Doomsday Rescheduled:Launch of the Large Hadron Collider Postponed Again. More lawsuits are possible
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by: sas_kate.kestenbaum
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CERN, Switzerland, August 7, 2008 – The LHC team has rescheduled the launch of the most ambitious and unprecedented science experiment ever devised. The first attempts of smashing protons in the world's largest particle accelerator will take place on October 21, 2008. The energy of protons is expected to reach values that existed during the Big Bang.
The behavior of particles at ultrahigh velocities and phenomena appearing in place of collision can hardly be predicted. While this fact seems to be very inspiring for scientists, it doesn't produce much excitement among other people. Several lawsuits have been filed against CERN, arguing that the research can produce potentially dangerous substances that could put the Earth at risk.
In one of the lawsuits filed by a critic of the collider's safety measures, the LHC was labeled "a Doomsday machine". The suit claimed that high energy collisions may result in birth of miniature black holes which will swallow the whole planet, and sought to delay the launch of the accelerator. The case was closed after the Safety Study Commission reported that there is no danger related to the production of new particles.
"When two particles collide, the result, be it radiation, a particle, or a set of particles, can't be of higher energy than the overall initial energy," said Brad Gillies, one of the experts of the Collider Study Group (CSG). "Therefore, the black holes in the collider will be more like "theoretical" black holes. Their mass will be thousands times smaller than mass of a match head, so they can't pose any hazard to public health and safety or to the environment."
While on the one hand this seems like a good explanation, upon closer look it doesn't appear very satisfactory. Gillies' words apply to collisions of two individual protons, whereas in the LHC there will be trillions of protons racing around the magnet ring at 99,99% the speed of light. Added together all these particles will carry the equivalent energy of a 50-ton truck, which is definitely more dangerous than a match head.
When we asked this question to Michael Evans, a spokesman for the LHC Diagnostic Division, he did not give any reassuring answer, but simply laughed the theme off. "There is nothing to worry about," Evans said. "And if you do, I can advise you to visit our partner's website www.handybackup.net – they have a backup plan for everybody."
The final word has not yet been spoken, and CERN lawyers expect to deal with more cases against the upcoming launch. One thing can be said for sure: the machine will be launched this year, and it will be the biggest scientific breakthrough of the year, if not the decade.
About the Author
Contact: Kate Kestenbaum, science writer Plush Media Group kate.kestenbaum@gmail.com No.13 Chemin Du Petit Saconnex, Geneve - Switzerland P.O.Box: 4128Also visit SMARTICO to read more about launch
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