What do the physicists on this list think about Hawkins recent claim that the Higgs Boson can become metastable at energies above 10^11 GeV and potentially cause the end of the universe by creating an unstoppable vacuum expanding out at the speed of light?
Is there something - theoretically possible -- to this latest conjecture of his, or has Stephen been watching too many Dr. Who reruns? Sept. 7 (UPI) -- As first discovered by the <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/god-particle-could-destroy-the-u niverse-says-stephen-hawking/story-fnb64oi6-1227050481513?nk=2d907a0ab52572e 7c9439c4e797e761e> Sunday Times of the United Kingdom, in the preface of an upcoming book, Starmus, <http://www.upi.com/topic/Stephen_Hawking/> Stephen Hawking claims the Higgs Boson particle, a.k.a. the "God particle," could end the universe. He claims if enough energy is directed at the particle, it could cause space and time to completely collapse. He also claims that we "wouldn't see it coming." The Higgs Boson particle is said to be the particle that gives matter its mass. "The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become metastable at energies above 100bn gigaelectronvolts (GeV)," Hawking writes. He claims that under such conditions, it is theoretically possible the particle would cause an unstoppable vacuum to form that would expand at the speed of light. The likelihood of such an event occurring is apparently very low. According to Hawking, "A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth, and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate." The end of days scenario is then very theoretical, but he still believe it is possible Read more: <http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/09/07/Higgs-Boson-particle-could-destr oy-universe-according-to-Stephen-Hawking/9651410124628/#ixzz3CgptXOvK> http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2014/09/07/Higgs-Boson-particle-could-destro y-universe-according-to-Stephen-Hawking/9651410124628/#ixzz3CgptXOvK -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
