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Course not, there's no point in walking around being afraid all the time

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You're not seriously claiming that if you were in some sort of deathtrap which could kill you instantly, you wouldn't be afraid...

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It seems the media feeding frenzy about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has attracted the hacker community, as reports are coming in that the Web system for the "black hole generator" has been well and truly hacked.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a hacker group calling itself the `Greek Security Team' has hacked into the LHC facility and posted warnings about the insecurity of the system.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the GST hacked into the main system for the LHC and left messages for the IT team, describing the team as "schoolkids."

As a result of the system hacks, the www.cmsmon.cern.ch Web site is down and officials aren't saying when it will be back up again.

Perhaps more worryingly, the Daily Telegraph says that CERN scientists are "extremely worried about the attack because the hackers were a `step away' from the computer control system of one the machines
magnetic detectors."

Marvellous stuff. Black hole creation technology under the control of teeny hackers who could cause serious damage to the fabric of the entire universe.

It's ironic that it should be CERN that's been hacked, as this was one of the first systems I hacked into back in the early-to-mid-1980s via X25 dial-up connections (PSS), mainly 'cos you could play multi-user
text-based games all day on the BBC Model B.

The thought of collapsing the universe into a black hole using hackery has its appeal though.

It's the end of the world as we know it- and I feel fine.

Michael Stipe eat your heart out...

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Has the world ended yet?

For those who don't live in the realm of particle physics, what I am referring to is yesterday’s official "switching on" of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a scientific thingamajig that is supposed to allow scientists to peer into the strange world of black holes, elementary particles, and something called a Higgs boson.

It could also create a black hole that might swallow up the Earth…but don’t panic.

The scientific purpose is to gain more knowledge into the making of our universe; however some have warned that the device is dangerous and should never be switched on.

These doomsayers suggest any number of sci-fi plots as possible consequences of this scientific experiment, from black holes that could swallow the Earth, to time-travel mishaps, to the world turning into a ball of goo.

But the most important question is -- how will the NHL be affected by this impending cosmic calamity?

10. The LHC rips open a hole in space-time, opening a gateway through which Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada’s governor-general in 1892 and original benefactor of the hallowed trophy emerges. TSN immediately signs him to be the 23rd member of their Hockey Insiders panel.

9. A quantum singularity is created, localized entirely in Wayne Gretzky's kitchen, upon entering the singularity Wayne emerges on the other side with the strength, vision and flowing blond locks he had back in 1984...a comeback is born.

8. The LHC causes a ripple in the timeline knocking the world back to 1967 where finally Leaf fans get to see a Stanley Cup. Mats Sundin immediately comes out of semi-retirement to join the temporal team “for a shot at the Cup.”

7. A gateway to a parallel dimension is opened through which an entire race of Barry Melrose's mullets emerges. Lighting owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie immediately sign the robust hairpieces to a five-year, $73 million deals.

6. A black hole emerges in the middle of the BankAtlantic Center during a Florida Panthers home game…no one notices.

5. An alternate reality is brought into existence in which the NHL had the balls to disallow Brett Hull’s 1999 Stanley Cup winning goal. Don’t get too excited Sabres fans, the Stars still go on to win the game in the sixth overtime period as Dominik Hasek decides he’s had enough and once again quits on his team.

4. Upon hearing the news of the existence of multiple parallel dimensions Eric Lindros announces he will not play in any of them either. His mother is pleased.

3. A wormhole is created in my basement that leads back to the Ottawa International Airport on the very day in 2006 when Dominik Hasek is to board a plane to go to the Olympics. Coincidentally, Hasek calls a news conference the next day, looking shaken but unharmed, and announces he will forgo playing in the Olympic Hockey tournament. The Sens go on to win the Stanley Cup.

2. Michael J. Fox emerges from his DeLorean announces to the world that he has seen the future and the survival of the planet depends on NHL teams being put back in Winnipeg and Quebec City. Unfortunately he fails to warn us of the danger of '80s hairstyles making a comeback. The world is no better off.

1. A small, localized black hole forms on the 12th floor of 1185 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York. Gary Bettman is transported to a parallel dimension where proceeds to destroy their favourite sport, Shlaskenball.

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Geneva, 20 September 2008. During commissioning (without beam) of the final LHC sector (sector 3-4) at high current for operation at 5 TeV, an incident occurred at mid-day on Friday 19 September resulting in a large helium leak into the tunnel. Preliminary investigations indicate that the most likely cause of the problem was a faulty electrical connection between two magnets, which probably melted at high current leading to mechanical failure. CERN's strict safety regulations ensured that at no time was there any risk to people.

A full investigation is underway, but it is already clear that the sector will have to be warmed up for repairs to take place. This implies a minimum of two months down time for LHC operation. For the same fault, not uncommon in a normally conducting machine, the repair time would be a matter of days.

Further details will be made available as soon as they are known.

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Geneva, 23 September 2008. Investigations at CERN1 following a large helium leak into sector 3-4 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel have indicated that the most likely cause of the incident was a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator’s magnets. Before a full understanding of the incident can be established, however, the sector has to be brought to room temperature and the magnets involved opened up for inspection. This will take  three to four weeks. Full details of this investigation will be made available once it is complete.

"Coming immediately after the very successful start of LHC operation on 10 September, this is undoubtedly a psychological blow," said CERN Director General Robert Aymar. "Nevertheless, the success of the LHC’s first operation with beam is testimony to years of painstaking preparation and the skill of the teams involved in building and running CERN’s accelerator complex. I have no doubt that we will overcome this setback with the same degree of rigour and application."

The time necessary for the investigation and repairs precludes a restart before CERN’s obligatory winter maintenance period, bringing the date for restart of the accelerator complex to early spring 2009. LHC beams will then follow.

Particle accelerators such as the LHC are unique machines, built at the cutting edge of technology. Each is its own prototype, and teething troubles at the start-up phase are therefore always possible.

"The LHC is a very complex instrument, huge in scale and pushing technological limits in many areas," said Peter Limon, who worked on commissioning the world’s first large-scale superconducting accelerator, the Tevatron at Fermilab in the USA. "Events occur from time to time that temporarily stop operations, for shorter or longer periods, especially during the early phases."

CERN has received similar words of support from several laboratories, including Germany’s DESY, home of the HERA superconducting particle accelerator, which ran from 1992 to 2007.

"We at DESY have been following the commissioning of the LHC with great excitement and have been very impressed with the success of the first day," said Albrecht Wagner, DESY Director. "I am confident that our colleagues at CERN will solve the problem speedily and we will continue to support them as much as we can."

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Yay, then people can stop whine and QQ about that the world is going to end -.-

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I cant wait one year!!!

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