Reports that CERN scientists will restart the powerful Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in March, 2015 for another three-year long run of high-energy collision experiments have reignited longstanding fears that the experiments could destroy the Earth and even the entire universe.
Fears that high energy collision experiments with the LHC, the world’s largest particle accelerator located in the Jura mountains near the Franco-Swiss border, could trigger an Earth-wide or even universe-wide catastrophe have been increased by news that the newly upgraded LHC will generate particle collisions at nearly double the energy level previously achieved.
For instance, doomsday theorists argue that the effects of high energy collisions being generated in nature could be different from the effects of collisions generated artificially in a collider. The effect of natural spontaneous collision events could dissipate harmlessly in outer space while those in an enclosed artificial environment within the Earth’s atmosphere could prove harmful, some argue.
But ultimately, even those who are not susceptible to “chicken little” worries must admit that because scientific theories and understanding are under constant development and revision, no one, including “experts,” can claim honestly that they are certain how to accurately assess the risks of conducting groundbreaking experiments, such as running powerful particle accelerators on Earth. Hopefully, future generations will understand better the risk, if any, that scientists are taking now, provided our much abused planet and the billions of human beings who seem to delight in tempting fate are still here
Credit to Skywatch.com
Credit to Skywatch.com
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