79 responses so far ↓

• 1 writerdd // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:01 am

  I guess we’re all still here.

• 2 Elyse // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:08 am

  @writerdd:

  …. or are we?

• 3 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:25 am

  Seeing how we haven’t been spaghetified yet, I’m really looking forward for the first experimental results.

  My prediction: The Higgs boson will be detected and found to actually be “God’s particle”, so it will be given the name of theon. Its antiparticle, the atheon, will also be found.

  When a theon and an atheon collide, the result is a lot of heat, but no light.

  And, if the collision is energetic enough, a new particle is created: the agnosticon, which is composed of an anti-charm quark and a new flavor, the smug quark.

• 4 TheCzech // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:28 am

  @writerdd: I don’t think they are doing any collisions yet. There is hope for the doomsayers yet!

• 5 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:39 am

  BREAKING NEWS! Scientists at CERN report that Posh Spice got a new haircut. Press conference coming later today.

• 6 TheCzech // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:41 am

  @Rebecca: This was caused by the collider? Maybe the end of the world is coming after all!

• 7 Gabrielbrawley // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:45 am

  Hurray, I survived another doomsday. I have survived so many that I now laugh at doomsday.

  Doomsday “I am here to deystroy the world! Fear me!!”

  Me “Ha hahahahah”

• 8 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:51 am

  @Gabrielbrawley: Really, doomsdays are so common that we should include them in the calendar:

  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Doomsday.

• 9 TheWireMonkey // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:56 am

  No end of the world? Damn, and I maxed out my credit cards assuming I would never have to pay them off!

• 10 Gabrielbrawley // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:57 am

  Andres,

  I thinik I would perfer to start the week that way the rest of the week would look better.

  Doomsday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thrusday, Friday, Saturday.

  And it would be a nice present to the fundies, they sit around talking about doomsday on the first of the week anyway.

• 11 greenishblu // Sep 10, 2008 at 9:58 am

  “…Compact Muon Solenoid, which as you know was Punky Brewster’s real name.”

  Thanks. Now there is coffee on my computer screen…

• 12 marilove // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:00 am

  Well, bummer, flickr is blocked at work!

• 13 SteveT // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:02 am

  @Andrés Diplotti: COTW!!! COTW!!!

  When a theon and an atheon collide, the result is a lot of heat, but no light.

  And, if the collision is energetic enough, a new particle is created: the agnosticon, which is composed of an anti-charm quark and a new flavor, the smug quark.

  As a former/still(?) agnostic, I laughed my ass off at that comment. That is one of the funniest things I’ve read in a LONG time! Well done, sir!

  The smug quark? Hilarious!

• 14 Frankiemouse // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:02 am

  watching that short video made me tingly all over.
  is it odd that particle physics has that effect on me?

• 15 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:21 am

  @greenishblu: Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week! Unless the LHC destroys the planet.

• 16 teambanzai // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:23 am

  I look forward to the day when we can identify each partical, mark them, and of course take bets on which one survives the longest. Let’s face it, we’ve got to find a way to exploit this technology for financial gain.

  I’m just saying

• 17 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:23 am

  @SteveT: Thank you, sir. Your appreciation is entirely welcome.

• 18 jabell2r // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:24 am

  I do sometimes wonder if scientists consider all the possible downsides of their experiments before they perform them.

  If you were to successfully create a man made black hole that sucked the universe into oblivion no one would be around to hear what would undoubtedly be the coolest sound ever created.

• 19 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:28 am

  @jabell2r: First just as an FYI, CERN did commission a study looking into the possibility that an earth-swallowing black hole could be formed by LHC. So at least in this case the answer is yes, the scientists did consider all the possible downsides.

  Second, I like to think it would sound like “FWOOOOOMP” but I admit I’m not sure how close I am. Can any astrophysicists here weigh in on this?

• 20 TheWireMonkey // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:38 am

  @jabell2r: sounds like philosophy to me,

  “If a black hole is created 300 feet underground and nobody is left to hear it, does it make a sound?”

• 21 stereo123 // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:42 am

  Light kicks sound’s ass, and blackholes can suck light, so obviously they can suck sound too! Duh!

• 22 Kapten Kalabajooie // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:54 am

  Isn’t the button that ends the world supposed to be red, and not the button that saves it? I think it should be blue. Or maybe green. The styrofoam construction and dymo labels are a sad reflection of the lack of funding in science today.

