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There is a very small possibility that the Earth's size will be reduced to a "hyperdense sphere" measuring only 330 feet in diameter, the length of two football fields, by particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ).
Lord Martin Rees, Royal Astronomer of the United Kingdom, explained this risk in his new book. On the future: prospects for humankind, which should be out by the end of October. In an interview with The telegraphRees addressed a particular chapter dealing with the potential dangers of physics experiments where particles collide at high energies.
"The black hole might be formed, then suck everything around," the newspaper said. "The second frightening possibility is that quarks are grouped into compressed objects called strangelets. That would be harmless in itself. However, under certain assumptions, a strangelet could, by contagion, convert everything he encounters into a new form of matter, thus transforming the entire Earth into a hyperdense sphere of about 100 meters in diameter.
He also said that particle accelerators could potentially destroy more than the Earth. "Empty space – what physicists call emptiness – is more than a mere nothingness. It's the arena for everything that's going on. It contains, in it, all the forces and particles that govern the physical world. The current vacuum could be fragile and unstable.
"Some have speculated that the concentrated energy created by crushing particles could trigger a" phase transition "that would tear apart the structure of space. It would be a cosmic calamity and not just earthly.
These possibilities are remote and should not prevent scientists from continuing to experiment with colliders to better understand the universe. As he points out, "If we do not give up risks, we can forgo benefits."
However, Rees also says that we must be alert to all eventualities: "Physicists should be cautious in performing experiments that generate unprecedented conditions, even in the cosmos. In the same way, biologists should avoid the creation of genetically modified pathogens potentially devastating the large-scale modification of the human germ line.
"Many of us are inclined to reject these risks as science fiction, but they can not ignore the issues, even if they are highly unlikely."
The experiments at CERN are constantly expanding our knowledge. For example, the LHC has allowed scientists to discover the once hypothetical particle of the Higgs boson. Working at CERN and other similar institutions helps us build on the standard model – our best yet incomplete explanation of how the universe works. It is hoped that a better understanding of how fundamental forces interact will help answer some of the most important and unanswered questions of the cosmos, such as dark matter and dark energy.
Concerns that particle accelerators could destroy the Earth are not new. Even before being lit, there were reports that the LHC could bring to the apocalypse. After 10 years of operation, the world still exists and scientists are learning more about it every day.
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