Here's a pic I've just stumbled on:

http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gordoncx9.jpg

Glad to see they have the right man for the job on hand should things take a turn for the worse.

Mukiwa:
Here's a pic I've just stumbled on:

http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gordoncx9.jpg

Glad to see they have the right man for the job on hand should things take a turn for the worse.

That was already posted... who knew that Valve were actually trying to warn us of what was going to happen through the medium of gaming?

gibboss28:

Mukiwa:
Here's a pic I've just stumbled on:

http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gordoncx9.jpg

Glad to see they have the right man for the job on hand should things take a turn for the worse.

That was already posted... who knew that Valve were actually trying to warn us of what was going to happen through the medium of gaming?

It was? Oh balls, should have gone through the thread more thoroughly before posting...
Let's hope that their vision doesn't turn out to be totally prophetic

at least we know if someone called 'breen' tries to become the spokesperson of earth we tell him 'no'

Too bad it won't destroy the Earth. That would bring an end to the creationist/evolutionist debate and make everyone face up to the end result. If only the world got ONE chance to hit the reset button :(

Anyone want to start taking bets on whats going to happen.

I'm putting my on a Half-Life scenario.

Bumping this up so we don't get any more apocalyptic threads involving the LHC. I am urging you all to read the first page before making any posts about black holes eating the world, strangelets devouring the universe or any other scenarios that you may come up with.

Integra:
I thought the theory was that while there is the energy to spawn black holes, they'd be so small they'd simply evaporate harmlessly.
Makes it sound less exciting to some, but as a physics nerd I can't wait to hear about what happens. You reckon we'll find the Higgs?

I sure hope so. Though I'm more hopeful they'll discover the elusive "hidden" dimensions. These would go a long way towards proving string theory.

For those asking about the effects of a black hole on earth I think I'll have a bit of fun adding my two cents.

1) Someone said that even if they formed and were stable they wouldn't have the gravity to suck in matter...yes until the curious scientist decides to touch it. :( Damn human nature.

2) It would not eat the earth, at least not all of it. BH's are capable of movement. The Earth has gravitic attraction. The BH would fall into the Earth. Now anyone who asked the question before knows if you dropped something from the surface it would fall to the center and then 'fall' back up the other side losing just a bit of momentum. Rinse and repeat till it loses so much it settles in the core. BUT!!! The BH also has gravitc attraction, thus pulling it towards the core faster than 32mph(or whatever the hell freefall speed is, I don't remember and am not looking it up). This would rocket the BH out the other side.

3) Based off of #2, realistically it would not be falling straight, it would have direction and velocity when created, and while it might initially fall into the earth it would essentially orbit back out. Possibly fast enought to achieve escape velocity and slowly orbit farther and farther away like the moon until we have no effect at all and it flies off into the galaxiy.

Whew...Hypothetical thought exorcises are fun...gimme more. :p

Edit: Oh, and it would loose an electric-ish entity monster into our world and we would have to thow it back in to seal the hole. (Cookie for reference.)
So no head crabs...unless you have lice. :(

This is an exciting topic. I wonder if we'll hear about it on the news when the crap hits the fan - or if suddenly bad things just start happening.

Seriously, I don't think anything bad will happen and there's just a bunch of paranoid people - but it is fun to imagine the outcome and the mystery of it. It REALLY makes me think of a Half-Life type experiment though. Once they discover the existence of the other dimension, that's when they'll build Black Mesa to research it further (and no one will know about this). I expect that to happen in about 20 years. :D

For something like this, where the destruction happens so quickly that no-one will notice and on such a large scale there'll be no survivors...

Why the hell not? We get it right, awesome. Get it wrong, no-one will know.

More to the point, if we get it wrong, it'll look awesome.
Although it'll probably break, they havn't even tested the LHC yet. They cancelled the run due to pressure from the media and governments.
Even if it doesn't lead to the discovery of the Higgs Boson, maybe we'll be able to get something else out of it? Cheap energy was the reason it was financed, I believe.

Of course, only the accountants care about that, the real scientists wanna find them some Bosons!

They have tested it (or at least they reported they did in news stories). They just haven't switched it on for a full run.

Okay, so...one more day eh? Farewell to all of you if something bad happens. See you all tommorow if it doesn't...or if something else happens.

If I don't get to see the new Zero Punctuation, I'll be pissed. It was nice knowing you.

Here's hoping that whatever happens, the people of tomorrow will use the search forums function.

(Bumping this thread as a hint to stave off those that currently don't search for an existing thread, and by creating new ones bring about the end of the world in their own way)

rottenbutter:
Anyone want to start taking bets on whats going to happen.

I'm putting my on a Half-Life scenario.

Second. Better start investing in crowbars and gravity guns.

