has anyone else wondered how the NSA is shipping the data? wouldn't you need the equivalent of another fibre-optic cable running alongside to transport the data back to virginia?
considering that laying an optical cable is somewhere O(1e9) $ and not trivial to lay undetected, it must be quite a feat...
't Hooft has a little FAQ on 'Can Theoretical Physics explain paranormal phenomena?' find it at http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/para.html . also, check out his PostScript pictures, he even has one of a 'living black hole'!
had two classes with this guy, so i am excited to finally see him get what he deserved a long time ago.
a committee of prominent physicists has also written a report, titled "Committee Report on Speculative "Disaster Scenarios" at RHIC". you can find it at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/rhicreport.html . you will find the three 'disaster' scenarios described there.
Here is an official press-release from the director of BNL to the article - I am a PhD student doing my thesis work on RHIC, so I don't want it to blow up either...;->
cheers, patrick.
BNL Media & Communications wrote:
> The following statement was issued today by Brookhaven National Laboratory > in response to an article on RHIC published in yesterday's Sunday Times of > London. Please share it with others in your area who do not have access to > e-mail. > ***
> Statement by John Marburger, Brookhaven Lab Director, On Consequences of > RHIC Operations > July 19, 1999
> Yesterday, the Sunday Times of London published a story under the headline > "Big Bang Machine could destroy the Earth," with an accompanying editorial. > The story has its origins in a letter in the July 1999 issue of Scientific > American magazine, in which a prominent physicist describes a possible > scenario in which an exotic elementary particle transforms its > surroundings.
> I am familiar with the issue of possible dire consequences of experiments > at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, which Brookhaven Lab is now > commissioning. These issues have been raised and examined by responsible > scientists who have concluded that there is no chance that any phenomenon > produced by RHIC will lead to disaster.
> The amount of matter involved in the RHIC collisions is exceedingly small - > only a single pair of nuclei is involved in each collision. Our universe > would have to be extremely unstable in order for such a small amount of > energy to cause a large effect. On the contrary, the universe appears to > be quite stable against releases of much larger amounts of energy that > occur in astrophysical processes.
> RHIC collisions will be within the spectrum of energies encompassed by > naturally occurring cosmic radiation. The earth and its companion objects > in our solar system have survived billions of years of cosmic ray > collisions with no evidence of the instabilities that have been the subject > of speculation in connection with RHIC.
> I have asked experts in the relevant fields of physics to reduce to a > single comprehensive report the arguments that address the safety of each > of the speculative "disaster scenarios." I expect the report to be > completed well before RHIC produces the high-energy collisions necessary > for any of these scenarios. When the report is completed, it will be > broadly published and placed on the Laboratory's web site.
> ************************************** > BNL Media & Communications > pubaf@bnl.gov > 516-344-3174 or 2345 * Fax 516-344-3368 > Brookhaven National Laboratory > Bldg. 134 PO Box 5000 > Upton NY 11973 > www.bnl.gov
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has anyone else wondered how the NSA is shipping the data? wouldn't you need the equivalent of another fibre-optic cable running alongside to transport the data back to virginia?
considering that laying an optical cable is somewhere O(1e9) $ and not trivial to lay undetected, it must be quite a feat...
't Hooft has a little FAQ on 'Can Theoretical Physics explain paranormal phenomena?' find it at http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/para.html . also, check out his PostScript pictures, he even has one of a 'living black hole'!
had two classes with this guy, so i am excited to finally see him get what he deserved a long time ago.
patrick.
a committee of prominent physicists has also written a report, titled "Committee Report on Speculative "Disaster Scenarios" at RHIC". you can find it at http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/rhicreport.html . you will find the three 'disaster' scenarios described there.
sorry, no black holes or strangelets!
patrick.
Here is an official press-release from the director of BNL to the article - I am a PhD student doing my thesis work on RHIC, so I don't want it to blow up either... ;->
cheers,
patrick.
BNL Media & Communications wrote:
> The following statement was issued today by Brookhaven National Laboratory
> in response to an article on RHIC published in yesterday's Sunday Times of
> London. Please share it with others in your area who do not have access to
> e-mail.
> ***
> Statement by John Marburger, Brookhaven Lab Director, On Consequences of
> RHIC Operations
> July 19, 1999
> Yesterday, the Sunday Times of London published a story under the headline
> "Big Bang Machine could destroy the Earth," with an accompanying editorial.
> The story has its origins in a letter in the July 1999 issue of Scientific
> American magazine, in which a prominent physicist describes a possible
> scenario in which an exotic elementary particle transforms its
> surroundings.
> I am familiar with the issue of possible dire consequences of experiments
> at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, which Brookhaven Lab is now
> commissioning. These issues have been raised and examined by responsible
> scientists who have concluded that there is no chance that any phenomenon
> produced by RHIC will lead to disaster.
> The amount of matter involved in the RHIC collisions is exceedingly small -
> only a single pair of nuclei is involved in each collision. Our universe
> would have to be extremely unstable in order for such a small amount of
> energy to cause a large effect. On the contrary, the universe appears to
> be quite stable against releases of much larger amounts of energy that
> occur in astrophysical processes.
> RHIC collisions will be within the spectrum of energies encompassed by
> naturally occurring cosmic radiation. The earth and its companion objects
> in our solar system have survived billions of years of cosmic ray
> collisions with no evidence of the instabilities that have been the subject
> of speculation in connection with RHIC.
> I have asked experts in the relevant fields of physics to reduce to a
> single comprehensive report the arguments that address the safety of each
> of the speculative "disaster scenarios." I expect the report to be
> completed well before RHIC produces the high-energy collisions necessary
> for any of these scenarios. When the report is completed, it will be
> broadly published and placed on the Laboratory's web site.
> **************************************
> BNL Media & Communications
> pubaf@bnl.gov
> 516-344-3174 or 2345 * Fax 516-344-3368
> Brookhaven National Laboratory
> Bldg. 134 PO Box 5000
> Upton NY 11973
> www.bnl.gov
> **************************************
i would say that it is even smaller than smaller than fairly small