Geology, Wizardry, Astronomy, Obamanation.
May 7, 2008 on 12:53 am | In culture, politics, science |I’m back, and I apologize for the recent lack of posts. Shall we get started?
First, the astonishing. The Chaitén volcano in the Andes in southern Chile erupted on May 2 for the first time in about nine millenia! You can read about it in National Geographic News. The powerful eruption is dramatic enough by itself, but the next day a huge dirty thunderstorm gave us this show. Sweet Flying Spaghetti Monster, I wish I were there to witness it (click on the picture for a slightly larger version)!
Second, the bizzarre. Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomy blogger, drew my attention to this article: Magic trick costs teacher job. If you aren’t going to read it, here’s the short version: a substitute middle school teacher at a Florida public school was fired for… wait for it… wizardry. The guy did a 30 second magic trick in front of his class, making a toothpick disappear and then reappear, and then was dismissed for wizardry. In an attempt to cover his ignorant ass, a school official tacked on a few other accusations (e.g. “not following lesson plans”), and then claimed, “it wasn’t just the wizardry” — I can’t make this stuff up, folks. Anyone from Land’O'Lakes, Florida should be sobbing with shame right now.
And third, I finished my astronomy class! Unfortunately, buying a telescope is on hold until I finish paying for the class itself, but I learned some really cool stuff and have reinvigorated interests in things like the Large Hadron Collider. The LHC is the world’s largest and highest-powered particle accelerator/collider. It was just completed and will begin operating this month to search for things like the Higgs boson, the only particle theorized by the Standard Model of physics that has not yet been observed. Confirmation of the Higgs boson and other new subatomic particles could lead toward the development of a Theory of Everything (also known as the Grand Unified Theory) of physics, incorporating the strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetic, and gravitation forces. Creationists everywhere, hold your breath: will we discover proof of god? Literally, hold your breath.
Finally, tonight was a big one for Barack Obama. I don’t see how Clinton can continue her campaign beyond the next day or two without being ridiculed by the press. That’s pretty great news. I find it fishy that cable news (CNN, FOX, MSNBC) led in calling the race “too close to call” into early this morning when the Obama campaign had conceded earlier, and when CBS news (with no late-night cable news program ratings to worry about) had called it for Clinton earlier as well. I think the numbers were there to call the race, and they lied about it to keep viewers in suspense and thus glued to their tvs. Seems like a pretty simple scam for a news director to justify with mere plausible deniability about the race’s outcome.
That’s it for now, I’m sleepy. But I’ll say more, and say it more coherently, soon.
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Yes an interesting political campaign, but how about a challenge…
LHCConcerns.com will pay $500.00 US to the best proposal that can reasonably prove 5% or less Risk of Planetary destruction from Micro Black Holes.
The contest will conclude in a vote by site visitors on all reasonable proofs received, all proofs will be published and the contest will end not sooner than May 20th. (LHCConcerns will make the final call on best proposal that reasonably proves 5% or lower risk from micro black holes being created by the Large Hadron Collider).
You may prove that ANY ONE of the following or provide any other reasonable Proof or method to prevent Micro Black Holes from being created by the Large Hadron Collider or prove that they are harmless!
1. The Large Hadron Collider will not make micro black holes.
2. Micro black holes created will be sent safely into space.
3. Micro black holes will evaporate.
4. Micro black holes will take more than 2 billion years to accrete the Earth. (If you can only prove a lesser time frame, then the prize will be reduced proportionately…)
5. Any form of cosmic ray argument that proves 5% risk or lower.
6. Find a way to make the Large Hadron Collider safe from creating micro black holes (we already requested different speed collissions or different mass collisions, LSAG told us it was not possible, they already thought of it).
It is harder than it looks, the LHC Safety Assessment Group (LSAG) could not produce a safety report… (CERN and LSAG are still using the 1999 RHIC safety report that does not even address what might happen if micro black holes were created, because they did not know that it was possible at that time. We are also being generous on the 2 billion years, we want to be reasonable)
JTankers
LHCConcerns.com
Comment by JTankers — May 7, 2008 #
Your challenge begs the question. By offering this money you suggest that you’re confident (at least $500 confident) in your implicit proposition - that the LHC poses a greater than 5% risk to Earth of destruction by micro black holes. I’m familiar with the stink you’re trying to raise about the LHC. A micro black hole would have almost no mass; last time I checked, the Earth’s mass was in the vicinity of 5.97×10^24 kg. Besides, the same rules of quantum mechanics that predict the possible formation of micro black holes also predict that Hawking radiation will eliminate them almost instantaneously after they form. Ok, so you’d claim that Hawking radiation has never been proven through observation. But neither has a micro black hole.
And not that this is a great argument, but: $500 is a pretty small figure for something you claim endangers the world. Why haven’t you been able to raise more concern (and thus funding) for such a prize? If you could prove there was MORE than a 5% risk (or hell, even more than a 0.1% risk), you’d stand to earn a lot more than $500 for shutting down the LHC and potentially “saving the world”.
Comment by simian — May 7, 2008 #
Wow, where are you taking this astronomy class? I certainly didn’t learn about the Large Hadron Collider at Hood College. I also took Cosmology, but I don’t think I understood even five minutes of what we learned in that class. Our professor actually worked for NASA and I think his brain was incapable of dumbing-down to our undergraduate level.
Comment by Kirsten — May 7, 2008 #
I took the astronomy class at UMUC. Though honestly, I took my reading a little past what was covered in the course - we didn’t get into discussing the LHC. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected too much from an introductory-level online astronomy course. Sorry your cosmology course was so bewildering - but keep in mind, professors were undergrads once too. It could have been that his lecture style and form needed polishing; you should never conclude that you aren’t smart enough! On an unrelated note, are you one of the Kirstens I know?
Comment by simian — May 9, 2008 #
Kirsten is an Idian, I’m assuming.
I too, am kind of shocked by the paltry offering of $500 for this proof. That’s hardly worth the expense of writing the proof, much less researching it. I’ve only head of a few times that people have put money together for a proof, but I’m fairly certain the “rules” weren’t so stringent on methods. The Poincare conjecture comes to mind, although I never did actually see what limitations were put on the submissions. Still, I don’t think they had these sort of limitations imposed, I think it came down to whether or not it would pass a peer review, which frankly should be the only limitations on a proof, besides those self imposed.
Comment by Mobius — May 9, 2008 #