beeb 2 are showing a show at the moment called the cosmos for begginers, on one of the shows they said some scientists in Geniva were trying to recreate the big bang, now i'm sure they are doing it on a microscopic scale but since no one really knows what happend how can anyone say that doing it on a microscopic scale is safe(what if it happend on a micro scale in the first place) say they manage to recreate it, would that not only destroy Earth and the solar system in a matter of milliseconds but the galaxy aswell, is this something we should be trying to do? your thoughts!!!
2007-08-22 02:30:17 · 16 answers · asked by Ste B 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The original "Big Bang" occurred when an infinitely dense primordial black hole exploded. The black hole contained everything which eventually formed the huge amount of matter which makes up the universe we see today.
The scientists in Geneva cannot possibly re-create such a cataclysmic event and they are not trying to do so, all they are trying to do is to understand a bit more about what happened during those first few micro-seconds by smashing tiny particles into each other at great speed.
They have been performing similar experiments for years. This is just the largest to date.
I'm afraid it's another case of the press trying to dramatise and distort the news in order to sell their products.
2007-08-22 02:54:30 · answer #1 · answered by tomsp10 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
[Edit] In response to Valf:
If black holes sucked in any mass, how could we still be here? Yes the gravitational pull is strong, but that only sucks things in if they are close to the vicinity of it. A black hole in place of our sun with the same mass of the sun would have no effect on our solar system (except for heat). So small black holes won't do anything.
[Original Post]:
CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research, or the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire for the acronym) is located in Geneva. They have massive particle accelerators there, and by massive I mean one of them is 27 miles in diameter. CERN only hires the best of the best scientists, and they have been doing particle collisions for years. This scientists experiment probably has something to do with this, and is probably very safe.
Obscure Reference: Angels and Demons (by Dan Brown, the same author as the Da Vinci Code) features CERN where a scientist actually did this experiment and proved that the Big Bang could have happened. This was only fiction, but Brown did a lot of research and it "sounded" believable, whether or not it actually was.
2007-08-22 09:42:22 · answer #2 · answered by Jon G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't take such shows too seriously. Particle accelerator experiments cannot recreate the big bang. They can only accelerate a few particles up to energies similar to what are assumed to have existed at that time, but it really is nothing like making a "small big bang". That show is just trying to use words ordinary people would understand to explain nuclear physics.
2007-08-22 10:03:05 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are not trying to "re-create" the big bang... just the energy conditions that particles were subjected to at the time.
The big bang created ALL the energy and mass in the universe at once. Because of the small size of the universe at that time, elementary particles were subjected to incredible densities and energies.
The CERN people are trying to apply those pressures and energies to tiny little bits of matter to see how they react/change/interact. Then they can extrapolate that to the rest of the matter in the universe.
Don't worry, the biochemists will wipe us all out long before the nuclear physicists will.
2007-08-22 12:43:06 · answer #4 · answered by ianmacpherson55 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are not trying to recreate it.
We don't have the technology to concentrate energy to that degree.
They're trying to get close to the conditions existing shortly after it.
2007-08-22 16:59:22 · answer #5 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
how can they recreate something they don't know actually happened they would actually be creating something for the first time unless they new the exact details of a prior BB.
So once again our lives in their hands.
It reminds me of why I don't watch TV any more
2007-08-22 15:01:31 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Just search under Large Hadron Collider.....That will surprise you it certainly did me......I always thought black holes sucked any mass in so I can imagine these scientists disappearing up their own back sides lol
2007-08-22 09:44:38 · answer #7 · answered by valf 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I remember seeing this. I found it all very, very bizarre and was surprised they even aired it; most things like this are kept away from the prying eyes of the world.
I wouldn't worry about it - if it does do something "unsavoury", you won't know much about it...
2007-08-22 09:37:02 · answer #8 · answered by mick dundee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I have got to say that some people will do anything rather than try and figure out a way to feed all of the starving people over in Darfur, Sudan.
2007-08-22 10:37:11 · answer #9 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
they must have thought of that. but if it had happened on a micro scale before then surely wed all be micro? or am i wrong?
2007-08-22 09:40:37 · answer #10 · answered by cookie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