Bonus points if you can explain why people are freaking out about CERN activating it during the eclipse specifically. I don’t understand how these can be related in any way.
In: Physics
The Large Hadron Collider is a very complex machine that takes atoms, speeds them up through an extremely large circular tunnel (around 27km or 16.5 miles) at mind boggling speeds, and then smashes them into each other.
They are doing this to try and mimic the conditions of the Big bang, an event theorised to have started the universe as we know it and it’s constant expansion. I say theorised because it’s called the big bang theory.
People are scared because they are unedacted in the matter and believe it will create a black hole that will engulf us all, or something to that effect
Stupidity and ignorace are a dangerous combination, specially when it comes to top level science difficult to understand, that being said, CERN doesnt make it any better at having a status of Shiva the god of destruction at their entrance.
How are black cats related to your life falling apart? You are thinking to logically about this.
I remember when it was first switched on around 2010 and my friends convinced me it was going to open a black hole later that day.
I spent the whole day at school in tears, terrified of this big massive ring that was going to destroy the world.
What a knob I was
Simply? It’s a microscope. A very very large microscope looking at very very small things.
LHC theories that everyone has been transported to alternate dimensions and what not are all incredibly hilarious and entertaining. I don’t care what anyone has to say.
Others have explained what it does much better than I can, [but when someone did this as a joke, people took it very seriously.](https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2016/aug/18/mock-human-sacrifice-at-cern-video)
A lot of people thought the LHC was creating black holes that were portals to hell and that demons or satan would come through and increase your property taxes or something.
My guess about CERN activating it during the eclipse might have something to do with the moon blocking particles the Sun emits that might impact the results? Maybe a “purer” run? I would think most particles would get absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere but maybe some get through that the Moon might block more of?
According to laymen’s science, the LHC has the power to create black holes if used improperly. That combined with the spiritual beliefs and superstitions surrounding a solar eclipse sounds like it should be some kind of omen or bringer of bad things.
In reality, the LHC and solar eclipse are unrelated phenomenon, but the human mind likes to make connections in chaos and find patterns in randomness. Many theoretical physicists theorize that the particles in the accelerator could collide with high enough energy to produce miniture black holes, however these black holes would fizz out in microseconds and not have enough energy to sustain themselves.
*Are* people *still* freaked out about it though? I remember a bit of a hullaballoo before CERN first turned the thing on, but when the world didn’t end I thought *everybody* moved on?
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