Further consideration of the worst-case scenario at CERN yields this insight: if the nefarious Swiss do, in fact, create a black hole that swallows-up the Earth, that will pretty much be that for the time being. Remarkably little will change.
Think about it: If the Swiss create a black hole that sucks the Earth in, the Earth's mass and gravitational pull will not change significantly; it will merely be compacted into a much, much smaller place. Say, an area the size of Dick Cheney's soul.
Because it's aggregate gravitational pull isn't meaningfully affected by the shrinkage, the Earth will not draw comets and asteroids and cosmic dust into its mass at an appreciably greater rate than the Earth is now. It will continue to orbit peacefully around the sun whether it's the size it is now or the the size of a walnut. Perhaps weirdly, the moon will continue to orbit peacefully around it's now walnut-sized master.
So, to correct yesterday morning's clearly overwrought post, the destruction of the Earth will not cause the destruction of the solar system or, eventually, the Milky Way. In fact, it will cause little disruption at all.
So rest easy.
As anyone passenger in my sister-in-law's car can attest, rapid acceleration is a bit disconcerting.
Posted by: Wally | 09/09/2008 at 08:31 AM
One difference: one day Earth will suck up the sun, not the other way around. Yay for our home planet!
Posted by: kamenin | 09/09/2008 at 12:21 PM
Well due to time differences I should be happily sleeping when the world ends.
Posted by: Jessica | 09/10/2008 at 03:31 AM