Thinking about the LHC and world-wide catastrophe this week, as many people did, got me wondering about what really unexpected stuff might one look out for as a result of an experiment like this. The sort of thing that might use as a plot device in a Doctor Who episode, for example.
Obviously (well, from a Doctor Who story point of view), the LHC itself could vanish into an alternative dimension, leaving a large crater behind. The arrival of time travellers from the future could be quite on the cards, as it has been suggested in real life. How they arrive could be the novel factor (giant UFO over the facility; taking over the computer system; mind possession of the staff.)
Or it may be that a swap between alternative universe earths takes place. (Perhaps the physicists inside don't realise the swap, until they turn on the TV and notice something like President Gore.)
But here's an idea: the operation of the LHC has an effect on the other side of the world - at its antipodal point. This thought led me to look for resources on the 'net to easily find each antipodal point for anywhere on earth. Wikipedia lists several sites for this, and I quite like this one.
As you will see (assuming I am still holding anyone's interest here), the antipodal point for the LHC is in the Southern Ocean east of the south island of New Zealand. If there are any reports of underwater earthquakes, disappearing ships or UFOs in that areas, you read about it here first. (Possibly.)
Just talking about antipodes generally, it's disappointing to see that there are not all that many "land to land" points. China and parts of South East Asia joins up with various parts of South America, which is not something I would have expected by looking at a Mercator projection. A bullet through New Zealand would end up in Spain. So there: if ever masses of sheep start emerging out of mines in Spain, you know from where they are escaping.
2 comments:
I'd imagine the disasters that science-fiction sometimes envisages can and do occur, but they are generally far more messy and far less predictable in real life than in fiction. If the LHC really did create a gigantic black hole in the earth, there probably wouldn't be much chance of us being transferred to another dimension; we'd be crushed out of existence before that happened.
How about this one, though? The LHC creates a black hole that gobbles up part of the earth. Most of the northern hemisphere are gobbled up. The black hole then disappears. Earth collapses in on its new centre of gravity, causing earthquakes and all manner of disasters; it is no longer a perfect sphere, but a misshapen oval-ish lump of matter.
How will mankind and the rest of the flora/fauna survive in this unstable lower-gravity environment? That sounds like the start of an amusing story.
BTW - After having got back from a weekend away from Melbourne, I've rectified my earlier mistake and linked your post on the LHC in my post on the LHC.
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