Tuesday, February 17, 2015

CERN’s Move To Restart Large Hadron Collider At Double Power Reignites Doomsday Fears

CERN’s Move To Restart Large Hadron Collider At Double Power Reignites Doomsday Fears

image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/hadron_collider_black_hole-665x385.jpg
hadron_collider_black_hole
Reports that CERN scientists will restart the powerful Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in March, 2015 for another three-year long run of high-energy collision experiments have reignited longstanding fears that the experiments could destroy the Earth and even the entire universe.
Fears that high energy collision experiments with the LHC, the world’s largest particle accelerator located in the Jura mountains near the Franco-Swiss border, could trigger an Earth-wide or even universe-wide catastrophe have been increased by news that the newly upgraded LHC will generate particle collisions at nearly double the energy level previously achieved.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1824353/cerns-move-to-restart-large-hadron-collider-at-double-power-reignites-doomsday-fears/#dRKcHJ8CYztK7Ubt.99

image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lhc-higgs.jpg
lhc-higgs
In a typical doomsday blog post titled, “‘Big Bang’ Begins March 2015 – Will Gates Of Hell Soon Open To The Destruction Of All Creation?,” the conspiracy theory website All News Pipeline raised the alarm of impending doom with the report that two prominent and respected scientists, Stephen Hawking and Neil de Grasse Tyson, “have recently issued independent warnings” that the experiments could lead to doomsday.
When the LHC is switched on once again, it will accelerate fundamental particles to even higher kinetic energies or velocities than in previous experiments. The higher kinetic energies effectively bring scientists closer to the “Big Bang” moment of creation of the universe.
Data collected from the collision events would help scientists to test their theories about the structure of the universe and determine which of their competing theories about the universe fit the experimental observations best.
Scientists are particularly interested in confirming earlier results that indicated discovery of the Higgs boson (“God Particle”) predicted by the Standard Model and believed to explain how matter acquires mass.
image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lhc1.jpg
LHC
Large Hadron Collider
But the news that the LHC will restart in March is generating fears in doomsday circles, with many believing that experiments which create conditions similar to those that existed at the time of the Big Bang could wipe out the Earth and even the entire universe.
Among concerns being expressed are that high energy collisions could generate microscopic black holes or other exotic particles called strangelets that could cause catastrophic destruction of our world.
While scientists argue that Einstein’s relativity theory rules out the possibility that black holes could be produced in the LHC, they admit that there are other “speculative” theories which predict that black holes could be generated. Thus, while it is “unlikely,” scientists are unable to rule out the possibility that black holes will be generated at the LHC.
But scientists assure that even if a microscopic black hole is generated at the LHC, it would disintegrate immediately before it has time to begin sucking up matter around it.
Linked to the fear that the LHC could generate a black hole is the fear that because the universe exists in an unstable state, collisions at the LHC could generate perturbations that cause the physical environment to move into a stable state called a “vacuum bubble” that could destroy the entire universe.
The famous physicist Stephen Hawking helped to raise fears among doomsday theorists when he talked about the risk of the “vacuum bubble” last year. He said that discovery of the Higgs boson could cause space and time to collapse catastrophically through a “vacuum decay.”
But while doomsday theorists gave attention to the alarming first part of his statement, they ignored the second part in which he said that current CERN particle accelerators are not powerful enough to generate high energy states that can destroy the universe.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1824353/cerns-move-to-restart-large-hadron-collider-at-double-power-reignites-doomsday-fears/#dRKcHJ8CYztK7Ubt.99
universe.
image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lhc2.jpg
LHC
Large Hadron Collider
“The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become megastable at energies above 100bn giga-electron-volts (GeV). 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. A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth, and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate.”
When concerns were first raised in 1999 that the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) could generate destructive strangelets, many physicists argued that if that was possible we would have seen a similar disaster in nature because the RHIC collisions are similar to those which occur naturally when cosmic rays travel through the solar system.
Other physicists argued that the strange matter idea is purely hypothetical, and no one has ever detected strangelets in nature. The theory underlying the strangelet or “strange matter” hypothesis predicts that scientists should detect strange matter in neutron stars. But none have been detected. Many physicists also argue that if the strangelet hypothesis was true, all neutron stars should have been converted from nuclear matter into strange matter.
It is important to note that while scientists had assured laymen that the RHIC was safe, the question of the validity of the strange matter hypothesis is still being debated among experts and efforts are ongoing to determine whether stable strange matter can be detected on the surface of neutron stars. But many physicists simply don’t believe in the strangelet hypothesis, and thus, do not believe that strangelets will ever be found on neutron stars.
But scientists admitted at the time that if the strangelet hypothesis was true, then the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) could create strangelets. Consequently, scientists searched for strangelets in the RHIC, but have not been able to detect any.
When similar concerns were expressed about the LHC, scientists said that the LHC was even less likely than the RHIC to generate strangelets. And although scientists have conducted searches for strangelets in the LHC, they found none.
When Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho brought a lawsuit on March 21, 2008 in Federal District Court in Honolulu, Hawaii, seeking a temporal restraining order to stop CERN from proceeding with the LHC until a comprehensive assessment of risks has been conducted, one of the concerns they raised was that the LHC could generate a magnetic monopole first theorized by the physicist Paul Dirac. Dirac suggested that particles could exist that hold a single magnetic charge instead of two.
image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lhc3.jpg
LHC
Large Hadron Collider
Fears have been expressed that if monopoles exist and are generated by the LHC, the consequences could be catastrophic. But while scientists do not deny that the LHC could generate monopoles, they deny that the presence of monopoles could pose any danger.
The general line of argument that scientists adopt to allay fears being expressed is to point out that high energy collision events occur regularly in the natural environment without catastrophic consequences. They argue that for this reason, we need not fear

