Physics majors(MAKG et al) comfort me....

[skinner]

So, what can you tell me about the LHC from cern?
I understand the concept, but am thinking it will fail horribly...probably just breaking the machine.
But there is still that itty bitty chance it ends the world I guess. I know its all theory, but obviously enough of a possibility for there to have been a debate about it.
It's exciting yet scary.
After all, I don't think we knew just what the abombs could do when we dropped it.
But most of all...what will this really accomplish?
Good luck all,
alex

 

[rboyer]

Aren't they supposed to be firing that up soon? Particle accelerators have been around for well over 50 years and even though there's never been anything made to that magnitude I highly doubt it's going to cause the end of the world or even the end of one single life. Actually it could lead to some pretty cool scientific discoveries. Even though flying cars would be a longshot outcome they're still going to be one step closer to Grand Unification.

 

[Mark_88]

The LHC will definitely mean the end of all we've come to love and cherish...it will leave the solar system with a huge dent and the rest of the planets will have to pass through earth trash for millions of years when our tiny little planet blows up into a billion fragments of screaming hot molten hadrons...

But other than that, it should be OK for the rest of the galaxie...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

The above link might do you in a pinch till you get a real answer...lol

 

[MAKG]

There is a cadre of mentally challenged idiots who think it will make a black hole that will suck the earth into it.

Except particles of that energy and substantially higher are made constantly by cosmic rays (just not where we want them), and we haven't all died yet.

You can find some good descriptions of the accelerator -- along with photos and the works -- from the Bad Astronomer (Phil Plait, www.badastronomy.com ), but beware that he is highly opinionated and shows little regard for superstition or conspiracy theories.

I don't think there is all that much danger of the project failing. It's expensive and ambitious, but the best folks in the world in that field are working on it (the US gave them up long ago when it cancelled the SSC project).