOST CERTAINLY in a very detailed computer simulation i.e. nothing is 'real' (philosophical pedants can make their excuses now). He thinks that given the growth in computing power is exponential, soon it will be possible to simulate 'reality to any degree of complexity. There will be millions of such simulations running, so it is very likely that you are in a simulation of the computer-makers past, rather than the single instance of reality you think you are in.

But of course, its just dualism again, ghost in the machine, etc. Nothing new under the sun is there?

Kuan · #14 01-03-2004, 08:55 PM

We can't be computer simulations. If we were, then any utterance of "I am a computer simulation" is true if, and only if, we are computer simluations. Anything we say therefore refers only to computer simulations which aren't experienced as computer simulations. But if we were actually computer simulations then anything we say which purports to refer to an outside world would be false, hence when we say "I am a computer simulation" cannot be true.

So what kind of dualist are you jjl? Do you actually think that mind has causal properties over body?

jjl · #15 01-03-2004, 09:14 PM

K., I'm not sure I follow your argument. The one I'm most familiar with regarding the nature of the mind and computers is the Chinese Room (John Searle?) where he showed (OK, argued) that the mind cannot be a computer program, because the mind does more than manipulate symbols. This seems to knock on the head Teller's multi-simulation theory in any event. Also, simulation seems to leave out the first-person subjective consciousness part inevitably ( the analogy that stuck with me is that a simulation of a person is no more a person than a simulation of an explosion is an explosion)..that kinda thing.

You're asking me one of the most difficult questions in the known Universe..but I'd say 'yes'..maybe! You have any insights?