Why the hell are we making micro black holes?

[JohnT]

You got it - that's how it played out.

Speaking of Earth, you might be interested in my SDMB thread in regards to a discussion I had about the novel here in Knoxville. Warning: The SDMB is pretty slow right now, so you might want to open in a new window and browse other stuff while waiting for it to load.

[Hueij]

Hehe... Am I the only one who misses IntgrSpin?

[JohnT]

No.

[Hueij]

Originally posted by JohnT
No.

But where is he? Maybe he got sucked in into one of his self induced black holes?

[Ecthy]

anyone read Cosm?

[Ecthy]

or maybe he got caught stealing gold that was meant to be turned into ions and accelerated to 99.99999996% c...

[mrmitchell]

Vesayen
Learning is the essence of humanity. If we were to put anything above curiosity, then we'd ruin the whole human experience.

YOU KILL EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE ENTIRE PLANET IN A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE DEATH!!!!!!

Actually it wouldn't be that painful...most black holes will kill ya before you even notice it. They have to become REALLY large for you to spend time getting from the event horizon to the center, IIRC. So a "horrible, horrible" death is inaccurate, although a death is correct (unless you have some sci-fi black hole shield.)

In addition, a couple of the sci-fi theories that border on just being a nut include you popping up intact at another place far out in the universe, or your particles being used to build a new universe when the black hole tears off the space time field. (I think.) So, you can't say it doesn't have its charitable advantages.

geeslaka

Yes JohnT, I have. I don't have the book in front of me but IIRC, protesters surrounded the university and cut the power lines, causing the black hole to be dropped.

If the black hole dropped due to a scientific failure, then for the 1/8th of a second I could live before it sucked me up, then I wouldn't mind too much. If it dropped because some dickheads cut power, now, THEN I'd be pissed. (For the 1/8th second.)

These sites would have backup generators though, wouldn't they?

[BustaMike]

If the black hole dropped due to a scientific failure, then for the 1/8th of a second I could live before it sucked me up, then I wouldn't mind too much. If it dropped because some dickheads cut power, now, THEN I'd be pissed. (For the 1/8th second.)

Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see how this "black hole" would be instant death if the field failed. There's no way they have the ability in some lab to create enough mass in a black hole to generate the gravity that would be needed to kill everyone instantly. I mean, we're talking about something several powers more massive than the earth to kill everyone right away. I think the black holes they're making only consist of a few particles and while they may be super dense, they can't be very massive.

[mrmitchell]

Originally posted by BustaMike


Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see how this "black hole" would be instant death if the field failed. There's no way they have the ability in some lab to create enough mass in a black hole to generate the gravity that would be needed to kill everyone instantly. I mean, we're talking about something several powers more massive than the earth to kill everyone right away. I think the black holes they're making only consist of a few particles and while they may be super dense, they can't be very massive.

Good point. I guess it either takes longer to kill us all, or just goes through us then. Hopefully they aren't making any big ones

[geeslaka]

They can't make any big ones, they don't have enough matter.

A small one would go through you, but it would leave a trail of destroyed cells.

[Elok]

Microbrewed black holes have a smoother and less metallic taste. There's love in every batch. Plus you support privately owned small business every time you buy one.
You don't want your tongue sucked into another dimension by just any ol' spatial anomaly, do you?

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by mrmitchell


Good point. I guess it either takes longer to kill us all, or just goes through us then. Hopefully they aren't making any big ones

Not only do the ones you're describing not have enough mass to kill us all instantly, they are also going to evaporate long before they can kill us all eventually.

[Solver]

The chance of WW3 breaking out and everyone dying as thousans of nukes go off are much bigger, you better worry about that.

[Straybow]

A black hole doesn't "suck" anything. Gravity is a weak force. A microscopic black hole (if they ever made one, which I doubt) has only the gravity of the tiny clump of atoms they made it from. Microscopic ones also evaporate faster than they can accumulate mass even if they did come into contact with matter they could "suck in."

[JohnT]

Originally posted by BustaMike

Maybe I'm missing something, but I fail to see how this "black hole" would be instant death if the field failed. There's no way they have the ability in some lab to create enough mass in a black hole to generate the gravity that would be needed to kill everyone instantly. I mean, we're talking about something several powers more massive than the earth to kill everyone right away. I think the black holes they're making only consist of a few particles and while they may be super dense, they can't be very massive.

[Minor Earth Spoilers]

In the novel, the micro black hole was originally projected to fizzle out within a few months, even if it did manage to eat some particles. But its gravity dislodged another micro black hole that was in the Earth's center (for reasons that I won't go into as it is not a minor spoiler) and the second black hole was an unusually stable one, one that wouldn't "dissolve" and break up. This was the black hole that threatens Earth in the novel, not the one that the humans made.

Btw, you would more than likely die because of the progressively violent electrical storms and earthquakes that will occur in the week or two before the Earth is swallowed.