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Post by beth on Sept 8, 2014 16:01:59 GMT -5
S tephen Hawking: God particle could wipe out the universe Is Stephen Hawking offering only a theoretical doomsday scenario for the Higgs Boson? Last Week Tonight With John Oliver/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Stephen Hawking seems to have turned into the man with the sandwich board that says: "The end is nigh." Not only has he warned us that aliens might destroy us, but he's also been worrying that artificial intelligence might do the same. Now he's perceiving a threat that might not merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe. As the UK's Sunday Times reports, Hawking is worried about the God particle. This, discovered by physicists during experiments within CERN's Large Hadron Collider, is a vital ingredient to explaining why things in our world have mass. However, in a preface to a new book called "Starmus" -- a collection of lectures gives by famous scientists and astronomers -- Hawking worried that the Higgs Boson might become unstable. He wrote: "The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become metastable at energies above 100bn gigaelectronvolts (GeV)." What might this lead to? Hawkins explained: "This could mean that the universe could undergo catastrophic vacuum decay, with a bubble of the true vacuum expanding at the speed of light. This could happen at any time and we wouldn't see it coming." Before you prepare your loved ones for an evacuation to some distant star, Hawking did offer some hope with, it seems, a wry smile: "A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth, and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate." More Technically Incorrect Only 5 percent of Android users will switch to iPhone 6, says survey Is Apple planning a catwalk show for its iPhone/iWatch event? Police: Driver browsing Facebook at 85 mph kills 89-year-old In essence, then, his fears might be theoretically valid, but their likelihood of actually coming to pass is somewhat smaller than that of the New York Jets winning the next Super Bowl. Still, you have to wonder about Hawking's relationship with the Higgs Boson discovery. First, there's the fact that he lost a $100 bet over its unearthing. Then he mused last year that now the Higgs Boson had been identified, physics has become less interesting. However, given that he believes we only have perhaps 1,000 years left on Earth anyway, it's as well to explore every possible scenario, before the robots and algorithms secure minds of their own and, as their first step, eliminate us all. news.yahoo.com/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-163109712.html |
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Post by beth on Sept 8, 2014 16:12:16 GMT -5
However, given that he believes we only have perhaps 1,000 years left on Earth anyway, it's as well to explore every possible scenario, before the robots and algorithms secure minds of their own and, as their first step, eliminate us all.
Thinking it's barely possible Hawking isn't the be-all-end-all authority on this subject. We may need to start putting his remarks in the pile that is tucked away for future reference.
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Jun 23, 2017 6:23:38 GMT -5
S tephen Hawking: God particle could wipe out the universe Is Stephen Hawking offering only a theoretical doomsday scenario for the Higgs Boson? Last Week Tonight With John Oliver/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Stephen Hawking seems to have turned into the man with the sandwich board that says: "The end is nigh." Not only has he warned us that aliens might destroy us, but he's also been worrying that artificial intelligence might do the same. Now he's perceiving a threat that might not merely put an end to Earth, but to the whole Universe. As the UK's Sunday Times reports, Hawking is worried about the God particle. This, discovered by physicists during experiments within CERN's Large Hadron Collider, is a vital ingredient to explaining why things in our world have mass. However, in a preface to a new book called "Starmus" -- a collection of lectures gives by famous scientists and astronomers -- Hawking worried that the Higgs Boson might become unstable. He wrote: "The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become metastable at energies above 100bn gigaelectronvolts (GeV)." What might this lead to? Hawkins explained: "This could mean that the universe could undergo catastrophic vacuum decay, with a bubble of the true vacuum expanding at the speed of light. This could happen at any time and we wouldn't see it coming." Before you prepare your loved ones for an evacuation to some distant star, Hawking did offer some hope with, it seems, a wry smile: "A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth, and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate." More Technically Incorrect Only 5 percent of Android users will switch to iPhone 6, says survey Is Apple planning a catwalk show for its iPhone/iWatch event? Police: Driver browsing Facebook at 85 mph kills 89-year-old In essence, then, his fears might be theoretically valid, but their likelihood of actually coming to pass is somewhat smaller than that of the New York Jets winning the next Super Bowl. Still, you have to wonder about Hawking's relationship with the Higgs Boson discovery. First, there's the fact that he lost a $100 bet over its unearthing. Then he mused last year that now the Higgs Boson had been identified, physics has become less interesting. However, given that he believes we only have perhaps 1,000 years left on Earth anyway, it's as well to explore every possible scenario, before the robots and algorithms secure minds of their own and, as their first step, eliminate us all. news.yahoo.com/stephen-hawking-god-particle-could-163109712.htmlHi Beth, I believe that Aliens are going to save us, not destroy us. |
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Post by fretslider on Jun 23, 2017 6:37:04 GMT -5
Hi Beth, I believe that Aliens are going to save us, not destroy us. These Aliens will have to move fast. Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5 1977. Today, Voyager is 20,663,221,717 Km from Earth Light takes ~ 20 minutes to cover that distance, and remember its taken 40 years to do 21 billion Km The nearest star is 4 light years away, at Voyager's current speed of 80,000 Km/hr, it's going to take 40,000 years to get there. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/What do we need saving from, anyway? |
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Jun 23, 2017 7:27:56 GMT -5
Hi Beth, I believe that Aliens are going to save us, not destroy us. These Aliens will have to move fast. Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5 1977. Today, Voyager is 20,663,221,717 Km from Earth Light takes ~ 20 minutes to cover that distance, and remember its taken 40 years to do 21 billion Km The nearest star is 4 light years away, at Voyager's current speed of 80,000 Km/hr, it's going to take 40,000 years to get there. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/What do we need saving from, anyway? Steven Hawking's God particle he said Aliens would destroy the world. I say the opposite will occur. It is in relation to an old post that I came across. |
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ladylinda
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July 2011 Member of the Month, May 2014 Member of the Month
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Post by ladylinda on Jun 23, 2017 8:18:09 GMT -5
Sometimes I think humans need saving from their own credulity more than anything else!
