Lawsuit’s Doomsday Allegations Proven Wrong, So Far, in Collider Test

Trials & Litigation

Lawsuit’s Doomsday Allegations Proven Wrong, So Far, in Collider Test

Posted Sep 10, 2008, 09:29 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Allegations in a lawsuit that a Swiss subatomic particle accelerator could produce a black hole and swallow the Earth proved untrue in a first test of the device today.

Scientists conducted the test by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions, the Associated Press reports. However, the bigger experiment comes when the two beams are fired at the same time, creating a collision intended to re-create the Big Bang. That experiment will be conducted within a few months, said project leader Lyn Evans.

A lawsuit filed in Hawaii had claimed the European Center for Nuclear Research near Geneva didn’t take the risks seriously and failed to conduct an environmental impact statement. The case is still pending, Fox News reports. A suit was also been filed in the European Court of Human Rights, but the court refused to issue a temporary injunction, reports the Times of India.

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Posted by Lisa Pease - 2 months, 1 week, 5 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes ago

I think the fears were a bit ridiculous, myself - but I’d note that the lawsuit bringer has not been proven wrong YET, because no head on beam collisions have been generated. So far, the only LHC actions have been to send the particles in a loop - first one way, and then the other. Until two beams are sent at the same time and collide, it’s too soon to say they were wrong in practice (although I agree with the scientsts who believe they are wrong in theory.)

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