The Large Hadron Collider Swallows the Earth
World's Biggest Physics Experiment Switches On; World Declines to Be Swallowed
Lawsuits warned the LHC might make planet-eating black holes. It made a Higgs boson instead.
What was claimed (paraphrase)
LHC collisions could create micro black holes that grow and swallow the Earth (or other planet-ending exotic matter).
— Walter L. Wagner, Luis Sancho and Otto Rossler (LHC opponents) · said 2008 · due LHC switch-on, September 10, 2008
The LHC switched on, went on to find the Higgs boson in 2012, and the planet remains stubbornly un-swallowed. CERN's two safety reviews had said as much.
The fine print
Wagner, Sancho and Rossler tried to halt the LHC through petitions to US and European courts, arguing it could create low-velocity micro black holes that might grow. CERN-commissioned reviews (2003 and 2008) found no conceivable threat. First beam: 10 September 2008; first high-energy collisions: 2010. The New York Times, March 2008: Walter L. Wagner and Luis Sancho filed suit on March 21 in federal court in Honolulu seeking a temporary restraining order, contending the collider could produce 'a tiny black hole, which, they say, could eat the Earth,' or a 'strangelet.' Wagner on CERN's safety reviews: 'They've got a lot of propaganda saying it's safe, but basically it's propaganda.' CERN's LHC Safety Assessment Group concluded 'that LHC collisions present no danger and that there are no reasons for concern.'
Sources
- Safety of high-energy particle collision experiments - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
- Large Hadron Collider - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
- Asking a Judge to Save the World, and Maybe a Whole Lot More - The New York Times (March 29, 2008)accessed 2026-10-09
- The Safety of the LHC - CERNaccessed 2026-10-09