CERN's Large Hadron Collider Goes Full Circuit

Something really big happened today:

• "AP Top News at 8:49 a.m. EDT"
  Associated Press (September 10, 2008)
• "Search for cosmic answers to begin with a bang"
  The Sydney Morning Herald (September 11, 2008)
• "Stephen Hawking: The world will not end today"
  The Daily Mirror (UK) (September 10, 2008)
• "Large Hadron Collider "Actually Worked""
  National Geographic (September 10, 2008)
• "Multibillion-dollar collider to probe nature's mysteries"
  CNN (September 8, 2008)

(From The Daily Mirror, used without permission.)

The CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is a 17-mile-long circular tunnel under a couple of countries in Europe, filled with an extremely powerful particle accelerator.

Depending on who you read, today either: An international team of physicists made a huge step toward understanding how matter works, and what happened in the first moments after the big bang, or; A gang of mad scientists created an entity that will destroy the world.

Putting today's even in more ordinary terms, physicists at the LHC powered it up today, and shot particles all the way around the circle. It's a huge step toward making full use of the research tool, and a remarkable achievement.

As National Geographic wrote, the Large Hadron Collider "actually worked."

What's This About the End of the World?

Otto E. Rössler thinks that the 'mini black holes' that the LHC makes will fall to the core of the Earth. This is what Rössler says he thinks will happen:

"Nothing will happen for at least four years. Then someone will spot a light-ray coming out of the Indian Ocean.

"A few weeks later we will see a stream of particles coming out of the soil on the other side of the planet. The weather will change completely, wiping out life. There will be a Biblical Armageddon." (The Daily Mirror, September 10, 2008).

Sounds dire. And, by accident or design, four years from now is 2012: remember that Mayan 2012 doomsday that was all the rage a little while ago?

Otto E. Rössler is Dr. Otto E. Rössler, PhD. He's a scientist. He seems to have gotten his degree by studying medicine, biochemistry, and chemistry. Not physics.

Although he was a "Visiting Professor of Theoretical Physics" at a Danish university in 1993.

His background in biochemistry and medicine, and interest in Dr. Art Winfree's biorhythms (blending mathematics and life science to study how fireflies blink, among other things), apparently give him insights into high-energy physics that the scientists at CERN don't have.

Then again, he may be wrong.

My guess is that I'll be watching video coverage of New York City's Times Square toward the end of December 31, 2012: and there won't be any mysterious bright light at the bottom of the Indian ocean.

And, I hope that I'll be reading about what the CERN scientists and their Large Hadron Collector are up to.

I've been following CERN's LHC for a while now:

• "Large Hadron Collider - Tests Still Going Well "
  (August 26, 2008)
• "CERN's Large Hadron Collider: the Proton Beam Failsafe "
  (August 22, 2008)
• "Large Hadron Collider - the Countdown Continues "
  (July 6, 2008)
• "Large Hadron Collider - Huge Research Tool "
  (June 28, 2008)
• "CERN Large Hadron Collider: Photos "
  (March 20, 2008)
• "Photos of Five Cool Research Facilities"
  (January 5, 2008)

More:

• "CERN's Large Hadron Collider: A List of Posts "

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Finally, a little background about:

• Otto Rössler
• Dr. Art Winfree