End of the world is nigh
- Thread starter Shewie
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3. One member of the team said on TV the other day, "The chances of creating a black hole are less than one in a hundred."
EEEEEEP!......................
Well, yeah - that's why it's called science. And while they don't know exactly what's going to happen, they do know that it's not going to destroy the world. I don't know exactly what's going to happen with my latest experimental brew either...
3. One member of the team said on TV the other day, "The chances of creating a black hole are less than one in a hundred."
Yes, there is a small possibility that the LHC could create micro black holes. However, the same physics also means that any micro black holes would evaporate almost instantaneously in a small but fascinating burst of Hawking radiation. If the physics is wrong on the evaporation part, then the LHC won't be able to create a black hole anyway. The two things are inseparable.
Really folks, there's nothing to worry about. It's just the usual story of the media preferring to run with the nonsensical but entertaining rantings of a bunch of crazies who don't understand what they're talking about, rather than actually deal with real science. Science is hard and doesn't sell newspapers. Mindless panic is easy, and does sell newspapers.
My wife texted me about 20 minutes ago, out of the blue and so unlike her, just a "love you" kind of text. I rang her to see if she was ok, turns out she had a power cut at home, and was worried that it might mean that CERN got it wrong, and we were all vanishing slowly into a tiny black hole.
Oh, and if anybody actually wants to read what the people who know what they're talking about have to say on the subject, you could start here: The safety of the LHC.
Personally, I'm totally stoked about it. How often do you get to see science happening at this level? It's like the Apollo moonshot all over again, only for particle physics. Actually, it's much more important and exciting than strapping a couple of guys to a missile and firing it at a rock...
Personally, I'm totally stoked about it. How often do you get to see science happening at this level? It's like the Apollo moonshot all over again, only for particle physics. Actually, it's much more important and exciting than strapping a couple of guys to a missile and firing it at a rock...
Actually, I am enjoying it too, but I can't help winding people up about it.
That's half the fun.
Besides, would we miss Switzerland?
That's half the fun.
Besides, would we miss Switzerland?
Well, they do pretty good chocolate...
Painful chocolate in the shape of Alps more like, always catch my top lip when it eventually gives way
Oh yeah, we might miss the Alps I suppose...
And the Chocolate.....
But what have the Swiss ever done for us?
And the Chocolate.....
But what have the Swiss ever done for us?
really really annoyed Mr J Clarkson, which has to be a good thing (smug git that he is).
Right you asked for it ...
Velcro
Fondue
Internal combustion engine
Muesli
Meat Beef cube
Aluminium Foil
Liquid Compass
Crisps
Electric Toothbrush
Artificial Hip Joint
LCD
LSD
Absinthe
oh and great railway journeys
Rich
Actually, the cuckoo clock was a German invention. (Thank you very much, Mr Fry and the team of QI.)
John Barber, 1734-1801invented the internal combustion engine
invented by a french man Nicolas Appert (1749 - 1841),
the liquid [damped] compass was invented by Francis Crow, of Faversham, in 1813.
1206: Al-Jazari described a double-acting reciprocating piston pump with a crankshaft-connecting rod mechanism
1232: Rocket is invented in China and was the first example of an internal combustion engine, though with very short duration and it was very inefficient.
1509: Leonardo da Vinci described a compressionless engine.
1673: Christiaan Huygens described a compressionless engine.
17th century: English inventor Sir Samuel Morland used gunpowder to drive water pumps, essentially creating the first rudimentary internal combustion piston engine.
1780's: Alessandro Volta built a toy electric pistol[2] in which an electric spark exploded a mixture of air and hydrogen, firing a cork from the end of the gun.
1791: John Barber receives British patent #1833 for A Method for Rising Inflammable Air for the Purposes of Producing Motion and Facilitating Metallurgical Operations. In it he describes a turbine.
1794: Robert Street built a compressionless engine whose principle of operation would dominate for nearly a century.
1798 - Tipu Sultan, the of the city-state of Mysore in India, uses the first iron rockets against the British Army and wins the first war.
1806: Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an internal combustion engine powered by a hydrogen and oxygen mixture.
1232: Rocket is invented in China and was the first example of an internal combustion engine, though with very short duration and it was very inefficient.
1509: Leonardo da Vinci described a compressionless engine.
1673: Christiaan Huygens described a compressionless engine.
17th century: English inventor Sir Samuel Morland used gunpowder to drive water pumps, essentially creating the first rudimentary internal combustion piston engine.
1780's: Alessandro Volta built a toy electric pistol[2] in which an electric spark exploded a mixture of air and hydrogen, firing a cork from the end of the gun.
1791: John Barber receives British patent #1833 for A Method for Rising Inflammable Air for the Purposes of Producing Motion and Facilitating Metallurgical Operations. In it he describes a turbine.
1794: Robert Street built a compressionless engine whose principle of operation would dominate for nearly a century.
1798 - Tipu Sultan, the of the city-state of Mysore in India, uses the first iron rockets against the British Army and wins the first war.
1806: Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an internal combustion engine powered by a hydrogen and oxygen mixture.