  On a more serious note, can sound propagate through an infinitely small, infinitely massive point? Is the event horizon dense enough to propagate sound? Does the smug quark taste like grapeade or Tang? The world wants to know!

• 23 greenishblu // Sep 10, 2008 at 10:57 am

  @Rebecca:

  Seems to me that whatever sound there would be would be spaghettified to infinity, so “FWOOOOOOMP” would become “FFWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM…”

• 24 jabell2r // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:00 am

  Whats the point of destroying the planet if you can’t watch it on youtube?

  Wait unless someone else is watching us on youtube.

  Now my head hurts, I suck at philosophy.

• 25 aclayman // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:13 am

  I’m not an astrophysicist, but I have been interested in this stuff for a while. Even if a micro black hole is created it should evaporate, if the Hawking radiation theory is correct. Under most situations, a micro black hole will have a net loss of mass through emission of Hawking radiation. I don’t know off-hand how big a black hole has to be and how much mass density in its vicinity there would have to be for it to continue growing. The smaller the black hole, then the faster it will evaporate, since the smaller it is, the higher the proportion of the surface area is to the mass or equivalently volume of the black hole. I assume that the experimenters have already worked this out. Also in the beam paths and in the collision area at CERN, it should also be a fairly good vacuum area, since they don’t want the particles that they are accelerating to collide with any stray mass.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation

  http://physics.about.com/od/astronomy/f/hawkrad.htm

• 26 exarch // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:14 am

  I wonder how much time it would take such a theoretical black hole to suck up the entire earth.

  My guess is it wouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes before the earth’s core was entirely gone and the crust would start caving in. In the mean time, the rest of us might experience weird gravitational changes as the black hole swings around inside the earth, devouring parts of the mantle and core and gaining more mass …

• 27 Kimbo Jones // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:29 am

  Ruuuuuunnnnnn yyyyooooou foooooooooooooools….

• 28 jabell2r // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:34 am

  I agree with Kimbo,

  My left arm just got longer

  No wait now it’s my right arm

  No wait now………………………………….

• 29 MathMike // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:43 am

  I’ve got a soundtrack for today that I’m using as background music in my classroom.
  Don’t Change by INXS
  Elephant Bones by That Handsome Devil
  Galaxy Song by Monty Python
  I Melt With You by Modern English
  It’s the end of the world . . . by REM
  Nothing is Permanent by Brave Combo
  Particle Man by They Might Be Giants
  Que Sera Sera by Pink Martini
  Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers
  Time Waits For No One by Ambrosia
  Timestretch by Jellyheads
  Anyone have any other suggestions?

• 30 notreallyalice // Sep 10, 2008 at 11:54 am

  @MathMike: Supermassive Black Hole by Muse!

• 31 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:05 pm

  @MathMike: Great idea! How about Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden?

• 32 MathMike // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:07 pm

  @Rebecca:
  I did a forceful hand to the forehead over forgetting that one!
  @notreallyalice:
  I’ll have to find that one!
  Thanks to both of you!

• 33 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:10 pm

  @MathMike: Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time!

• 34 TheCzech // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:22 pm

  @MathMike: You gotta have Time Warp from Rocky Horror.

• 35 Improbable Bee // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:43 pm

  Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time, for a nice little reincarnationist spin.

  Actually, I’m going with a slight modification of the Douglas Adams theory:

  There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

  I think they did suck the entire universe into a black hole earlier today, but the black hole didn’t want it. (I mean, how would you feel if YOU ate several geriatric rock groups for breakfast, topped off with a bunch of star systems, China, and Kevin Federline’s boxer shorts?) So here we all are again, and it happened so fast we can’t even blog about it.

  Prove me wrong, suckers.

• 36 Chupacabras // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:45 pm

  @ greenishblu #23
  “Seems to me that whatever sound there would be would be spaghettified to infinity…”

  RAmen!

  “El Paso”, by Marty Robbins.
  “We’re gonna hold on” – George Jones & Tammy Wynette

  I mean, the world is over. Country should rule. Right?

• 37 LOLkate // Sep 10, 2008 at 12:50 pm

  This whole thread is fabulous.

