Today (June 5), CERN is beginning a new test of its Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and some wild conspiracy theories about the end of the world, black holes, and portals opening have taken over social media.
In order to investigate particles, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) developed the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is a machine that is 27 kilometers long and buried underground on the border between Switzerland and France.
It was a massive project that was first turned on for the first time in September of 2008, and it gives physicists the ability to safely test a variety of different particle physics theories.
After being operational for an entire decade, the machine was turned off in December 2018 so that it could undergo predetermined maintenance and upgrades for the next few years.
The experiment was restarted once more on April 22nd, 2022; however, CERN has just begun a brand new experiment on July 5th, which will continue for the next eight years, until 2026.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will operate nonstop for a period of four years at a record energy of 13.6 trillion electronvolts, causing beams of protons to collide with each other at a level of energy that has never been achieved before.
There is no basis in reality for the doomsday claims being made by conspiracy theorists who assert that the particle collider at CERN is going to result in the creation of a massive black hole that will destroy all life on earth.
LHC may form “tiny ‘quantum’ black holes”
According to CERN’s official website, the formation of black holes at the Large Hadron Collider is “very unlikely,” but the organization acknowledges that it is possible that the LHC may form “tiny ‘quantum’ black holes.”
However, in the context of cosmology, these do not qualify as black holes, and according to CERN, there are actually two distinct varieties of black holes.
The first type is the one that comes to everyone’s mind, and it is the one that originates in space when certain stars reach the end of their lives and collapse on themselves.
They cram a very large quantity of material into a relatively small area, which allows them to achieve their goals. According to CERN, “they are so dense that the gravity they exert is so great that not even light can travel out of them because their gravitational field is so strong.”
When people talk about black holes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), they are actually talking about a different kind of black hole that is created when pairs of protons collide.
“These are examples of microscopic black holes, also known as quantum black holes. According to CERN’s statement, “scientists are not at all certain that quantum black holes exist.”
Therefore, the possibility of black holes being produced by the collider at CERN exists; however, they would not be of the type that exist in space and would have a negative impact on humanity.
It would be good to have quantum black holes
CERN says that if quantum black holes were made at the LHC, it would be “surprising” and “unlikely,” but very “exciting.”
Nature is full of examples of particle collisions, and CERN says that the LHC test is very safe. In fact, it would be a good thing if these black holes were made.
Scientists could learn more about gravity by studying the black holes. Gravity is the force that makes all things with mass or energy pull toward each other.
Most importantly, if physicists could make black holes at the LHC, they could prove that the universe is not just 4 dimensions.
CERN has stated that the Large Hadron Collider “presents no danger”
CERN has stated that the Large Hadron Collider “presents no danger” and that there are “no reasons for concern,” despite the abundance of conspiracy theories that are currently circulating on the internet.
Even though the collider will be studying particles at a higher energy than any other particle accelerator has ever reached before, this is still a drop in the bucket compared to what the universe does all on its own.
According to CERN’s explanation, everything that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is doing is something that “nature has already done many times over during the lifetime of the Earth.”
For instance, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is simulating the processes that take place during the emission of natural cosmic rays; however, these processes are taking place within the confines of a laboratory, which enables the interactions to be investigated.
Cosmic rays are protons and atomic nuclei that are traveling through space at nearly the speed of light, which gives them an extremely high level of energy.
They originate from everywhere in the universe, including the Sun, outside of our solar system, and in other galaxies, and eventually make their way to Earth as rain.