TDMVPDPOY
09-09-2008, 09:45 PM
Large Hadron Collider due to be switched on at 5pm AEST
Patrick Horan with wires
September 10, 2008 10:10am
TODAY could be a good day to ask for an early finish from work. According to some, the world will end at 5pm Melbourne time.
The timing isn't based on a religious theory or some wild premonition.
What has many people worried - including some Herald Sun readers here and here - is a scientific experiment happening in an underground bunker below the Swiss Alps.
Tell us below: How would you spend your final hours?
At 5pm, the switch will be flicked on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a giant particle accelerator built by European science organisation CERN.
The machine will smash atoms in the hope it can uncover some of the secrets of the Big Bang.
Opponents fear the $A9.3 billion machine, which will generate temperatures of more than a trillion degrees centigrade, could create a black hole that could swallow the planet.
One theory suggests that after a series of random earthquakes, Earth would start to crack up; molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil; mega-hurricanes and cyclones would level buildings and forests; and eventually, mountains would crumble as Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.
Another theory is more simple but arguably more terrifying: Earth would be destroyed in an instant (about 1/20th of a second), simply vanishing from space. Within a few minutes, the rest of the solar system would allegedly follow.
After commissioning a series of safety reviews, CERN scientists have scoffed at such notions, with Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University telling the British Telegraph that anyone who thinks the earth will be destroyed by the machine is a "t--t".
Eminent scientists agree, with Prof Stephen Hawking describing the LHC as "absolutely safe", telling the UK Telegraph the experiment is vital to the survival of humanity.
The LHC team hopes to find the theoretical Higgs-Boson Particle, or the God Particle, but Prof Hawking isn't confident, and has bet 100 pounds they don't find it.
The particle is thought to have given mass to all other particles and such a discovery would help gain a better understanding of things like antimatter, parallel universes and dark matter.
If the planet does make it past office hours, the collider is due to hit full speed around 8pm tonight.
Watch the "Large Hadron Rap" below for an explanation of what the accelerator does:
What are you opinions? fukn dickhead scientist bettin 100bucks against the lives of billions of ppl....
uumm they can stop the axis of evil from makn nukes, but cant stop dickhead scientist from destroyin the world.
Patrick Horan with wires
September 10, 2008 10:10am
TODAY could be a good day to ask for an early finish from work. According to some, the world will end at 5pm Melbourne time.
The timing isn't based on a religious theory or some wild premonition.
What has many people worried - including some Herald Sun readers here and here - is a scientific experiment happening in an underground bunker below the Swiss Alps.
Tell us below: How would you spend your final hours?
At 5pm, the switch will be flicked on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a giant particle accelerator built by European science organisation CERN.
The machine will smash atoms in the hope it can uncover some of the secrets of the Big Bang.
Opponents fear the $A9.3 billion machine, which will generate temperatures of more than a trillion degrees centigrade, could create a black hole that could swallow the planet.
One theory suggests that after a series of random earthquakes, Earth would start to crack up; molten lava would wash over the land and the seas would start to boil; mega-hurricanes and cyclones would level buildings and forests; and eventually, mountains would crumble as Earth's crust continued to disintegrate.
Another theory is more simple but arguably more terrifying: Earth would be destroyed in an instant (about 1/20th of a second), simply vanishing from space. Within a few minutes, the rest of the solar system would allegedly follow.
After commissioning a series of safety reviews, CERN scientists have scoffed at such notions, with Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University telling the British Telegraph that anyone who thinks the earth will be destroyed by the machine is a "t--t".
Eminent scientists agree, with Prof Stephen Hawking describing the LHC as "absolutely safe", telling the UK Telegraph the experiment is vital to the survival of humanity.
The LHC team hopes to find the theoretical Higgs-Boson Particle, or the God Particle, but Prof Hawking isn't confident, and has bet 100 pounds they don't find it.
The particle is thought to have given mass to all other particles and such a discovery would help gain a better understanding of things like antimatter, parallel universes and dark matter.
If the planet does make it past office hours, the collider is due to hit full speed around 8pm tonight.
Watch the "Large Hadron Rap" below for an explanation of what the accelerator does:
What are you opinions? fukn dickhead scientist bettin 100bucks against the lives of billions of ppl....
uumm they can stop the axis of evil from makn nukes, but cant stop dickhead scientist from destroyin the world.