• 38 Gerg // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:00 pm

  @MathMike:
  Simon/Garfunkel: Sound of Silence or Slip Sliding Away
  Jerry Garcia Band: Sitting In Limbo
  Widespread Panic: Boom Boom Boom
  Medeski, Martin & Wood: End of the World Party (Just In Case)
  The Doors: The End
  DMB: When The World Ends
  Dar Williams: The World’s Not Falling Apart

  & for all the CERN doubters: Weird Al’s Dare To Be Stupid

• 39 astro_boy // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:04 pm

  @Rebecca:
  I don’t know what sound it would make, but I do predict that the information and anti-information content of Earth will nearly cancel out. This will leave Black-Hole-Earth’s parting message to the universe (via Hawking radiation) a giant belch.

• 40 Improbable Bee // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:11 pm

  Woohoo for TMBG and Particle Man!

  And we have to add “Star Trekking (Across the Universe)”, even if for no other reason than that it will let us shout “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it!” while we go flying into the black hole together.

• 41 Gabrielbrawley // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:13 pm

  I think this is the best site I’ve seen on LHC.

  http://www.hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/

• 42 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:14 pm

  @MathMike: OH OH, and:

  Super Furry Animals: It’s Not the End of the World

  @astro_boy: That is somehow very appropriate.

• 43 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:15 pm

  @Gabrielbrawley: Me too, that’s why I linked to it in the post!

• 44 Gabrielbrawley // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:24 pm

  oops, I guess I should have checked where that link led.

• 45 Gabrielbrawley // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:27 pm

  So does this mean we can start shopping for a TARDIS now?

• 46 MyNameIsTim // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:43 pm

  To an observer on Earth, I bet the sound of the Black Hole Earth (sweet potential band name, by the way) would be nothing but silence.

• 47 JanieBelle // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:47 pm

  The entirety of ELO’s album “Time”.

• 48 dmilligan // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:52 pm

  Is there an anti-keys particle? Will a quantum black hole eat keys? I can’t find my keys ever since they turned that damned LHC on.
  Have they no humanity?

• 49 Augustus // Sep 10, 2008 at 1:57 pm

  “Gravity Rides Everything” and “Dark Center of the Universe” by Modest Mouse, although the latter is inapropriate for the classroom.

• 50 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 2:03 pm

  I don’t know what the sound of a black hole would be, but I do know what we’d hear:

  “So long and thanks for all the fish.”

• 51 Tina // Sep 10, 2008 at 2:27 pm

  I’m praying for a black hole.

  Spaghettification will only bring me closer to the FSM.

• 52 killyosaur42 // Sep 10, 2008 at 2:55 pm

  “Supertheory of Supereverything” – Gogol Bordellos

  “Modern Day Catastrophists” – Bad Religion

  Something a bit Norse:
  “Ragnarok” – Týr

  “The World Died Screaming” – Tom Waits

• 53 MathMike // Sep 10, 2008 at 3:04 pm

  I’m saving this thread and the many great suggestions for the day they fire two particles at each other. You all are fantastic!

• 54 digithead // Sep 10, 2008 at 3:09 pm

  “Is that all there is?” by Peggy Lee

• 55 notreallyalice // Sep 10, 2008 at 3:23 pm

  Another song could be “Anywhere in the universe” by Astronaut Wife.

  Can we get an iTunes playlist put together for this?

• 56 Rebecca // Sep 10, 2008 at 3:34 pm

  @killyosaur42: Gogol, can’t believe I forgot that!

• 57 killyosaur42 // Sep 10, 2008 at 3:38 pm

  @Rebecca: Yeah, well it’s hard for me to forget it as it gets stuck in my head quite frequently, especially because as the LHC has been in the process of getting turned on, I have been reading a book about theoretical physics (Lee Smolin’s The Trouble with Physics) and reading various blogs and news stories that constantly remind me of the song (that and I really like that song).

• 58 Appleman // Sep 10, 2008 at 5:49 pm

  “E=MC2″ – Big Audio Dynamite.

  Clearly the LHC did destroy the world at 0915 GMT and we are all now in hell but have failed to notice. Oh the irony.

  Loved the quote from German “scientist” & anti-LHC campaigner Otto Rossler:

  “Nothing will happen for at least four years,” retired German Otto Rossler told the Mail. “Then someone will spot a light ray coming out of the Indian Ocean during the night and no one will be able to explain it.”

  Four years and counting people. You have been warned.

• 59 Wordplayer // Sep 10, 2008 at 5:51 pm

  @Andrés Diplotti:

  Oh, this SO has to be considered for COTW! That was a riot!

