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david1
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2008 07:29
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Just thought id make a quick post on this...
When the particle accelerator at Cern is switched on, it will start smashing atoms at such a rate, it will recreate the conditions at the beginning of the universe. Some people say this will create a black hole which will eat this planet ... who knows ... and reading from various sources, all i can conclude is that no one is sure what will happen, in fact, because of this completly new science, no one will know exactly what the readings (if sucessful) from this experiment will mean.
Either way, ill be watching "http://webcast.cern.ch/" tommorow.
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fat_man
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2008 19:19
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awesome can't wait been waiting for the end of the world my whole life
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demonvamp
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2008 21:46
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*Decides to stay in bed*
I wish they could say for sure, then I could spend my last moments wisely eating chocolate.
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2008 22:20
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Yay, I graduated just in time for the end of the world \o/
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daecrist
Member
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# Posted: 10 Sep 2008 20:13 · Edited by: daecrist
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To quote the head scientist on the LHC at CERN:
"Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat."
The only people who are uncertain about what might happen are conspiracy-happy fearmongering attention whores who crop up every time a new particle accelerator is turned on. The thousands of scientists who have checked and rechecked this thing over the past decade to rule out any sort of science fiction doomsday scenario seem quite sure that they'll either find or not find the higgs-boson without any nasty fireworks or planet destruction as a side effect.
I, for one, am ecstatic. Research at CERN has helped bring about many modern advancements.
Further reading:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howabou tthat/2778490/Large-Hadron-Collider-10-other-dates -when-the-world-failed-to-end.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/08 0910-collider-success.html
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/first-b eam-circ.html
http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/Safety-en. html
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fat_man
Member
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# Posted: 10 Sep 2008 23:13
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never ended y'all fail
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2008 00:13
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I'm still here.
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lzrman
Member
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2008 01:38
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Shucks I'm still alive
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ryo_crimson
Member
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2008 07:27
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When they set off the first Atomic weapon they thought there was a chance it would ignite the Earth's Atmosphere. See, it went off fine and nothing bad resulted....oh..
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hobbie
Moderator
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2008 14:40
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So how exactly do you guys know we're not all dead? 
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darth_balco
Member
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# Posted: 11 Sep 2008 17:22
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Quoting: daecrist To quote the head scientist on the LHC at CERN: "Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat."
I was thinking the same thing!
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 04:03
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Hobbie...because pain let's you know you're still alive?
Sorry. Distasteful joke at my own expense.
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darth_balco
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 05:13
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Quoting: daecrist The only people who are uncertain about what might happen are conspiracy-happy fearmongering attention whores who crop up every time a new particle accelerator is turned on. The thousands of scientists who have checked and rechecked this thing over the past decade to rule out any sort of science fiction doomsday scenario seem quite sure that they'll either find or not find the higgs-boson without any nasty fireworks or planet destruction as a side effect.
And to add to that...do ya really think the governments of the world would allow such an experiment to happen if such a risk was possible? I mean this wouldn't be a reactor blowing up, killing 10 people, and saying "oops! Let's try again tomorrow!", this would've supposedly destroyed our planet and I'm pretty if such a risk was possible, the head scientists in charge of this experiment would've had a secret meeting with the UN Security Council and would've gone a little like this...
China - ...so let me get this straight, you're telling us you want to do this experiment right?
Cern guy - Yes!
US - Knowing that there's a slight chance you could destroy the planet?
Cern guy - Yes!
UK - Um...yeah, we're gonna ahead and say no on that for now.
Cern guy - For now?
Russia - Yeah, until you can get that .000003 or whatever percent down to 0.00% percent.
Cern Guy - But it's only a slight *hears an assault rifle being loaded and aimed at the back of his head*
French - 0 percent, got it buddy? We're not about to have all of mankind perish because one of your scientists made a minor dumbass miscalculation.
Cern Guy - Right. 0 percent, right away!
It's like with that Y2k mumbo jumbo. You mean to tell me that mankind, approaching the peak of civilization, more advanced than any other civilization could possibly fall to computers not being able to go past 1999? Not nuclear war, not global pandemics, not a barbarian invasion,not even a asteroid, but a simple glitch that could be fixed in a few seconds? Phhhlllleaaassssseee!
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 07:03
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Actually, Pat, as Ryo pointed out, the U.S. government let the atom bomb test go, and the scientists weren't sure if the earth's atmosphere was going to ignite upon detonation. 
