Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
The particles that are decaying in our atmosphere aren't traveling all the way from the supernovae or whatever, they're actually created within our atmosphere. They're typically called a particle shower which is where a highly energised particle hits our atmosphere and then scatters secondary particles (like muons) down towards the Earth. |
I am talking about collisions of much greater energy than at CERN:
Quote:
http://www.livescience.com/53669-can...xtinction.html
Can a supercollider end life on Earth? No. Of course not.
But it's not really a silly question for people who haven't thought carefully about it. After all, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's biggest and most powerful particle accelerator, is explicitly an instrument of exploration, one that is designed to push back the frontiers of ignorance. It's not so unreasonable to ask how you know something isn't dangerous if you've never done it before. So how is it I can say with such utter confidence that the LHC is completely safe?
Well, the short answer is that cosmic rays from space constantly pummel the Earth with energies that dwarf those of the LHC. Given that the Earth is still here, there can be no danger, or so the reasoning goes.
And that could well be the final story, but the tale is much richer than that short (but very accurate) answer would lead you to believe. So let's dig a bit deeper into what makes some suspect a danger, and then explore a fairly detailed description of the point and counterpoint involved in delivering a solid and satisfying answer to the question.
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