Lab fireball 'may be black hole'

[Jase]

A fireball created in a US particle accelerator has the characteristics of a black hole, a physicist has said. It was generated at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in New York, US, which smashes beams of gold nuclei together at near light speeds.

Horatiu Nastase says his calculations show that the core of the fireball has a striking similarity to a black hole. His work has been published on the pre-print website arxiv.org and is reported in New Scientist magazine.

When the gold nuclei smash into each other they are broken down into particles called quarks and gluons. These form a ball of plasma about 300 times hotter than the surface of the Sun. This fireball, which lasts just 10 million, billion, billionths of a second, can be detected because it absorbs jets of particles produced by the beam collisions. But Nastase, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, says there is something unusual about it. Ten times as many jets were being absorbed by the fireball as were predicted by calculations. The Brown researcher thinks the particles are disappearing into the fireball's core and reappearing as thermal radiation, just as matter is thought to fall into a black hole and come out as "Hawking" radiation.

Even if the ball of plasma is a black hole, it is not thought to pose a threat. At these energies and distances, gravity is not the dominant force in a black hole.

So does this mean they can make a black hole bomb?

[Norgus]

No, it means that for an incredibly small amount of time the fireball is incredibly destructive (in that it absorbs particles like a black hole). Simmilar, not a created black whole at all.

[Jase]

No, it means that for an incredibly small amount of time the fireball is incredibly destructive (in that it absorbs particles like a black hole). Simmilar, not a created black whole at all.

But that could be used to destroy stuff no? or is this a Lab based thing?

[Kazuya]

It mentions that it reappears as thermal radiation...there's alot of radiation after a nuclear bomb explodes so I wonder if these guys are creating some kind of new explosive? According to what was said, the amount of radiation that is shot out depends on the amount of particles being sucked into the core. Meaning...you need a lot of gold for this to be an effective weapon, I guess.

[Sprung]

...you need a lot of gold for this to be an effective weapon, I guess.

*Enter Goldfinger theme*

Everyone freaked out when they first began using Particle Accelerators. The fear was that Antimatter would collide with Matter; annihilating all the matter it touches (which is exactly what happens) and destroy the Earth. What people fail to see is that this is done in a controlled lab setting, and is miniscule in relation to anything that would actually destroy something we could consider relevant.

The same was considered when the first nuclear reactors were fired up. The theory was, that if a meltdown occurred, the core would burn a hole into the Earth, and come out the other side: The China Syndrome.

[Soeru]

I've read about a very similar discovery -might've been the same- in a back-issue of New Scientist magazine... about a year ago. It was pretty much the same deal, but it was reffered to as a "spark". How old is this article?

[Jase]

How old is this article?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4357613.stm
Not that old.

[brit]

This paves the way to new and more destructive weapons with more deatiled and restrictive rulings. And yes, I'm aware of the time that it would take to make this anywhere near useful, but I'm hopeful. I can see it now: It's the year 2076. If there is a problem between countries, one is just completely eradicated and removed from existence without leaving a trace. It's all just a matter of who can ready the bomb first.

[Soeru]

This fireball, which lasts just 10 million, billion, billionths of a second, ...

Zip! Damn, even though I've dealt with exteremely large and small numbers in science before, I still find whatever that number is incredible. That's one quick-ass motherfucker.

Yeah, that article isn't so old... I guess this is where I'm supposed to pimp New Scientist magazine to you folks. Go out and buy it.

[AKUMA™]

Even if they did build a real bomb using this tech, it would be expensive as hell. A black hole bomb that uses gold...Quick! Hide your rings and chains! The government wants all your gold so they can blow up the known world! AAAHHHHH!!! Rap stars get your guns ready!

[Mikey_]

I can see it now: It's the year 2076. If there is a problem between countries, one is just completely eradicated and removed from existence without leaving a trace. It's all just a matter of who can ready the bomb first.

yup. i can definitely see that happening in the future, especially in this country.

[Mistral]

Not exactly without a trace...black holes give off quite a bit of energy when they disappear. Lamar? Lagrange? La-something effect.
*Rereads article*
...
Hawking effect. Not even close, and it was even given to me...how the devil did I get Lagrange from Hawking?

And really, Kazuya, this is just a side effect of ordinary experimentation into particle reaction to determine specifics about subatomic particles, not some sort of American superbomb creation conspiracy...like the production of antimatter at Fermilab was not, like some people insisted last time it was brought up, an American plot to build an antimatter bomb and blow up the world, but rather, surprisingly enough, a means to experiment with antimatter and its nature.

[Kazuya]

"And really, Kazuya, this is just a side effect of ordinary experimentation into particle reaction to determine specifics about subatomic particles, not some sort of American superbomb creation conspiracy...like the production of antimatter at Fermilab was not, like some people insisted last time it was brought up, an American plot to build an antimatter bomb and blow up the world, but rather, surprisingly enough, a means to experiment with antimatter and its nature."

Imagine what the government is secretly experimenting if the public can openly talk about creating a mini-black hole.
It's got to be mind boggling.

[GundamGuy]

Not exactly without a trace...black holes give off quite a bit of energy when they disappear. Lamar? Lagrange? La-something effect.
*Rereads article*
...
Hawking effect. Not even close, and it was even given to me...how the devil did I get Lagrange from Hawking?

Lagrange you would'nt have been thinking of the Lagrange points (L points) would you...

Anyway, I agree with you... Antimatter bombs... that's just silly.

[Aloha]

...beside's all that, I'd like to see them try to fit a 1 mile (or bigger) diameter particle accelarator into a bomb.

-Aloha