British Newspapers: Best In the World, Guv

God bless the Daily Mail.  How can you resist a story headlined:

Are We All Going to Die Next Wednesday?

Of course you remember the rule: all headlines written as questions invite  - nay, have - the answer "No". But, admit it, in this instance you might have a look and see what this imminent, cataclysmic threat is...

Comments

[MattF]

The 'mini-black hole' thing is tabloid fare, but no one's ever seen a Higgs boson. It's just possible that there's a reason for that-- i.e., something unpleasant happened to the civilizations that got to the point of creating one.

[TJA]

Aah, memories.

Thirty-odd years ago my physics teacher in Dunfermline railed for hours, to his class of 2nd year high schoolers, that one day soon some idiot would try to make a micro black hole, puffed with the certainty they could contain it. I remember particularly his description of how this tiny hole would fall through the earth, and ping backwards and forwards like a yo-yo, pulling more and more of the planet into its singularity as it did so.

They just don't make visionary teachers like that any more, do they?

[Anthony]

"It's just possible that there's a reason for that-- i.e., something unpleasant happened to the civilizations that got to the point of creating one."

It's also just possible that I'm going to proctor Darcey Bussell up the back passage at some unspecified future point. But that's not the way to bet.

[dearieme]

Where's the Precautionary Principle gone? Or does it only apply for anti-capitalist causes?