Three articles I’ll link right off the bat:
Black Holes, they never get dirty
Anyone missing a 19.2ton magnet?
Would one of the greatest minds on earth put his life at risk to experience space travel? Unless drastic changes are made in our ability to lift humans into space without all the thrust and G forces, Hawking would most certainly be hurt upon his ascent into the heavens. If anything, someone would have to introduce a pressure suit to stabilize his head and chest while keeping an eye on other vital functions just to survive the initial lift-off. While trained astronauts can take the pressures of 3Gs, someone with Hawking’s condition would have difficulty breathing, not to mention a slew of cardiac and joint problems.
While he may be going on Zero Gravity’s flight with trained doctors and available medical equipment, Hawking’s dream to break the atmospheric barrier might be crushed if we can’t devise a better space shuttle.
Regardless, I do hope he can come just a bit closer to touching those stars in April, and finally see the earth from above in 2009.
My thoughts and prayers most certainly go out to you, Mr. Hawking.
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Gotta love the super-sucky, Earth-gobbling, dangerousness that is a black hole! I remember speaking with my friend who happens to be a particle physicist at Brook-haven National Labs when they were running their particle acceleration tests in their superconductor.
He had heard of protests where disconnected worriers would demonstrate their incomplete and misconstrued horrifying visions regarding re-creating the big bang. Frankly, I was actually surprised by this article because I initially thought the danger would be much larger than it is. Yet, I come from the school of thinking where I believe our scientific progress depends on our ability to research our origins so that we may learn to grow exponentially.
Wow, that was a mouthful.
Regardless, what amazes me are the many different organizations that crop up, spreading fear amongst the population. “Black holes will destroy civilization!”
I would think a trained scientist can better assert the risks of crashing two particles together to create both matter and anti-matter, than a fear mongering watchdog group. Please be careful what you read people! Experimentation like this, risks aside, is a keen look into our past and most definitely a pathway to our future. Creating new dimensions, proving and disproving theories, and moving forward on the evolutionary scale has always been appealing and a necessary step to secure the livelihood of our species.
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