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1824353/cerns-move-to-restart-large-hadron-collider-at-double-power-reignites-doomsday-fears/#dRKcHJ8CYztK7Ubt.99
that artificially generated high energy collisions could cause harm. They point to the ultra-high energy cosmic rays impacting Earth at energies far higher than those occurring in their colliders as evidence that their experiments are safe.
But efforts to calm fears with arguments qualified by terms such as “unlikely” and “improbable” have not been effective among people with a psychological tendency to worry endlessly about impending doom.
For instance, doomsday theorists argue that the effects of high energy collisions being generated in nature could be different from the effects of collisions generated artificially in a collider. The effect of natural spontaneous collision events could dissipate harmlessly in outer space while those in an enclosed artificial environment within the Earth’s atmosphere could prove harmful, some argue.
But ultimately, even those who are not susceptible to “chicken little” worries must admit that because scientific theories and understanding are under constant development and revision, no one, including “experts,” can claim honestly that they are certain how to accurately assess the risks of conducting groundbreaking experiments, such as running powerful particle accelerators on Earth.
Hopefully, future generations will understand better the risk, if any, that scientists are taking now, provided our much abused planet and the billions of human beings who seem to delight in tempting fate are still here.
[Images: apocalypsesurvivalschool.com and Wikimedia Commons]


Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1824353/cerns-move-to-restart-large-hadron-collider-at-double-power-reignites-doomsday-fears/#dRKcHJ8CYztK7Ubt.99

