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Micro-Black Holes Make Poor Planet Killers

Posted by timothy on from the they-don't-even-make-good-nightclubs dept.

astroengine writes "Physicists are getting excited about the possibility of micro-black holes (MBH) being produced by the LHC and an international group of researchers have done the math to see what kind of impact they could have on the Earth. Unfortunately, if you're a megalomaniac looking for your next globe-eating weapon, you can scrub MBHs off your WMD list. If a speedy MBH is produced, flying through our planet, it will only have a few seconds to accrete the mass of a few atoms. It would then be lost to space where it will evaporate. If a slow MBH is produced, dropping into the Earth where it sits for a few billion years, the results are even more boring."

2 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. 3rd Option by Kryptonian+Jor-El · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Or it destroys the whole planet!!!!111!!11!!1!!

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    All your 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 are belong to us
  2. Re:Lots of speculation. by Stan+Vassilev · · Score: 1, Redundant

    It's the cutting edge of our understanding of how MBHs work, and _that_ understanding in turn depends on a quite large, quite solid foundation of math and physics.

    So please, this isn't speculation, it's SCIENCE.

    I thought science is when you confirm your theories by experimentation. I didn't know we've had the chance to confirm the precise mechanics of black holes via experimental observation.

    At that stage, calling it "solid foundation" and deflecting doubts sounds to me more like religion, and not science.

    The main lesson of science is to be humble, all scientific models are "incorrect" in the long term. While I don't find the LHC is a threat, the outcome of its tests will very likely surprise both sides of this discussion.