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daecrist
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 12:40
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Quoting: majin_fett the U.S. government let the atom bomb test go, and the scientists weren't sure if the earth's atmosphere was going to ignite upon detonation.
That's a bit of a misconception. When they were getting ready for the trinity test one of the scientists (Fermi or Oppenheimer, I think, but don't quote me) joked that the bomb could be powerful enough to ignite the atmosphere. They all had a laugh about it, then did a few calculations just to prove to themselves that it was a joke and there was no danger.
At no point did they just drop the bomb and pray to whatever higher power they believed in that it wouldn't ignite the atmosphere. The story has been slightly warped into a mischaracterization of scientists playing with something dangerous they don't understand, when the real story shows the exact opposite.
Just another example of how antiscientists have to resort to changing the facts for their arguments to make any sort of sense.
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 16:29
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But see, even though they calculated it out to an impossibility, they still weren't 100% sure. Maybe 99.9999999% sure, but that's not 100%.
And I'm not being antiscientist at all.
And also, anitscientists aren't the only ones who resort to changing the facts for their arguments to make any sort of sense. 
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daecrist
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 17:38
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http://74.125.95.104/search?q=cache:gL4OixedMjYJ:w ww.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/trinity.htm+first+at omic+test+igniting+the+atmosphere&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd =2&gl=us&client=firefox-a
http://74.125.95.104/search?q=cache:gNcsGodc7coJ:e n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project+first+atomi c+test+igniting+the+atmosphere&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1& gl=us&client=firefox-a
http://www.atomicheritage.org/index.php?option=com _content&task=view&id=296&Itemid=210
They were pretty certain that it was fundamentally impossible for an atomic bomb to ignite the atmosphere. If there was an Internet back then coupled with a pervasive superstition and antiscience sentiment in the public then there might have been a few gullible idiots who took the refutation of the possibility as an assurance that it was going to happen, but it wouldn't have made them any less wrong then just as it doesn't make the critics today any less incorrect.
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 19:09
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Quoting: Article 3 When Teller raised the possibility that an atomic bomb might ignite the atmosphere, however, he kindled a worry that was not entirely extinguished until the Trinity test, even though Bethe showed, theoretically, that it couldn't happen.
I'm not gonna quote Wikipedia. [citation needed]
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 12 Sep 2008 19:18
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Also, on another note, I love it how when Ryo mentions the atomic bomb/atmosphere ignition, no one cares. But when Majin says something about, it causes a small uproar. Thanks guys.
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 02:49
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Can we be 100% certain about anything? Like I'm 100% certain I don't care?
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 02:49
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Aw, no one can press our buttons like you do, Mike.
Plus, no one really cares about what Ryo says.
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 03:18
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I'm being grumpy. I'm sorry. 
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darth_balco
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 05:34 · Edited by: darth_balco
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Quoting: majin_fett Actually, Pat, as Ryo pointed out, the U.S. government let the atom bomb test go, and the scientists weren't sure if the earth's atmosphere was going to ignite upon detonation.
Actually - Ryo never said that the US Government let the atom bomb test go, he simply said that the test went off smoothly, unless you were in Japan at that time .
And that is a completely different situation than the CERN experiment. They had 10 years to perfect this experiment in relatively peaceful times. Since ya know there was oh you know "World War II" going on and that they didn't have such time since ya know the Germans we're also racing to make their atom bomb since ya know if they got to it first, we would all be speaking German right now. That's like comparing the Packers grooming Aaron Rodgers to be their starting QB to Patriots having to start Matt Cassell because Brady's out for the year.
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 14:00
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I think it'd be awesome if we all spoke German. I wouldn't get confused between languages anymore!
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darth_balco
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 14:50
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That would make things a lot easier if everyone just spoke one language. \o/
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majin_fett
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 18:02
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Et tu?
Du kannst mich mal!
Anata wa bakka desu!
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david1
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 18:06
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then we should all speak welsh =(
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hobbie
Moderator
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2008 18:18
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But we already all speak English.
...Well, aside from 90% of the French, but they don't count.
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2008 02:32
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Tower of Babel. That's all that comes to mind.
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dierna
Member
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2008 03:41
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Quoting: polson I'm still here.
But there's an Indian girl who isn't. Commited suicide over fears that the Collider would blow up the world. WTF?!
http://www.uberreview.com/2008/09/indian-teen-comm its-suicide-over-lhc-fears.htm
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