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It's the End of the World As We Know It
Author: BobR    Date: 04/03/2008 12:41:50

It's the end of the world as we know it...
And I feel fine...

- REM


About a month ago, I posted a link in the comments of a daily blog post to a site that describes various possible ways that earth (or in some cases human life upon it) could be destroyed. One of those scenarios described a black hole being created in a laboratory and then "getting loose" and slowly consuming the planet.

I was reminded of this when I read this story about a lawsuit against the newest CERN particle collider in Switzerland:
The builders of the world's biggest particle collider are being sued in federal court over fears that the experiment might create globe-gobbling black holes or never-before-seen strains of matter that would destroy the planet.

Representatives at Fermilab in Illinois and at Europe's CERN laboratory, two of the defendants in the case, say there's no chance that the Large Hadron Collider would cause such cosmic catastrophes. Nevertheless, they're bracing to defend themselves in the courtroom as well as the court of public opinion.

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, is due for startup later this year at CERN's headquarters on the French-Swiss border. It's expected to tackle some of the deepest questions in science: Is the foundation of modern physics right or wrong? What existed during the very first moment of the universe's existence? Why do some particles have mass while others don't? What is the nature of dark matter? Are there extra dimensions of space out there that we haven't yet detected?

Some folks outside the scientific mainstream have asked darker questions as well: Could the collider create mini-black holes that last long enough and get big enough to turn into a matter-sucking maelstrom? Could exotic particles known as magnetic monopoles throw atomic nuclei out of whack? Could quarks recombine into "strangelets" that would turn the whole Earth into one big lump of exotic matter?
(note: see the article for all of the embedded links...)

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061229/061229_lhc_hmed_6p.hlarge.jpg


What's interesting concerning that last possibility (strangelets) is that it was also mentioned on the Exit Mundi site.

While this is all theoretical, the greater danger is global warming. Melting permafrost is releasing even more methane into the atmosphere, while at the same time reducing the reflectivity of the earth's surface and increase heat absorbtion, which causes even more melting, and a deadly spiral ensues. We've all heard the discussions about rising sea levels and radical changes in weather. Once again, the shiny happy people at Exit Mundi take it beyond that point and describe how earth could become another Venus:
Here’s how it goes. As the temperatures rise, more water evaporates. But as more water evaporates, our atmosphere gets thicker -- causing the temperatures to rise even more. And as the temperatures rise even more, even more water evaporates. And as even more water evaporates... You've got it: there’s a chain reaction going on. The dreaded ‘runaway greenhouse effect’ has just kicked in.

It gets worse - read it if you dare.

oh, and by the way:

 

158 comments (Latest Comment: 04/04/2008 03:24:46 by livingonli)
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