Expecting the Unexpected

Today I was reading a CNN.com news article on the largest scientific experiment in history, an atom collider being built in Europe, when I encountered the following quote:

The machine, which has been called the largest scientific experiment in history, isn’t expected to begin test runs until August, and ramping up to full power could take months. But once it is working, it is expected to produce some startling findings. (source)

If the findings are expected, how will they be startling?

I get what the reporter was trying to say, but I thought the line was humorous, and thought you might enjoy it too.

16 Responses to Expecting the Unexpected

  • Ryan S.
    I have taken the time to research the people behind the this lawsuit. NOT ONE IS AN ACTUAL PHYSICIST. Dr. Wagner is a medical doctor, and possesses only a minor on physics. Dr Raj Baldev has a "Ph D." in Astrology... not astronomy. Dr. Tutt is a medical doctor. Dr. Paul Werbos holds an interdisciplinary Ph. D. economics and mathematics. Dr. Otto E. Rossler is also a medical doctor. This small black hole scenario relies on sooo many what ifs and maybes that it reaches past the possibility of being absurd. For a good run down read this post
  • Kelly
    Expecting to be startled is certainly possible. For example, you go to a haunted house on Halloween night. What do you expect? You expect to be startled. Regarding the CNN story, scientists expect to be startled because they know they will find out new and surprising data.
  • Ryan S.
    Oops lost my link. let me try again. this is a link to a very good explanation. And if you wanted to see these guys website, its unfortunately called www.lhcfacts.org
  • Me
    We could use the mini black holes to throw our garbage in. You know, like a garbage disposal. Yea, yea thats it. I know, I know. What if the gargage ends up messing up someone else's reality on the other side? Nah, I don't think so. Let's go ahead with tth plan.
  • Marcelo Garcia
    Hi! for who is interested in LHC safety: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_of_the_Large_Hadron_Collider Although it requires to be corrected, it gives a very good idea on the issues discussed here. Another source, also more technical: http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc/
  • Dude
    It is not that they know what the findings will be; rather, they expect that "some" of the findings (not all) will probably be startling - likely those that are unanticipated. The reporter has it right and expressed it correctly. You're interpretation is gramatically incorrect.
  • paul
    Dude: I never said it was wrong. I just found it humorous. No need to pull out the grammar guru guns :)
  • Alexey Petrov
    We know that something new should be present in the LHC data -- otherwise theories that currently well describe all available experimental data become very sick. Currently, the most conservative assumption is the Higgs particle. But even with this discovery, we'd explain such basic properties of matter as mass! That's why we expect something startling!
  • Rick Stone
    One does not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the if the immense forces that are being generated can create a black hole, a place where gravity is so strong that even Einstein’s gravitational laws must break down, there is no precedent to what could occur. This means that what could occur is as much conjecture as what will not occur. -ps, I don't have a degree in physics so I have no idea what I am talking about.
  • Reflecting_Pool
    The validity of the LHC concerns expressed is evident from the known facts. This article states "The most powerful atom-smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries, such as invisible matter or extra dimensions in space." In other words, by CERNs own reckoning, this atom-smasher seeks to create, for the very first time, evidence of "invisible matter" and "extra dimensions in space" . . . something that has never been done before, utilizing a method and power never before actualized on this planet. By CERNs own ecstatic admission, this LHC "experiment" will be delving into something that is currently totally beyond the present knowledge and comprehension of the scientific experts conducting those experiments (clearly "invisible matter" and "extra dimensions in space" are well beyond current understanding and comprehension, as they are presently merely theories). The CERN report merely states there is "no conceivable danger" of a cataclysmic event. CERN lawyers have merely said "there is no basis for any conceivable threat" from black holes or other objects the LHC might produce. These statements are certified "tautologies" (circular reasoning fallacies) because the entire subject of the experiment well exceeds what is presently conceivable. There is nothing in the realm of "extra dimensions in space" that is presently "conceivable" to anyone on this planet, because there simply is no precedent for it. CERN openly acknowledges that the experiment will send "two beams of protons ... speeding through a vacuum that is colder and emptier than outer space," utilizing ""The most powerful atom-smasher ever built." Therefore, by definition, the experiment is unprecedented, and CERNs statement that "The LHC is only going to reproduce what nature does every second" is, by their own accounts, false and erroneous on its face. As CERN has unequivocally stated, "two beams of protons will race" through the LHC "speeding through a vacuum that is colder and emptier than outer space." That obliterates any notion that accelerator is merely mimicking ordinary events in the universe.
  • JTankers
    Ryan S. writes "Dr. Otto E. Rossler is also a medical doctor." Dr. Rossler a professor of theoretical biology and authored about 500 scientific papers according to scholarpedia (http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/User:Rossler). Professor Rossler is probably most famous for his contributions to Chaos theory. Rossler attractors are still commonly used today I understand. Dr. Rossler's theories were incorporated into the new safety report. Before Dr. Rossler's calculations, micro black holes were assumed to be neutral. Now we believe they may become charged and grow at a very rapid rate. Unfortunately there are no reasonably irrefutable arguments that I am aware of for the safety of creating micro black holes with velocities too slow to escape Earth. CERN's SPC Committee concludes no danger, but those conclusions are based on unconfirmed arguments... Quote "A powerful argument applicable also to higher energies is formulated making reference to observed neutron stars, but this argument relies on properties of cosmic rays and neutrinos that, while highly plausible, do require confirmation, as can be expected in the coming years." - CERN's SPC Committee. http://indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?contribId=20&resId=0&materialId=0&confId=35065 LHCFacts.org
  • MrK
    I'm tired of anyone who has as much as a minor in physics calling themselves a physicist. It's time that the APS www.aps.org created a professional physicist similar to a professional engineer.
  • God
    Let'em play with the matter. It may put you closer to understanding of my greatness. Won't hurt to try.
  • Bob
    The types of particle collisions that this device will cause happen all the time near the centers of galaxies and near the event horizon of black holes. All it does is cause a spray of "exotic" particles that can be studied to help determine exactly "what is" matter. Relax, folks.
  • Anon
    Dude said:
    You’re interpretation is gramatically incorrect.
    You are a nice one to be arguing about grammar. Not only do you improperly use "your" (you said "you are interpretation..."), but you misspelled grammatically. You don't get to be a grammar cop and not have people call you on your own grammar inadequacies.
  • Derek
    If the gravitational pull is going to be so ridiculous from this machine, then wouldn't that increase the chances of earth getting pummeled by close range asteroids and such? I too am curious as to what is out there, but there is an old saying that goes.."Be careful what you look for, you just might find it."