A Nobel prize?
There's been a lot of fevered speculation about whether the Large Hadron Collider might spawn a black hole that swallows the earth when it's finally switched on tomorrow.
The subject came up again in this morning's interview with Stephen Hawking, who speculated about whether their appearance might win him the Nobel Prize. That comment refers to some of his earliest work as a theoretical physicist.
Building on Roger Penrose's research on relativity - which showed how a massive star could burn out and collapse in on itself at the end of its life - Prof Hawking showed that black holes are not completely black after all: they emit radiation (now, gratifyingly he noted, called Hawking radiation) meaning that they would gradually shrink and finally disappear in an explosion.
According to Prof Hawking the idea occurred to him as he was getting into bed one night in 1970...and fearing he might forget it overnight, he got up again.
Hawking's proof is a beautiful piece of mathematics, and if the LHC does spawn black holes, and they do vanish again in the way he described that would almost certainly win him a Nobel Prize. But as he says in the interview, he's not holding his breath.
I'm Tom Feilden and I'm the science correspondent on the Today programme. This is where we can talk about the scientific issues we're covering on the programme. 
Comment number 1.
At 13:25 9th Sep 2008, gsmokeyjoe wrote:Of course in the extremely unlikely event that a earth swallowing black hole is created, we won't have time for recriminations before destruction.
I'm really excited about the whole experiment, and can't wait for the results.
the big bang is dead, long live the big bang.
19hours to go, smokeyjoe
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Comment number 2.
At 21:50 9th Sep 2008, barriesingleton wrote:CERN is a wonderful icon for HALF the available science in the area of high energy physics and cosmology.
There is 50+ years of brilliant science – boasting the odd Nobel Laureate – that runs counter to Big Bang, Dark Matter et al.
As the orthodox model stumbles daily, and has to apply ever-more bizarre sticking plaster to its wounds, the Plasma (Electric) Universe with associated, self-consistent physical constructs, goes from strength to strength. It is a massive body of knowledge, that branches into rock art, mythology and mans emergence. A media feast.
BBC – the alternative truth is out there. Your listeners and viewers deserve acquaintance with its wonders.
‘Plasma Universe’ https://www.plasma-universe.com/index.php/Plasma-Universe.com
‘Electric Universe’ https://www.holoscience.com/synopsis.php
‘Electric Gravity’ https://www.holoscience.com/news.php?article=89xdcmfs
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Comment number 3.
At 16:55 23rd Sep 2008, con-cern-edraver wrote:hawkings radiation aint been proven yet like i said in another blog thingy!!!
is it really worth risking everyones lives just for a nobel prize?
answer : a big fat NO!!!!
there are caring people in the world that wanna get on their lives but some are finding it difficult 2 because there are in fear what unleashing this beast (LCH) can do!
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