California Lab Plans To Destroy World

[Escapefromwhatever]

Well, I may have lied a bit with the title, but a lab in Livermore, California, about an hour's drive east of San Fransisco, is planning to use the world's largest laser beam to create a miniature star in order to prove that fusion power is possible. The star is expected to die nearly instantaneously after its creation, but is meant to get the ball rolling on this interesting new energy source. Of course, the reaction necessary to create the star is quite volatile, yet researchers insist that there is no danger to the public. The expected date for the end of their research: the end of 2012.

No danger, huh? =P

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/science/04/28/laser.fusion.nif/index.html?hpt=C1

 

[Dudemeister]

Isn't this how Spiderman 2 started?

 

[benoitowns]

Win. Perfect timing... Now more retards are going to join into the whole 2012 end of the world conspiracy

 

[Darth Caelum]

WHEEEEEEE! TIME TO DIE EVERYONE!
*ahem* Well, i admit that is DANGEROUS. But think of the Possibilities if it Works. Though this is again brought into balance by the Fact we CAN KILL EVERYONE IN WHAT, A FEW MINUTES? SECONDS!? I really hope they know what they're doing......

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Of all the ways the world could end, I think 'inadvertence annihilation by mens of man-made star' is one of the coolest. I don't recall any fictional character ever conceiving a plan to destroy the planet with a star except perhaps the Yuuzan Vong but, they weren't quite there. They threw moons if I remember correctly

 

[Mechsoap]

thats properly how the idea for the movie 2012 came up

 

[TheRocketeer]

LLNL is trying to destroy the earth?

Hmmm.... On one hand, I can see how this is a bad thing, but on the other hand I have stock in them, so if they failed, it might be bad for my portfolio. Best of luck, Livermore!

 

[Brandon237]

They were ninja'd by Doc oc. Seriously, this doesn't sound that dangerous, If it does go catastrophically wrong, the result will not be larger than even the smallest nuke. Although if it had a runaway reaction it would be a very cool way to have the apocalypse. Death by sunlight.

 

[JWW]

For Science!

This should be "epic", as one could describe it.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Bah. Funding will hopefully be cut before then.

 

[Marter]

Assuming life does have to end at the end of 2012, I'm kind of sad that we are going to do it to ourselves.

That is, assuming this doesn't work properly and actually does end the world.

 

[Ryokai]

Why should I form an opinion on whether it destroys the world? I'm not a physicist, and clearly the people engineering it have far more experience than me, so unless some other qualified scientist said otherwise, I'll just have to take their word that it's safe.

It's either that or form ignorant opinions and scream that the world will end.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

Bah. Funding will hopefully be cut before then.

Scientists always want to kill us some how (so yeah cut their funding)

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

Haha, they've done FAR worse. They gave out free fertilizer to the residents of Livermore, which had plutonium in it.

 

[dmase]

So if the world doesn't end when the polls flip... in 2012 or when the Hadrian collider is expected to meet some goal... in 2012 or when Sarah Palin has the chance to take office... in 2012 then these guys will create a giant star that some people think could destroy the world... in 2012. Wow maybe all the nutjobs with tin foil hats where right.

 

[Cabisco]

For Science!

This should be "epic", as one could describe it.

I hope it's epic, I mean good for them for setting their ambitions so high. Asking for that grant sounds alot more fun than others.

Heres a question, when a Star dies doesn't it make a black hole? Just saying... I hear those things are pretty bad for our collective health.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

From the article it sounds like standard fusion and happens (perhaps not with this exact set-up) other places on the Earth, i.e. in other test-fusion reactors.

There is no significant danger to it and the moment they cut the fuel it will die down again (which is why fusion power will be much safer than fission, i.e. nuclear plants).

EDIT:

For Science!

This should be "epic", as one could describe it.

I hope it's epic, I mean good for them for setting their ambitions so high. Asking for that grant sounds alot more fun than others.

Heres a question, when a Star dies doesn't it make a black hole? Just saying... I hear those things are pretty bad for our collective health.

That depends entirely on the mass of the star. If the core of the star has a mass more than 1.44 times the Sun then yes it will create a black hole. That would mean that the star itself should have a mass around 20 Solar masses or more (can't remember the exact mass).

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Look at it this way: If it goes well we'll all benefit. If it goes badly we'll only notice briefly!

Oxford University over here in the UK has a fusion reactor, they have to give the local grid notice when they're gonna fire it up because of the huge amounts of energy used in containing the plasma (it has to be contained at the centre of a ring of powerful electro-magnets).

One of the best things about living here and now is that we're here to actually see science fiction become science fact.

 

[Lullabye]

So if the world doesn't end when the polls flip... in 2012 or when the Hadrian collider is expected to meet some goal... in 2012 or when Sarah Palin has the chance to take office... in 2012 then these guys will create a giant star that some people think could destroy the world... in 2012. Wow maybe all the nutjobs with tin foil hats where right.

Wow, I'm looking forward to that year now./sarcasm

what if Sarah Palin uses the Hcollider to commit nuclear fission on the small star created by the laser? That would make the Tsar Bomb look harmless in comparison.

 

[Regiment]

Heres a question, when a Star dies doesn't it make a black hole? Just saying... I hear those things are pretty bad for our collective health.

Not always. A star needs to be of a particular size and needs to collapse at a particular speed to form a black hole. More likely, whatever they create will go nova, which would be dangerous if it wasn't so small. Failing that, it could just burn out. Stars do that on occasion- that's what dwarf stars are, basically.

And if it did create a black hole, it'd be so small that it probably wouldn't last very long.