LHC: or how I learned to worry more and question science

"Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard Dawkins

Now in 2008, scientists started going on about the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. Apparently this thing will revolutionize science itself by answering questions that have mind boggled the world's greatest physicists since ever. It was supposed to be up and running in 08 but there was some kind of hiccup and operations were on hold for awhile. But as I hear, only a few days ago the LHC's particle beams actually started colliding and I guess everything's all right. And why wouldn't everything be? Well that's what this post is about.

Your Modest Guru will talk about the greatly popularized theory that the LHC could possibly result in a black hole that would start small, but grow and than eventually engulf the world and maybe even the galaxy. Yeah, even the possibility of that two years prior put me on edge about this thing. I mean really, if there was even a chance of that happening, why would we take it. If I thought that something like that could happen, I'd dig a hole about fifty feet in the desert, drop the thing in, bury it, and never speak of it again. I know this thing could possibly answer questions some the greatest mysteries of the universe. That is enticing, but it is also very iffy. I mean on one hand we can discover so much more about life itself and perhaps go further as a species and on the other hand we could destroy everything and negate everything that happened since the beginning of the...well, everything. Hmm. Thankfully a decision of that magnitude is not in my hands. But like I said, the thing is actually working now and so far everything is fine. Hopefully it stays that way because, really, nobody wants to be stretched to longest point in the most painful way possible whilst swirling around in a freakin' black hole.

This has been a scientific discussion from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.