Science: how far is too far?

August 31, 2008, 8:50 AM

Eh, this is kind of a broad topic I suppose, but one thing in particular got me thinking about this. That would be the large hadron collider that is currently being developed beneath Switzerland. Read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_hadron_collider

For those who are too lazy, it's basically a giant billion dollar beam that is going to hurl protons at each other to answer several questions; mainly how elementary particles acquire mass. This is all well and fine, but there are many safety issues involved with such an experiment. There are many in the scientific community who are concerned that such an experiment could produce black holes and strangelets. No one needs to know physics to know that these would be very BAD (read: end of Earth). While this is not likely, it IS a possibility. Quite frankly, such an experiment has never been performed, so it is impossible for scientists to know for sure.

My question is: is this going too far in the name of science? How far is too far in the name of science? I think scientists are always pushing boundaries in the search for knowledge, but I think even science can go too far. Thoughts?

August 31, 2008, 9:23 AM

Science breaks boundaries all the time, gradually most of us just grow to accept things...because no matter what we say or do they still want to find out how elementary particles acquire mass...and why we're here and how to prevent babies from having ginger hair, and generally outrageous things that MOST people who aren't scientists don't really care about.

Just about everything science creates is "too far" to some people, but they won't think twice about it in 10 years when we're designing babies with four arms and blowing each other up with banagrades.

If you can make sense of that, then I'm glad.<.<

August 31, 2008, 10:04 AM

I think creating black holes is somewhat pushing science too far.

Even though they're supposed to be tiny black holes that will vaporize (or something like that) before they can have an effect I just don't see how they can judge how big or small the blacks holes could be if they've never done the experiment before =/

I can live with the fact that science may push things to far 'morally' but creating black holes somewhat surpasses 'too far' by a considerable bit imo.

August 31, 2008, 10:44 AM

Spoiler: The LHC is just a new particle accelerator.
However it will be the fastest accelerator in existence, the actual chances of creating a big enough black hole that doesn't disappear instantly and grows are very, very slim. But what i do find funny, is that they managed to spend billions upon billions of dollars, to build a particle accelerator just to find out if a certain hypothetical sub atomic particle exists. And maybe try to simulate the conditions of the big bang. Apparently as well, loads of mini black holes will be created but they will disappear almost instantly. As for the particle, if they find it, it might prove the existence of other dimensions, as apparently the particle itself, after appearing, quickly disappears, and as no energy ever disappears-just transfers. Scientists believe that it travels to another dimension or something.

August 31, 2008, 11:26 AM

Science Evolves all the time.

That can be really bad cuz all nuclear weapons were made by science..
The Hydrogen Atomic Bomb can destroy 1/2 of the planet and if that happens the other part will fall too. That's why no one whant's to make the 3rd World War cuz most probably that would be the end of everything.

But, and a big BUT, science is also a very good thing when is used for medicine. Cancer and VHS cure improvements are very good nowadays and keeps improving and that is a holy story.

End of story. Science is like Cloud and Sephiroth...The good Side and bad Side ;D

Cya**

August 31, 2008, 12:02 PM

Um, what are they doing it FOR exactly.....I never really got science

Sounds pretty scary to me though, but I guess not knowing about something like this would be scary, especially when people are mentioning black holes and such likes. What are they hoping to achieve from it?

I er, didn't read the article, it's just confiuse me more so liek, if the answer is in there, or I just missed it because Im thick then er, oops?

I know we need to experiment with things in order to move on and advance and whatnot, as long as it has a purpose and the pro's out weigh the cons, other wise, we'd still be stuck in the stone ages....so is whatever this black hole collinder creator thingy worth it in the long run? D:

August 31, 2008, 12:35 PM

I'm sorry, but let me firstly say, this sounds heaps cool. Yeah, the experiment could go wrong and kill us all, but if all goes well, this could be very beneficial to today's society.

Now, on topic. I don't think science has gone to far. To me, always trying to find life's answers is a noble cause, and we should try to help them the best we can. No matter what we do, there is always a risk involved, but those risks shouldn't stop us, we should just tackle them and see what happens.

With this experiment, if goes down, we all go down, but that's risk, and if its for a noble cause, I think we should take it.

August 31, 2008, 1:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bambi

Um, what are they doing it FOR exactly.....I never really got science

They're trying to find the Higgs Boson particle, which is what caused the big bang. Theoretically.
So they're just trying to understand the universe better.

I'm not an expert on particle physics, which is supposedly impossible due to the large amount of differebt particles that there are, but the chances of a black hole heing created are very slim.

What Zealot said is quite true, the Hadron Collider is just the largest version so far. I think science can probably go too far, but this is not the case with the LHC imho.
Anyway if it were to destroy the Earth, at least we wouldn't regret it.

August 31, 2008, 5:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Placebo

What Zealot said is quite true, the Hadron Collider is just the largest version so far.

Actually, if I understand it correctly, it IS the first particle accelerator that hurls protons at each other. There are other particle accelerators, but they don't do the same thing, hence my saying that this is the first time it is being done.

While it is unlikely that it will create a stable micro black hole that will swallow the earth up, I don't like that it's even a possibility. I also am very skeptical about what is to be gained by such an experiment. I don't see the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle to be at all beneficial to mankind in any way. To me, it just seems kind of...creepy that men are trying to essentially recreate the big bang. Talk about playing 'God'. I don't think man should have that much power. I just think ultimately, we'll destroy ourselves with the need to know absolutely everything.

Quote:

Anyway if it were to destroy the Earth, at least we wouldn't regret it.

Um...I would.