Hello and Welcome

We are on the Way to a Better Future

Open letter to: Jacques Barrot (24/10/2008),
Vice President of the European Commission; Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security

Dear Mr. Barrot,

The unacceptable risk of the LHC operations at CERN

The operations at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) risk the survival of humanity for no expected useful result and benefit. The commissioning of the LHC seems to have been delayed till next April, apparently because of human error. No matter how small the 'predicted' risks are, some risks like the possible destruction of humanity cannot be taken.

Scientists are concerned and warn that the experiments at the LHC could have unintended consequences which could endanger humanity and the earth. They even went to court to stop it.

Dr. Otto E. Roessler, Professor for Physical Chemistry, asked the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France for an immediate halt of operations at the LHC and for an open and independent safety conference, because micro black holes created by the LHC could grow large enough to destroy the earth in just years or decades.

Dr. Walter L. Wagner, Physicist, and Luis Sancho went out of their way and demanded in Hawaii's US District Court that the LHC be stopped because black holes or strains of matter might be created that would destroy the planet.

Dr. Rainer Plaga, Physicist, states in his recent scientific report 'On the potential risk from metastable quantum-black holes produced at particle colliders', that the LHC safety studies by Giddings and Mangano do not rule out the possible threat from microscopic black holes and proposes additional safety procedures to reduce the danger.

This most powerful particle collider, this expensive endeavour, involved many physicists and scientists worldwide and has cost a lot of money. The CERN Press Office is continually publicising its operations and now many people derive their livelihood from CERN.

But the Frankfurter Rundschau reported that CERN's computer system had been invaded by computer hackers. The ARD Teletext on 8 October 2008 reported that apparently it was human error, which caused the accident at the LHC, which seems to have stopped its operations till April 2009.

Manfred Davidmann warned us very clearly in his report 'Social Responsibility, Profits and Social Accountability' about the devastating consequences of socially irresponsible application of science and technology. 'How close are we to the one suicidal mistake which cannot be put right?' he asked in 1979. In 2007, he warned more intensely that 'a new factor has entered the equation. It is now possible for the first time in the history of human beings on this planet for just one or only a few socially irresponsible persons to do something or to introduce changes, which could destroy us all or else make this planet uninhabitable for human beings.' The Los Angeles Times put on record 'when a scientist of Manfred Davidmann's proven track record (of achievement and objectivity) and international standing makes such a statement, this needs to be taken seriously'.

He who pays the piper calls the tune. Employers have a strong influence on what their employees say in public and employees are likely to be advocating viewpoints, which are employer-serving instead of being people- and community-serving. We need experts to assess the risks, and hoped-for gains involved in the operations at the LHC at CERN. Experts who are completely independent and would not be tempted to put personal gain, grants and Nobel Prices before the welfare and survival of humanity.

In 1993, the US Congress stopped the construction of the then largest collider in Texas, because the value to the community of the scientific gains it could produce was questioned.

Here, as a deeply concerned citizen of the European Union, I am asking you, our Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, to stand up and be counted. Act for us and proceed to have these experiments at the LHC at CERN stopped before it is too late, at the least have them stopped till their safety can be guaranteed by independent experts.

I wish you success and all the best,
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Angelika Schaumberg