On 02/05/2010 03:44 PM, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax wrote: > Reading what I could find on Bosenovas, I find myself pretty worried. > I'd say that finding out what happens in this phenomenon is pretty > important, but one of the seriously worrisome possibilities is that a > black hole was formed and escaped, as it would probably do, I'd imagine > a very small black hole, if it would not immediately evaporate, would > punch through anything, more penetrating than a neutron, it would simply > absorb anything that would otherwise stop this "particle." > > Suddenly all those stories about how the LHC, with its huge quantities > of helium in Bose-Einstein Condensate temperatures, might cause a huge > explosion or other utterly catastrophic consequences, don't seem quite > so crazy. The chance may be low but ... the consequences could be so > enormous that even a very low chance is stunningly dangerous. > > If the formation of a very small black hole is a serious possibility, > then even repeating the experiment on a small scale could be very > dangerous
Last I heard the lifetime of a very small black hole was so short the danger was pretty much irrelevant. The only thing to fear is the Hawking radiation as it splatters, and that's nothing worse than what you've already got coming out of any particle accelerator. Eat the earth? No, don't think so. They're nice for sci fi stories.
