[Eviftilia]

There has already been multiple threads on this.

[etdgxcnc]

If I don't get a vote on whether a machine that could potentially kill me is turned on, well I don't have to buy Hershey chocolate, or Swiss watches or cheese. Plus, I'm not going to deposit any $ in Swiss banks either.

[Donlupedron]

What worries me is that I got a pal with the world's worst luck. He got engaged to my wife's cousin over 9 months ago and has been going through the process of bringing her over ever since, a process that took Dolores and I just over 3 months. Anything that could go wrong did, but that's all behind them now, she's been approved at the embasy in Manila. Now its just a matter of waiting on a courier to bring her visa over and thats just about overdue. I mean its been a disaster from the word go, one thing after another.


So I figure she's going to get off the plane in Portland and just before they get into each others arms the Swiss are going to destroy the world.

If you knew him, a really decent guy but cursed, you would be worried too.

[Oswczrdz]

LHC

[movlabk]

You barely need any physics to understand why this won't destroy the Earth.

edit: explanation in a second

The way high-energy physicists discover anything new is through (surprise) throwing ever larger gobs over energy together and seeing if they observe any new particles. That's the point of a particle accelerator - make your particles go really ****ing fast and they have a ton of energy. LHC has enough energy that, if certain models are right, it will produce micro black holes. This is how we confirm or deny the validity of those models. However, these energies are on the same order as those of cosmic rays, which bombard the Earth's atmosphere all the time. Which means, if LHC will generate a micro black hole, then micro black holes are being generated constantly in the upper atmosphere. The world hasn't ended yet. Therefore, micro black holes, if they exist, wouldn't destroy the world.

[mobiphones]

There seems to me to be a 'flip the switch and see what happens' mentality to this whole thing. The people who have invested so much into it just BS away anyone saying, 'hold on, lets think what might happen before we flip the switch.'

[Breevereurl]

Originally posted by Lancer
There seems to me to be a 'flip the switch and see what happens' mentality to this whole thing. The people who have invested so much into it just BS away anyone saying, 'hold on, lets think what might happen before we flip the switch.' Jesus Christ, did you even read what I wrote?

[Peter Hill]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
You barely need any physics to understand why this won't destroy the Earth.

edit: explanation in a second

The way high-energy physicists discover anything new is through (surprise) throwing ever larger gobs over energy together and seeing if they observe any new particles. That's the point of a particle accelerator - make your particles go really ****ing fast and they have a ton of energy. CERN has enough energy that, if certain models are right, it will produce micro black holes. This is how we confirm or deny the validity of those models. However, these energies are on the same order as those of cosmic rays, which bombard the Earth's atmosphere all the time. Which means, if CERN will generate a micro black hole, then micro black holes are being generated constantly in the upper atmosphere. The world hasn't ended yet. Therefore, micro black holes, if they exist, wouldn't destroy the world. I have to take many of those points on faith to accept it. And if I do that I can't claim to have enough physics knowledge to really say I know. Also that is hardly enough info either way. It's faith for you too.

[pharweqto]

Who was the Croatian kid who got into an argument with KrazyKitty in the last CERN thread? I remember laughing my ass off because the kid told him he was wrong and he should go talk to someone who has a PHD in small particle physics! (or something to that effect)

The result was hilarious when he found out KK was a PHD in small particle physics. I believe JM also chimed in (and he also has or almost has his PHD in physics).

[Diandaplaipsy]

The best example for what I'm trying to say is if you take a small kid who knows 1+1=2 and maybe some more adding and substracting. Could some mathemacian who has studied years on end explain to him one of his more complicated proofs by few simple magazine articles? Answer is obvious. He could, kind of... because the kid would take whatever the man said to him as gospel and repeat it whenever asked.

Just take the cat which is both dead and alive to see how good education material is pop culture science sites and magazines.

[Sniliabiz]

Originally posted by tinyp3nis
I have to take many of those points on faith to accept it. And if I do that I can't claim to have enough physics knowledge to really say I know. Also that is hardly enough info either way. It's faith for you too. It's not hard to figure out how much energy the particles in the LHC will have. It's harder - though, not that much harder - to figure out how much energy cosmic rays tend to have, but we've known that answer for a long time now. Those two numbers are really all you need to know.

[spiveker]

Well, I was under the impression there is something new we should be concerned about. I thought that is also why it was build.

[Qzmsdoem]

Originally posted by tinyp3nis
The best example for what I'm trying to say is if you take a small kid who knows 1+1=2 and maybe some more adding and substracting. Could some mathemacian who has studied years on end explain to him one of his more complicated proofs by few simple magazine articles? Answer is obvious. He could, kind of... because the kid would take whatever the man said to him as gospel and repeat it whenever asked.

Just take the cat which is both dead and alive to see how good education material is pop culture science sites and magazines. So you are basically saying no one should opine until they have in depth education in that subject. So no one should make a decision except for the experts in that field? How would this apply in public policy?

[newshep]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Good thing I didn't get my physics education from pop culture science, then. Yes I know you study physics or math, my first assumption was that you do know much, but also have a lot of faith in scientific community and what they say, I could be wrong and perhaps you as much as there is to know about the whole deal, but that is not my argument. It is that basic physics info does not cut it.

[Kk21pwa9]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


So you are basically saying no one should opine until they have in depth education in that subject. So no one should make a decision except for the experts in that field? How would this apply in public policy? Actually no this is not what I am saying, people need to learn to say "I really don't know" alot more tho

[AnthonyKing]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I think that's an excellent rule Yeah, that means all of you non-lawyers can shut the **** up about the law on this forum .

[kmjbbT3U]

I rule geology on this forum!

[zlopikanikanzax]

I'm flying to LA next weekend

(Going to SIGGRAPH, a computer graphics conference.)

edit: I lied! That's weekend after next. Give me a time and place and I'll be there

[gvataler]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Who was the Croatian kid who got into an argument with KrazyKitty in the last CERN thread? I remember laughing my ass off because the kid told him he was wrong and he should go talk to someone who has a PHD in small particle physics! (or something to that effect)

The result was hilarious when he found out KK was a PHD in small particle physics. I believe JM also chimed in (and he also has or almost has his PHD in physics). Croatia =/= Slovenia



Also I didn't think he was wrong, I just resented him for being a smartass and overly dismissive towards me, when, so I assumed at the time, knew more than he did.


Being wrong was hilarious in that instance.

[QHdy5Z3A]

Originally posted by Heraclitus


Croatia =/= Slovenia



Also I didn't think he was wrong, I just resented him for being a smartass and overly dismissive towards me, when, so I assumed at the time, knew more than he did.


Being wrong was hilarious in that instance. Sorry about forgetting which country you were from (I at least remembered it was in the former Yugoslavia though ). KH can be an arrogant ***** sometimes but he's fun to go out drinking with. Last time he ended up getting really drunk and got lost in the crowd in NYC. He even lost his hotel key and ended up banging on the hotel door at 4am drunker then a skunk. The guy at the front desk supposedly didn't want to let him in because they thought he was just some random drunk.