Stephen Hawking Says God Particle Could Be Responsible For End Times
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has spoken out about the End Times, saying he believes the recently-discovered Higgs Boson, or "God Particle," will be responsible for the end of the world as humans know it.
In a brief statement written in a newly released collection of essays and lectures called Starmus, 50 Years of Man in Space, Hawking argues that the God Particle, if raised to its highest energy levels, could effectively collapse space and time as humans know it. Hawking also wrote that mankind would have no idea of their impending doom, as the destruction would proceed through the universe travelling at the speed of light.
"The Higgs potential has the worrisome feature that it might become megastable at energies above 100bn giga-electron-volts (GeV). This could mean that the universe could undergo catastrophic vacuum decay, with a bubble of the true vacuum expanding at the speed of light. This could happen at any time and we wouldn't see it coming," Hawking wrote.
Hawking added that although it is possible, he does not think such an incident will happen in this lifetime, as the creation of such a large God Particle would take a machine that is larger than earth. "A particle accelerator that reaches 100bn GeV would be larger than Earth," Hawking wrote, "and is unlikely to be funded in the present economic climate."
Other scientists have also echoed Hawking's argument regarding the Higgs Boson and doomsday. Fermilab theoretical physicist Joseph Lykken recently said at a lecture that mankind shouldn't expect for such an event to happen any time soon.
"Most likely it will take 10 to the 100 years [a 1 followed by 100 zeroes] for this to happen, so probably you shouldn't sell your house and you should continue to pay your taxes," Lykken wrote.
"On the other hand, it may already have happened, and the bubble might be on its way here now. And you won't know because it's going at the speed of light, so there's not going to be any warning."
