The CERN 'Hadron collider' is set to operate on Sept 10 and is trying to replicate conditions just prior to the BIG Bang. By all accounts there is a very very small chance that a minute Black hole could be created. Now black holes only get larger, from all astronomical reasoning so if by minute chance one is created will it gobble up all the matter on our planet, meaning the end of life (and flight sims) as we know it?
I know it sounds alarmist but its worth thinking about--- makes hurricanes/cyclones seem small in comparison and we can't do much about them except be vigilant.
See this article--
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/265066...oying-the-world.html

Surely a very minute possibility but one to ponder!

In the article it is stated that
"Professor Otto Rössler, a German chemist at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen who is one of the most vocal opponents of the LHC and was one of the scientists who submitted the complaint to the court, said: "CERN itself has admitted that mini black holes could be created when the particles collide, but they don't consider this a risk.

"My own calculations have shown that it is quite plausible that these little black holes survive and will grow exponentially and eat the planet from the inside. I have been calling for CERN to hold a safety conference to prove my conclusions wrong but they have not been willing.

"We submitted this application to the European Court of Human Rights as we do not believe the scientists at CERN are taking all the precautions they should be in order to protect human life."

Professor Rössler claims that, in the worst case scenario, the earth could be sucked inside out within four years of a mini black hole forming.

Could this explain why the Maya calendar finishes on December 12 2012?

Every time a collider is switched on there's the same argument.

http://www.kressworks.com/Science/A_black_hole_ate_my_planet.htm

Tis far better to console yourself with this.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/08/cern-rap-video-about...r-creates-a-black-h/

If you're really worried about it...maybe a good idea is to research it a bit more and read some of the various papers available. Seems like Wikipedia has plenty of related reading material...

Just read this paragraph:

quote:

Concerns have been raised about the safety of the LHC on the grounds that high-energy particle collisions performed in the collider might cause disastrous events, including the production of stable micro black holes (mBHs) and strangelets.[9][10] Several CERN-commissioned reports[11][12][13][14][15] and subsequently published research papers[16][17] have corroborated the safety of the LHC particle collisions. One research paper reaches the opposite conclusion, stating that "at the present stage of knowledge there is a definite risk from mBHs production at colliders."[18] The validity of this safety assessment has been disputed.[19]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

All of the references to those articles are on the page.

Seems like there is one versus a number. But people like to sensationalize and believe the one least likely theory and ignore the rest. I'd definitely be airing on the side of caution here and I'll admit to holding my breath and crossing my fingers just a little bit on this one. But it seems like the necessary precautions have been taken.

Too bad we don't yet have the ability to test for these things someplace else. Of course a small black hole would be a bad thing everywhere.

lets see,,, iirc gravity decreases to the square of the distance so,,,,somewhere beyond the oort cloud would probaly be safe.

Well, if your using the Earth's mass to feed this black hole, then it would have no more "gravity" than the Earth, right?

yeah but the earths mass would be compressed to microscopic size.

that'll be sure to leave a mark.

best not to feed it at all, thus my "beyond the oort cloud" quip.

Rgrt, I've just emailed this to CERN. Crisis averted.

"40% of Black Holes will be obese by 2012. Government responsible."



"Black Hole said to be loving it."

no way the are setting it in turning the universe ito strangelets

evil forces always try to end humanity but i bet mib will save us again

quote:

Originally posted by Crazy_Goanna:
. Now black holes only get larger, from all astronomical reasoning so if by minute chance one is created will it gobble up all the matter on our planet,

Fortunatly that is false. We are talking about very small black holes (in terms of mass) any produced will only have a fleeting existance before 'evaporating' (not as in a liquid turning to a gas but that is the term the physics bods use.).

Whirlin Merlin is correct. Evaporation of black holes was first investigated by Hawking several decades ago. The smaller the black hole the more quickly it evaporates. Some suggest that there are numerous short-lived micro-holes created in the solar system daily and that they regularly pass through the earth, evaporating on the way, with noone much noticing. (Not all subscribe to this, but it has some currency).

If anyone reads the first link I posted, it explains all that and more.

It would evaporate in a burst of Hawking radiation in a fraction of a second.

Soap bubbles have far longer lives.