There are plenty of innumerate groups who think that the LHC will destroy the world, as they have with each generation of nuclear test device before. Loud groups with mailing lists and placards.
The Large Hadron Collider [1] (in case you were unaware) is the Swiss upgrade to the unfinished Superconducting Super Collider that the U.S. half built in the 1990’s. A Hardon [2] is basically an atomic nucleus. “Large” means up to the size of the lead (Pb) nucleus (mass of 207 amu [3]‘s each). The SSC was being built in Texas, but between cutting science funding and groups protesting its danger, Congress cut it.
They fired the LHC up this morning (3:30 EDT) just to spin some protons around at nearly the speed of light. Soon, they will be ready to actually cause a collision between 2 counter-rotating currents of these hadrons. Their best hope is to find the Higgs Boson, presumably the source of mass within quarks.
The detractors worst fear is that they will create a microscopic black hole that will swallow the Earth. Over at the BadAstronomy blog, he details why this is silly [4]. In brief, the LHC isn’t big enough. Anything we can build on the planet wouldn’t be big enough. Note: The total energy density in the core of the Sun obviously isn’t big enough, or it would be a black hole.
But, then there is this bit of silliness: HasTheLargeHadronColliderDestroyedTheWorldYet.com [5]. If you read the code behind the page, you find several programmer in-jokes. But there is also the comment:
if the lhc actually destroys the earth & this page isn’t yet updated
please email mike@frantic.org to receive a full refund
Ya gets what yez pays for, I guess.
Then, there is this (The LHC Rap):
Perhaps Physicists rapping is the sign of the end times.
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