As Early as 2016, Robot Cops Will Be Patrolling Your Streets… No, Seriously



As Early as 2016, Robot Cops Will Be Patrolling Your Streets… No, Seriously


The Free Thought Project
February 16th, 2015
Reader Views: 1,546
 76  58  138
Editor’s Note: As The Free Thought Project says below, this is no laughing matter in Police State U.S.A…. Although, by that picture, you could have fooled us.
lamerobocop
By 2016, there will likely be a 6-foot tall police robot patrolling the streets and handing out parking tickets. The Telebot, developed by Florida International University’s Discovery Lab, has been field-tested and is undergoing final tune up.
With a swiveling head and dexterous fingers, the humanoid robot is controlled remotely by a person wearing an Oculus Rift headset and motion-tracking vest, arm bands, and gloves. The voice of the remote operator is transmitted through the robot to the unfortunate citizen on the receiving end.
The menacing look of Telebot is no accident. Its design is one “…that can intimidate and display a sense of authority.”
Justification for this (let’s just say it) Robocop, is couched in appeals to sympathy, to help disabled officers and veterans “get back on the job.” The reality is that it introduces another level of intimidation to the increasingly militarized police state and brings us one step closer to a dystopian future where autonomous robots carry out law enforcement.
As robots become more agile, we may see an increase of an armed robotic police presence. But even when companies can meet all the technological demands of an autonomous, armed police force, there’ll still be social and political hurdles. What happens if a police robot malfunctions and harms someone, for example?” – How Police Robots Work
If a human police officer can get away with killing so easily, as The Free Thought Project continually documents, what would this mean for the robot officer?
A fully autonomous robot officer is already in the works. The Knightscope K5 does not wield weapons but serves as a total surveillance machine for cops or private clients. It has facial recognition and scans 1,500 license plates per minute, captures audio and 360-degree video, tests the air for chemicals, and maps its surroundings with 3D radar and laser. It can learn to distinguish “suspicious activities” from normal activities.
When the K5 puts all this data together and detects what it perceives as trouble, it alerts local authorities. In a few years, this Dalek-like robot will be recording people’s actions and conversations in public places all over.
Robots have been used for years to detonate or disable bombs. Nothing controversial there. But police robots are increasingly being developed for use against people. Large remote-controlled robots are now fitted with arms that can breach doors or hold live weapons.
In a display of just how badly things can go, in 2011 a police robot burned down a mobile home after triple-warhead gas grenades were fired into the home instead of flameless grenades.
The danger from police robots is not only ground-based. The Skunk Riot Control Copter is designed to “control unruly crowds” by firing up to 20 paintball or pepper spray rounds per minute from each of its four barrels. It also features strobe lights and lasers to dazzle the would-be protester, and, of course, the full range of surveillance capability to monitor the crowds.
The militarization and robotization of police state USA is related to a Department of Defense (DoD) program starting in 1997 that transfers excess military equipment to police departments, to help them fight the immoral war on drugs. DoD has already given police more than $5.1 billion worth of military equipment.
The Department of Homeland Security is part of the game too, giving grants to police departments for advanced tactical hardware to help fight those freedom-hating terrorists. Only, the government now treats its own citizens as terrorists. Peaceful protesters fill the lenses and microphones and crosshairs of robot police.
In these troubling times, we can turn to satire for some relief. The Onion sums it up nicely: New Law Enforcement Robot Can Wield Excessive Force Of 5 Human Officers
Unfortunately for the citizens of Police State USA, this is no laughing matter. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/as-early-as-2016-robot-cops-will-be-patrolling-your-streets-no-seriously_022015#sthash.PCnUSSTV.dpuf

Two More Harbingers of Financial Doom That Mirror the Crisis of 2008

Two More Harbingers of Financial Doom That Mirror the Crisis of 2008

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
February 15th, 2015
Reader Views: 3,808

