Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Lab fireball 'may be black hole'
BBC News ^ | 3/17/2005

Posted on 03/17/2005 12:59:33 PM PST by flashbunny

Lab fireball 'may be black hole'

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.

However, 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.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackhole; physics; science
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-166 next last
To: Bigh4u2
I just thought they were using the '10 million, billion' as a 'divisor'.

That's clearly what they were trying to do. I wonder what the proper way to say it is?

41 posted on 03/17/2005 1:23:35 PM PST by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: DoctorMichael

well, I know I've read theories that black holes have passed right through the earth so maybe these small ones can be fun. And even if it does suck us in, we'll all find out what goes on inside a black hole. Please try to look on the bright side of these things.


42 posted on 03/17/2005 1:24:53 PM PST by Williams
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Rodney King

Don't know.

Maybe 1sec/10m^10b??



43 posted on 03/17/2005 1:25:03 PM PST by Bigh4u2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Bigh4u2
Maybe 1sec/10m^10b??

Yeah, but then only .5% of the readers would have any idea what that means.

44 posted on 03/17/2005 1:25:57 PM PST by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Williams

Yes, but by the time you're 'sucked' through, wouldn't you need a new wardrobe?

And what size car would you drive?

Ultra Compact?


45 posted on 03/17/2005 1:26:22 PM PST by Bigh4u2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: DannyTN

LOL!


46 posted on 03/17/2005 1:26:46 PM PST by GOP_1900AD (Stomping on "PC," destroying the Left, and smoking out faux "conservatives" - Take Back The GOP!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: flashbunny
However, even if the ball of plasma is a black hole, it is not thought to pose a threat.

Well, that puts my mind at ease...
47 posted on 03/17/2005 1:27:06 PM PST by reagan_fanatic ("Darwinism is a belief in the meaninglessness of existence" - R. Kirk)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rodney King

" Yeah, but then only .5% of the readers would have any idea what that means."

Which ones??

:0)


48 posted on 03/17/2005 1:27:35 PM PST by Bigh4u2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: flashbunny
Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball (of Plasma)

Kid 1: It's happy!
Kid 2: It's fun!
All Three Kids: It's Happy Fun Ball!
Announcer: Yes, it's Happy Fun Ball! The toy sensation that's sweeping the nation! Only $14.95 at participating stores! Get one today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.
Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:
- itching
- vertigo
- dizziness
- tingling in extremities
- loss of balance or coordination
- slurred speech
- temporary blindness
- profuse sweating
- or heart palpitations.
If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Happy Fun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, Global Chemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Happy Fun Ball has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Happy Fun Ball comes with a lifetime warranty.

49 posted on 03/17/2005 1:28:25 PM PST by add925 (The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: flashbunny

Wow! Those Relativistic Heavy Ion Colliders are really somethin'. I wonder where I can get me one?


50 posted on 03/17/2005 1:28:48 PM PST by libbybelle
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Williams
"..... Please try to look on the bright side of these things......."

Since this post dealt with BLACK HOLES I'll consider this an intentional pun [*LOL*].

;-)

51 posted on 03/17/2005 1:29:02 PM PST by DoctorMichael (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Bigh4u2

yes but time becomes meaningless or runs backward so imagine all the time I'll have to shop for a new car. Of course, I will be jammed into an infintesimally small space with all the people I hate, but I'll be just as close to Kirsten Dunst, to name two.


52 posted on 03/17/2005 1:30:48 PM PST by Williams
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Rodney King

" Yeah, but then only .5% of the readers would have any idea what that means."

And if you are British, a billion isn't the same as our billion, so we have even more uncertainty.

Anyway, use parentheses to make things clearer.


53 posted on 03/17/2005 1:32:08 PM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: flashbunny

Maybe it just turned into BBC news.


54 posted on 03/17/2005 1:32:12 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: flashbunny

John Crichton already beat them to it.


55 posted on 03/17/2005 1:32:42 PM PST by WestVirginiaRebel (Carnac: A siren, a baby and a liberal. Answer: Name three things that whine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Williams
"Of course, I will be jammed into an infinitesimally small space with all the people I hate,"

As long as it's not a hot stick summers night.

I hear the mosquitoes are real 'killers'.
56 posted on 03/17/2005 1:33:33 PM PST by Bigh4u2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: WestVirginiaRebel

And he's the only one who can stop it once it gets out of control! Somebody call the scifi channel, they need to start up farscape again!


57 posted on 03/17/2005 1:34:03 PM PST by flashbunny (Every thought that enters my head requires its own vanity thread.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: Bigh4u2

"Maybe 1sec/10m^10b?? "

No, that'd be 1 second / 1 followed by 60 billion zeros.

Try 1 * 10^-25 (or 1 / 10^25) seconds, if I've added it up right. I might be off by an order of magnitude (factor of 10).


58 posted on 03/17/2005 1:34:10 PM PST by -YYZ-
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Bigh4u2

Sorry!

Sticky summers night.

(Well that just ruined the first post)

LOL!


59 posted on 03/17/2005 1:34:58 PM PST by Bigh4u2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: EvilOverlord
One of the ways they did this was by weakening the US. They actually lobbied George Bush to leave Saddam Hussein in power and raise taxes in order to limit the strength of the United States and to limit it's ability to convince others to fund super-collider projects. In the first reality, Bush had done all the right things and the world had emerged a better place...at least until everyone was killed by the alien nano-machines.

So, Noam Chomsky, Ward Churchill, John Kerry, and Susan Sontag are actually patriots laboring to save the world from Alien Nano-Machines? That would explain a lot.

60 posted on 03/17/2005 1:35:09 PM PST by ModelBreaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-166 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson