OT: There goes the Solar neighborhood...literally

[Jack]

Ok, this is way OT, but ...
they're making black holes in the lab now. Let's hope
they don't let one out. :'o

http://news.com.com/In+labs+high-speed+collisions%2C+things+just+vanish/2100-7337_3-5644832.html?tag=nefd.top

While they say they are different from the matter
gobbling killer black holes, I'm not sure I buy the
story completely. This accelorator is used by my old
alma mater in NY and I was studying this field there.
Never got a chance to do any experiments with it
though. It seems to me they are similar types of
blackholes, but due to the tiny mass they are not
dangerous and if they'd stop and think about it a bit
they might even get some insight into why massive
blackholes decay over time. As it is likely that this
type of black hole is created on a massive scale in
the creation of killer blackholes. Now if only there
was an efficient way of generating these mini
"blackholes" we might be able to make a powerful
engine for interstellar travel, although I suspect one
could take the accelerator and make an effective
engine out of it. If the accelerator can propel gold
atoms to >.99 lightspeed that should be enough to
propel a spacecraft at relativistic speeds. Of course
this thing is quite large and I'm not sure what the
fuel requirements would be. Maybe we could use
something like tin instead of gold. ;')

(sorry about the OT post, but this was just a fun and
cool subject.)

Brian D.


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/