 11  3  24





FinancialBloggerFreeImage_10
The stock market continues to flirt with new record highs, but the signs that we could be on the precipice of the next major financial crisis continue to mount.
A couple of days ago, I discussed the fact that the U.S. dollar is experiencing a tremendous surge in value just like it did in the months prior to the financial crisis of 2008.  And previously, I have detailed how the price of oil has collapsed, prices for industrial commodities are tanking and market behavior is becoming extremely choppy.  All of these are things that we witnessed just before the last market crash as well.  It is also important to note that orders for durable goods are declining and the Baltic Dry Index has dropped to the lowest level on record.  So does all of this mean that the stock market is guaranteed to crash in 2015?  No, of course not.  But what we are looking for are probabilities.  We are looking for patterns.  There are multiple warning signs that have popped up repeatedly just prior to previous financial crashes, and many of those same warning signs are now appearing once again.
One of these warning signs that I have not discussed previously is the wholesale inventories to sales ratio.  When economic activity starts to slow down, inventory tends to get backed up.  And that is precisely what is happening right now.  In fact, as Wolf Richter recently wrote about, the wholesale inventories to sales ratio has now hit a level that we have not seen since the last recession…
In December, the wholesale inventory/sales ratio reached 1.22, after rising consistently since July last year, when it was 1.17. It is now at the highest – and worst – level since September 2009, as the financial crisis was winding down:
Wolf Richter
Rising sales gives merchants the optimism to stock more. But because sales are rising in that rosy scenario, the inventory/sales ratio, depicting rising inventories and rising sales, would not suddenly jump. But in the current scenario, sales are not keeping up with inventory growth.
Another sign that I find extremely interesting is the behavior of the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasury notes.  As Jeff Clark recently explained, we usually see a spike in the 10 year Treasury yield about the time the market is peaking before a crash…
The 10-year Treasury note yield bottomed on January 30 at 1.65%. Today, it’s at 2%. That’s a 35-basis-point spike – a jump of 21% – in less than two weeks.
And it’s the first sign of an impending stock market crash.
10 Year Yield - Stansberry
As I explained last September, the 10-year Treasury note yield has ALWAYS spiked higher prior to an important top in the stock market.
For example, the 10-year yield was just 4.5% in January 1999. One year later, it was 6.75% – a spike of 50%. The dot-com bubble popped two months later.
In 2007, rates bottomed in March at 4.5%. By July, they had risen to 5.5% – a 22% increase. The stock market peaked in September.
Let’s be clear… not every spike in Treasury rates leads to an important top in the stock market. But there has always been a sharp spike in rates a few months before the top.
Once again, just because something has happened in the past does not mean that it will happen in the future.
But the fact that so many red flags are appearing all at once has got to give any rational person reason for concern.
Yes, the Dow gained more than 100 points on Thursday.  But on Thursday we also learned that retail sales dropped again in January.  Overall, this has been the worst two month drop in retail sales since 2009
Following last month’s narrative-crushing drop in retail sales, despite all that low interest rate low gas price stimulus, January was more of the same as hopeful expectations for a modest rebound were denied. Falling 0.8% (against a 0.9% drop in Dec), missing expectations of -0.4%, this is the worst back-to-back drop in retail sales since Oct 2009. Retail sales declined in 6 of the 13 categories.
And economic activity is rapidly slowing down on the other side of the planet as well.
For example, Chinese imports and exports both fell dramatically in January…
Chinese imports collapsed 19.9% YoY in January, missing expectations of a modest 3.2% drop by the most since Lehman. This is the biggest YoY drop since May 2009 and worst January since the peak of the financial crisis. Exports tumbled 3.3% YoY (missing expectations of 5.9% surge) for the worst January since 2009. Combined this led to a $60.03 billion trade surplus in January – the largest ever. But apart from these massive imbalances, everything is awesome in the global economy (oh apart from The Baltic Dry at record lows, Iron Ore near record lows, oil prices crashed, and the other engine of the world economy – USA USA USA – imploding).
In light of so much bad economic data, it boggles my mind that stocks have been doing so well.
But this is typical bubble behavior.  Financial bubbles tend to be very irrational and they tend to go on a lot longer than most people think they will.  When they do finally burst, the consequences are often quite horrifying.
It may not seem like it to most people, but we are right on track for a major financial catastrophe.  It is playing out right in front of our eyes in textbook fashion.  But it is going to take a little while to unfold.
Unfortunately, most people these days do not have the patience to watch long-term trends develop.  Instead, we have been trained by the mainstream media to have the attention spans of toddlers.  We bounce from one 48-hour news cycle to the next, eagerly looking forward to the next “scandal” that is going to break.
And when the next financial crash does strike, the mainstream media is going to talk about what a “surprise” it is.  But for those that are watching the long-term trends, it is not going to be a surprise at all.  We will have seen it coming a mile away. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

Contributed by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse.
Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream , The Truth and Economic Collapse Blog.


Please share: Spread the word to sheeple far and wide
11
 
3
 
0
 
0
Reddit
24
 
0
 

- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/two-more-harbingers-of-financial-doom-that-mirror-the-crisis-of-2008_022015#sthash.JYWjoqmD.dpuf

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *