All I can say is, Well Said.

According to my rough calculation, the collision of two protons will release about 3 x 10^-3 ergs of energy. Hardly something to get concerned about, certainly not enough to cause the destruction of anything.

David

Please Brian can I have 'woomf' and 'plungg' to add to my collection? Is that the sound of smashing subatomic particles? As good as any I think.

Let's face it, the Large Hadron Collider has a fancy name but to Joe and Joanne Public it is just not sexy - even though the term 'big bang' might attract some interest. The expenditure of 3 x 10^-3 ergs (thanks David) in this endeavour would be disappointing. The speculation around the end of large and useful objects like universes at least got some publicity for the billions spent on a drag strip for very small things.

I have a theory: like Londoners in the Blitz, people actually feel happier when they have a doomsday theory to worry about. We can add to your examples the Y2K bug, SARS and bird flu (remember them?), which also evoked dire predictions of doom and sent the more nervous scurrying for the hills. Unfortunately all this millennial hysteria has a less funny side -- in Jonestown, Waco and the Auran cult, for instance. One deluded Indian girl has already committed suicide because she believed the Hadron Collider would destroy the earth.

As you can probably guess from my username I enjoyed the last paragraph of your article.

But I'm more convinced that the inclination to doomsday prophesy is a product of nurture not nature.

It's been the trump card for religions and dictators forever. Keep em scared and they'll obey.

Are these the same people who created the global warming crisis theory?