As for Hawking, he has expertise in a limited area which he imagines gives him the right to pontificate on every subject under the sun like some kind of secular version of the Bishop of Rome.
He needs to stick to his day job!
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Post by fretslider on Jun 24, 2017 4:35:04 GMT -5
These Aliens will have to move fast. Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5 1977. Today, Voyager is 20,663,221,717 Km from Earth Light takes ~ 20 minutes to cover that distance, and remember its taken 40 years to do 21 billion Km The nearest star is 4 light years away, at Voyager's current speed of 80,000 Km/hr, it's going to take 40,000 years to get there. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/What do we need saving from, anyway? Steven Hawking's God particle he said Aliens would destroy the world. I say the opposite will occur. It is in relation to an old post that I came across. Hawking once was an intelligent man. He's become yet another prophet of doom. Shame. |
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Jul 14, 2017 23:52:24 GMT -5
Sometimes I think humans need saving from their own credulity more than anything else! As for Hawking, he has expertise in a limited area which he imagines gives him the right to pontificate on every subject under the sun like some kind of secular version of the Bishop of Rome. He needs to stick to his day job! Hi LadyLinda, Why so critical? As you have stated so often, nobody really knows what life is really all about. We are all being given different experiences and we have to try and guage the purpose of life from that. |
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Jul 15, 2017 0:01:54 GMT -5
Hi Beth, I believe that Aliens are going to save us, not destroy us. These Aliens will have to move fast. Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5 1977. Today, Voyager is 20,663,221,717 Km from Earth Light takes ~ 20 minutes to cover that distance, and remember its taken 40 years to do 21 billion Km The nearest star is 4 light years away, at Voyager's current speed of 80,000 Km/hr, it's going to take 40,000 years to get there. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/What do we need saving from, anyway? Hi Frrtslider, We need saving from being wiped out completely, having no memory of anything. Which I think is what you believe to be the case anyway. IMO life is meant to go on and on. |
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Post by fretslider on Jul 15, 2017 4:18:39 GMT -5
These Aliens will have to move fast. Voyager 1 left Earth on September 5 1977. Today, Voyager is 20,663,221,717 Km from Earth Light takes ~ 20 minutes to cover that distance, and remember its taken 40 years to do 21 billion Km The nearest star is 4 light years away, at Voyager's current speed of 80,000 Km/hr, it's going to take 40,000 years to get there. voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/What do we need saving from, anyway? Hi Frrtslider, We need saving from being wiped out completely, having no memory of anything. Which I think is what you believe to be the case anyway. IMO life is meant to go on and on. I don't believe, how many times have we been through that one? We don't need saving, either. |
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ladylinda
Moderatorz
Poetry Editor
July 2011 Member of the Month, May 2014 Member of the Month
Posts: 4,901
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Post by ladylinda on Jul 15, 2017 12:40:49 GMT -5
Sometimes I think humans need saving from their own credulity more than anything else! As for Hawking, he has expertise in a limited area which he imagines gives him the right to pontificate on every subject under the sun like some kind of secular version of the Bishop of Rome. He needs to stick to his day job! Hi LadyLinda, Why so critical? As you have stated so often, nobody really knows what life is really all about. We are all being given different experiences and we have to try and guage the purpose of life from that. Too many of the problems of the world come about because of some people's gullibility and other people's arrogance. When Hawking talks about stuff that he doesn't know about, his opinion is NO more valuable than yours or mine or anyone else. If people stopped confusing opinion with knowledge there would be a lot fewer problems in the world. Unfortunately that seems beyond far too many people so you get fanaticism and intolerance. If you think that's good all I can say is I don't agree with you. |
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Post by Scottish Lassie on Jul 16, 2017 6:39:57 GMT -5
Steven Hawking's God particle he said Aliens would destroy the world. I say the opposite will occur. It is in relation to an old post that I came across. Hawking once was an intelligent man. He's become yet another prophet of doom. Shame. Hi Fretslider, There are changes going on in this Universe all the time. I choose to believe Aliens have been keeping their eye on this planet for yonkers, sort of a survey. I think they will save some of us, if not all, when the time comes. It's possible the trouble makers won't make it, who needs them? |
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Post by fretslider on Jul 17, 2017 5:56:36 GMT -5
Hawking once was an intelligent man. He's become yet another prophet of doom. Shame. Hi Fretslider, There are changes going on in this Universe all the time. I choose to believe Aliens have been keeping their eye on this planet for yonkers, sort of a survey. I think they will save some of us, if not all, when the time comes. It's possible the trouble makers won't make it, who needs them? |
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Omega
