Micro-Black Holes Make Poor Planet Killers

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."

Comments

Lots of speculation.

[Anonymous Coward]

Like a lot of advanced theoretical physics, this is nothing but speculation heaped upon more speculation.

Just because their math suggests this to be the case, doesn't mean that it actually is.

With some of the math used, there are literally only three or four other theoretical physicists in the world who can "comprehend" it. At that point, one has to wonder if they actually do comprehend it, or just claim to.

Re:Lots of speculation.

[Stan Vassilev]

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.

3rd Option

[Kryptonian Jor-El]

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