by Michael Glander
A scientist scans a monitor, to check the temperature of giant super-cooled magnets that use liquid helium as their source of thermal energy (or lack thereof in this case). Does this sound like a science fiction movie? Well, it sure could be, but this is reality for the scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC) near Geneva. You may have heard about this recently in the news or on your favorite radio talk show. Does “miniature black holes that will swallow up the earth” ring a bell? Well, this is the huge machine that caused all of the belly-aching. So we’re all acquainted now? Good! Let’s move on!
So what exactly is an atom smasher? Well, picture it this way: You have one complete, circuitous train track. You start the trains back to back, and have them speed all the way around to smash into each other. Though this sounds like a Mythbusters episode, replace “train track” with particle accelerator, and “train” with protons (or occasionally, ions). So the way that this giant “track” smashes its’ “trains” together is interesting. It speeds particles to about .99999 the speed of light. Once the scientists see that the particles have reached this speed, they allow them to collide. There are actually two beams of protons though, one traveling clockwise, and the other traveling counter clockwise. Finally, they allow the two beams to collide. BOOM. SHABANG. Not quite actually… In this case, there is no atomic explosion whatsoever, because of the ultra-controlled environment.
The LHC’s main function is to try and prove the existence of specific subatomic particles, in particular, the Higgs Boson. If found, it will complete the current Standard Model (basically, the elementary particles that make up protons, neutrons, electrons, etc.) Also, scientists are looking for proof of dark matter. Now you’re probably thinking, “What the heck is dark matter?” Well to put it simply without going into too much detail, dark matter is a theorized type of matter that does not interact with the electromagnetic force (no, it does not refer to the color of the particles…). The presence of dark matter is a huge part of the big bang theory.
So, now that we’ve talked about the way it works, and the theories perhaps being solved, let’s talk about the most prevalent issue of debate with the LHC. Yes, you guessed it, BLACK HOLES! So there has been talk that this giant particle smasher could cause miniature black holes that will suck up or destroy Earth. Let’s get something straight here, first. Black holes are NOT giant vacuum cleaners! They work with gravity, as does Earth, as does the Sun, as does the Moon. Second of all, these black holes would disintegrate due to their release of Hawking Radiation (which hasn’t been produced in an experiment, but it is agreed that it would be produced in most cases, at least where it is in question). Third, these black holes would have such a high velocity, that they would escape Earth’s gravitational pull. Lastly, say these black holes did fall through the earth. Well, they wouldn’t collide with enough particles to make any change to Earth that would be detrimental.
Other than the fact that the LHC is broken, due to problems with the magnets that allow the Protons to be focused in a beam, this device will help scientists further support or refute current theories. So, if you have learned ANYTHING from this article, I’d hope that the thing that sticks the most in your mind, is that the LHC will NOT create black holes. So no, Chicken Little, the sky is not falling, and no, Lifeboat Earth will NOT be sucked up by tiny black holes.