If we die, then I just want to say I fucking hate all of you.

So, about what time will it start?

You see i feel safer, now that i know Gordon Freeman's there. Before i was worried but that proves they've taken all possible eventualities into account.

One thing I'm unsure about

If they discover the Higgs Boson, does that mean Einstein, Newton and the like were wrong?

If they don't, can we assume God exists? ;)

I first knew about this when I read about it in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.

@topic:
It just goes to show that for all the millions of years that our race has existed, there is still much to learn.

Things that I would like to see come out from this:
Gravity Gun

And an even more awesome Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Only it won't be named Aperture.

The_root_of_all_evil:
One thing I'm unsure about

If they discover the Higgs Boson, does that mean Einstein, Newton and the like were wrong?

If they don't, can we assume God exists? ;)

No. They are approximations of the underlying truth - the behaviour of which can be predicted using these mathematical 'models'.

These 'models' are not reality. Therefore it is perfectly acceptable to have multiple ones if they are in harmony or operate at different scales. So, Newton is still useful for building suspension bridges, but you need Einstein for GPS Satellites.

The Higgs Boson is the 'H' symbol in a very complex equation called The Standard Model. In a sense it is a fudge thought up in the 60's by a Mr Higgs who wanted to get his sums to work. More interesting, in my view is the work of Steven Weinberg who said that rather than there being 12 fundamental particles (I'm talking about things smaller than an atom or proton) there were double that amount in a theory called 'Supersymmetry'. I think this will prove to be penultimate step before a complete Theory of Everything (which includes Gravity and explains everything about how the Universe got started).

By the way, despite many scare stories the World cannot end today as a result of the LHC being turned on, as they are only testing the equipment at the moment. You have to wait until, I think... the 26th... for real near-lightspeed particle collisions.

So, everyone is tensing up for the wrong day.

But why do we have to wear these ridiculous ties? :)

well, I for one am with Hawking. the Damn thing isn't gonna work. and for the record, it's only because he's quantifiably the most brilliant man in history

I'm off to bed so I can be up in 5 and a half hours to watch the switch-on live on Sky news :D
G'night all.

I predict we get a phone call from Vega telling us to turn the damn noise down.

And by Vega, I mean the star system, not the masked acrobat with claws.

rottenbutter:
Anyone want to start taking bets on whats going to happen.

I'm putting my on a Half-Life scenario.

I hope the aliens that come out look like katamari

Lol "You crazy kids! Knock off that racket!"

Capt_Jack_Doicy:

OMG funniest thing on the internet ever. Espesially the sad face at the end.

Well, we're gonna see a Half-Life scenario occur. Mmmph. I'ma go check to see if we have a crowbar.

So, the new plot for half life 3...

We are the main character in a new game engineered by valve to be so realistic, that it is actually real!

Watch as the alien invasion commences after the LHC activates and spawns, countless portals opening up rifts in space creating doorways which will spawn countless hordes of aliens from the planet Xen. You will gather all your wits and crowbars to survive this alien holocaust as people around you are enslaved by the merciless combine. And be surprised as the trilogy comes to chilling end as we finally discover the truth about the G Man himself (and if you look closely out your window you can see him watching you from the distance). Half Life 3 coming at 12 am September 11, 2008.

If not, then oh well...

juandonde:
So, the new plot for half life 3...

We are the main character in a new game engineered by valve to be so realistic, that it is actually real!

Watch as the alien invasion commences after the LHC activates and spawns, countless portals opening up rifts in space creating doorways which will spawn countless hordes of aliens from the planet Xen. You will gather all your wits and crowbars to survive this alien holocaust as people around you are enslaved by the merciless combine. And be surprised as the trilogy comes to chilling end as we finally discover the truth about the G Man himself (and if you look closely out your window you can see him watching you from the distance). Half Life 3 coming at 12 am September 11, 2008.

If not, then oh well...

I knew i bought this bad boy for a reason https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/41019 :D

Integra:
I thought the theory was that while there is the energy to spawn black holes, they'd be so small they'd simply evaporate harmlessly.
Makes it sound less exciting to some, but as a physics nerd I can't wait to hear about what happens. You reckon we'll find the Higgs?

you DO know what happens when a black hole dies, dont you?!
if a black hole (even a tiny one) runs out of mass in it, it will die out, creating a huge explosion more powerful than 300 hydrogen bombs

Whats the bet that if they do somehow open a super portal that drops thousands of head crabs on earth, that the media blames the half-life games for influencing the men and women at CERN to do it?

Ares Tyr:
If we die, then I just want to say I fucking hate all of you.

Back at you, fuck head! I hope you get to hell before I do!

Just kidding, I kind of got into the spirit a bit more than I intended, but it shall stay...