I thought I would offer a series of quotes to counter the codswallop frequently expressed here — suggesting that mainstream physicists have genuine concerns about the safety of the LHC**.
“We fully endorse the conclusions of the LSAG report: there is no basis for any concerns about the consequences of new particles or forms of matter that could possibly be produced at the LHC.”
R. Aleksan et al., the 20 external members of the CERN Scientific Policy Committee, including Prof. Gerard ‘t Hooft, Nobel Laureate in Physics.
“Those who have doubts about LHC safety should read the LSAG report where all possible risks were considered. We can be sure that particle collisions at the LHC cannot lead to catastrophic consequences.”
Academician V.A. Rubakov, Institute for Nuclear Research, Moscow, and Russian Academy of Sciences
(from http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/safety-en.html).
The LSAG (LHC Safety Assessment Group) report is here if you are wondering. It includes statements such as: Specifically, we study the possible production at the LHC of hypothetical objects such as vacuum bubbles, magnetic monopoles, microscopic black holes and strangelets, and find no associated risks.
Steve Nerlich (Space Settlement Board member and Death-by-LHC skeptic)
** or (as I have been corrected by Robert) that they just don’t care about the safety of the LHC. Sorry — my mistake.
