We're all going to die next month!!!

stan1980 · May 23, 2008

....(possibly), when the Hadron Collider is switched on. Apparently this $8bn project in switzerland is going to recreate the moments of the big bang, and some fear it could devour the whole planet into a black hole.

Two men have sought a restraining order in a US court to stop the project, but fear not, one scientist has said there is only a 1 in 25 million chance that it will create a black hole big enough to eat the planet. Obviously, he picked this number out of his backside, as there is no way of calculating the chances of something like that happening, and plus I just want to create mass hysteria in this thread.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environm...lanets-secrets/2008/04/27/1208743316244.htmlT

I'm sure we will all be fine, but it raises an interesting question as science progresses. What is an acceptable risk to the planet in the name of science experiments? Is 1 in 25 million an acceptable risk?

DeathMagus · May 23, 2008

Something that just popped into my head, as a possible starting point for discussion.

What if the probability had to be less than #people for/total people? It wouldn't be so great if a 50% chance of blowing up the earth only required half the popular support, but it'd be not too bad if a
1/25 million chance (as per your OP) required 265 people to carry out.

Thoughts? It's 7 AM, so I didn't give this much thought at all.

Athene · May 23, 2008

Well, if it does happen at least it will be quick.

LittleNipper · May 23, 2008

stan1980 said:
....(possibly), when the Hadron Collider is switched on. Apparently this $8bn project in switzerland is going to recreate the moments of the big bang, and some fear it could devour the whole planet into a black hole.

Two men have sought a restraining order in a US court to stop the project, but fear not, one scientist has said there is only a 1 in 25 million chance that it will create a black hole big enough to eat the planet. Obviously, he picked this number out of his backside, as there is no way of calculating the chances of something like that happening, and plus I just want to create mass hysteria in this thread.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environm...lanets-secrets/2008/04/27/1208743316244.htmlT

I'm sure we will all be fine, but it raises an interesting question as science progresses. What is an acceptable risk to the planet in the name of science experiments? Is 1 in 25 million an acceptable risk?

GOD is in control and not man/scientists. This planet will go when GOD wants it to and not one moment before. No court order will stop GOD when that time comes.

PetersKeys · May 23, 2008

That machine looks like something from the Event Horizen movie. Kinda Creepy.

Personally it would be impossible to gather enough energy to create a black hole that would devour the earth.

stan1980 · May 23, 2008

LittleNipper said:
GOD is in control and not man/scientists. This planet will go when GOD wants it to and not one moment before. No court order will stop GOD when that time comes.

You sound like you have strong faith, but just for one second do you ever wonder whether the writing in that book you read called the bible, was just written by ordinary people with absolutely no guidance from God? Just wondering.

LittleNipper · May 23, 2008

stan1980 said:
You sound like you have strong faith, but just for one second do you ever wonder whether the writing in that book you read called the bible, was just written by ordinary people with absolutely no guidance from God? Just wondering.

Ordinary men write ordinary books. The Bible is far beyond ordinary, it is prophetic, insightive, sublime, extraordinary, current. That is rarest among the rare...

yasic · May 23, 2008

I would run a cost benefit analysis.

Take the integral of all the possible results of the experiment multiplied by the probability that the event will happen (both good and bad) and you should come at a number. If this number is above 0 then do it, otherwise don't.

The hard part is putting a number on the results- How much should a cure for cancer be? Unlimited supply of power? End of the world?

Bombila · May 23, 2008

I just love the name of this thing - Hadron Collider! if they'd called it something like a proton detector unit, likely no non-sciencey person would have paid any attention to it.

yasic · May 23, 2008

Bombila said:
I just love the name of this thing - Hadron Collider! if they'd called it something like a proton detector unit, likely no non-sciencey person would have paid any attention to it.

Hah- The should have called it the big-banganator and seen the fun reaction

DeathMagus · May 23, 2008

stan1980 said:

"The Death Star is clear to fire - commence primary ignition!"

FaithLikeARock · May 23, 2008

There's a black hole. What other risks are there?

Lindon Tinuviel · May 23, 2008

LittleNipper said:
GOD is in control and not man/scientists. This planet will go when GOD wants it to and not one moment before. No court order will stop GOD when that time comes.

Maybe we could just shoot at random strangers, too, since nobody will die until GOD decides it's their time to go, right? For that matter, why even bother with clean air, clean water, sanitation, or medicine? It's all in GOD's hands....

Bombila · May 23, 2008

Don't go there, Lindon - there's folks over at RR who already think that way about the environment. I don't think many of them want to shoot random strangers, but 'using up the earth' is a recurring theme.

Lindon Tinuviel · May 23, 2008

RR... I haven't thought about that place in a million years.

And no, I won't go there.

Aeris · May 23, 2008

Lindon Tinuviel said:
Maybe we could just shoot at random strangers, too, since nobody will die until GOD decides it's their time to go, right? For that matter, why even bother with clean air, clean water, sanitation, or medicine? It's all in GOD's hands....

Well clearly it would be god compelling you to kill those random strangers (since it was their time to die) so then you'd go to heaven, so perhaps killing random people is a good thing?

Back on topic now, I read something like this, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, it was fiction of course but still, they recreated the big bang (on a much smaller scale) and it resulted in small amounts of "antimattter" which destroyed anything it touched, it was stolen and used as a time bomb. Anyways Im sure that wont happen in real life, atleast one can only hope.

DeathMagus · May 24, 2008

Aeris said:
Back on topic now, I read something like this, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, it was fiction of course but still, they recreated the big bang (on a much smaller scale) and it resulted in small amounts of "antimattter" which destroyed anything it touched, it was stolen and used as a time bomb. Anyways Im sure that wont happen in real life, atleast one can only hope.

How, pray tell, can you steal something that can't be touched?

pgp_protector · May 24, 2008

DeathMagus said:
How, pray tell, can you steal something that can't be touched?

Antimatter can be contained in a magnetic field, so you just need a portable electro magnetic containment system.

DeathMagus · May 24, 2008

pgp_protector said:
Antimatter can be contained in a magnetic field, so you just need a portable electro magnetic containment system.

Oh, ok. It's a good thing I keep one in the trunk of my car.

Sitswithamouse · May 24, 2008

In the words of Chucky Finster

We're DOOMED!!!!

We're all going to die next month!!!

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