  ~Wordplayer

• 60 Kimbo Jones // Sep 10, 2008 at 5:56 pm

  @Andrés Diplotti: lol

• 61 Improbable Bee // Sep 10, 2008 at 6:36 pm

  OK, that’s twice today that Andrés Diplotti has made me laugh — smug quarks, and the H2G2 reference.

  And did anybody else get JUST the first line from that song from the movie stuck from their head? “So long and thanks for all the fish” … and then the songwriter gave up. If the whole thing had been that catchy, it would have rivalled “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” for Earworm of the Millenium award. (I was going to say Earworm of the Century thing, but I guess Monty Python is pretty much last century, thankyousomuch Graham Chapman for dying.)

• 62 kookbreaker2 // Sep 10, 2008 at 6:46 pm

  I never knew Punky Brewster had such magical subatomic powers!

• 63 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 6:46 pm

  Hooray! Zoidberg Andrés is popular!

• 64 Andrés Diplotti // Sep 10, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  @Improbable Bee: I’ve been humming that song since I posted my comment, and I haven’t even seen the full movie.

• 65 MathMike // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:15 pm

  @Rebecca:
  Cher? That would mean I would hear the song three or four times in one day. I just can’t do it!

• 66 MathMike // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:17 pm

  And we have to add “Star Trekking (Across the Universe)”, even if for no other reason than that it will let us shout “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it!” while we go flying into the black hole together.
  @Improbable Bee: There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, scrape ‘em off Jim!

• 67 enochthered // Sep 11, 2008 at 2:16 am

  For those of you who haven’t yet seen it, here’s the true story about the LHC:

  http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt1Yo610lG0&feature=related

  http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=C7EeXTp23Ok

  And, on a serious note, here’s the fantastic BBC documentary, The Big Bang Machine, with your rock star host, Brian Cox:

  http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHs7hu9hgKc

• 68 Solitas // Sep 11, 2008 at 4:30 am

  Maybe this is what will happen?

  Then again, since both Gordon Freeman and The G-Man have been spotted there…
  Who knows?

• 69 hotphysicsboy // Sep 11, 2008 at 7:39 am

  Why do I have the nagging feeling that we have not heard the last from the black hole fearing psychos?

• 70 kookbreaker2 // Sep 11, 2008 at 8:03 am

  Awwww dangit,

  http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html

• 71 Augustus // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:11 am

  @Tina

  I think the black hole will make us all closer.

• 72 Solitas // Sep 11, 2008 at 9:24 am

  Indian girl commits suicide over ‘Big Bang’ fear *sigh*

• 73 Improbable Bee // Sep 11, 2008 at 12:05 pm

  @enochthered: Thanks for the funny links! I’m still giggling at the deadpan delivery of “the scientists — Freemasons — same thing.”

• 74 Tina // Sep 11, 2008 at 8:49 pm

  @Augustus:

  I certainly hope we have all bathed.

• 75 scepticalchymist // Sep 12, 2008 at 2:21 am

  Great scoop story from inside CERN. Well, I always thought they do something really strange there…

  In my personal opinion I would prefer to be “spaghettified” by a strangelet, rather than a micro black hole. You know, sounds cooler to be totally transformed into “strange matter”. Of course, some say, that most people on earth did transform to it already.

  At least it is nice to see, that some people find their fun in constructing such an incredible machine, rather than spending their time in worshipping some god. It will get unnoticed of course, that these people at CERN do more for the advancement of mankind than any pope could do.

• 76 themadlolscientist // Sep 12, 2008 at 10:48 pm

  Andrés Diplotti wins this thread hands down with theons, atheons, and agnosticons!

  How Come the Sun by Tom Paxton (also sung by Mary Hopkin)

• 77 dcarm // Sep 13, 2008 at 8:50 pm

  Only Skepchick would have a “We’re all going to die in a black hole” party… It’s part of why I love you all so much!

• 78 planettom // Oct 31, 2008 at 10:09 am

  I went as the Large Hadron Collider for a Halloween party last Saturday, and I shamelessly swiped a lot of the details from NotReallyAlice’s joke.

  http://planettom.livejournal.com/235156.html

  Note the black hole forming on the back of the costume.

  Incidentally, for those who were at DragonCon, I enjoyed the Skeptics Track!

• 79 Rebecca // Oct 31, 2008 at 10:32 am

  That’s great, plannettom! I was actually just looking at your costume via a link on Facebook. Superb job. Post the link in the contest thread for a chance to WIN! FREE! CANDY!
  http://skepchick.org/blog/?p=3891

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