bardicverse said:
btw, they are strictly using this device to study black holes. They dont need atom smashers of such a size for energy production or computers. Smaller ones exist for that use, ones that arent capable of producing a global catastrophe =)
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Don't be stupid and talk about things you don't understand.
Firstly, the device is NOT used only to study black holes. Essentially, in physics at the momnent, there are several hundred plausible models (e.g. string theory) competing to explain the universe. They attempt to unify the two main theories - quantum mechanics and general relativity - so we have a complete description that allows practical advances in relevant areas (e.g. biochemistry and nanotechnology, space exploration). To find which of the theories is more correct, physicists need to study high-energy collisions between particles and see if the results match the predictions of the theory. Some of these events only occur in exotic conditions like those found just after the Big Bang, which we can only approach by using the extremely high energies this collider can provide. To reiterate: there are a wide range of experiments that cannot be done without the new collider and are very relevant to practical advances.
Secondly, there is almost no chance anything "bad" will happen. These collisions will produce exotic particles and structures like black holes, but these will be on a small scale which cannnot affect the macroworld and decay in minute fractions of a second. The body overseeing construction has just delivered a second report on the likelihood of disaster occuring, and both the first and second reports absolutely rule out any chance of it happening.
Few people with any relevant academic qualifications think there is a 'debate' at all. There can be a debate about value for money, but the collider or similar IS neccessary to make progress in physics and therefore technology, and there is a negligible chance that any of the events you've listed could happen.
EDIT: Your link refers to it being the "World's first time machine". Well, it isn't. Everything is a time machine - the collider is nothing special. For example, it is mathematically known that antimatter is matter that travels backwards through time. Time is also distorted when moving at any speed at all. As for humans time travelling, yes, it IS physically possible but this collider is not a time machine in that sense - again, if the author had any grasp of physics then they would not have written such a sensationalist headline.
