Fear and the Large Hadron Collider | Euclides Montes | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

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Fear and the Large Hadron Collider

From as far back as discovery of fire, science has made us anxious. We must harness fear's power, not be consumed by it

No sooner was it announced that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) was ready to be fired up again , than the buzz of apprehension about its associated dangers had started rippling through the net once more like little whispers on the wind.

But why are so many so scared of what scientists expect to be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the decade? After all, this is an experiment that can give us an insight into the very nature of what the universe itself is made. A question we've been asking ourselves since the beginning of time. Yet, for every mention of Hawking radiation and Higgs boson particles you'll find two people prophesying dimensional rips and world-destroying black holes. Otherwise known as apocalypse. But is the fear justified? Scientists have assured us that the chances of a world-threatening scenario radiating outward ...

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/19/fear-large-hadron-collider

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/19/fear-large-hadron-collider