Yes, I am putting my money where my brain is. The LHC is big news ... for about 24 more hours. Heck, watching The Today Show this morning, even Matt Lauer said he was going to Google Dr. Otto Rössler - and it sure means something when they can get my kid to ask if a black hole is really going to consume the Earth on my birthday and why she should have to do her homework if Strangelets are the only things that will see it anyway. I can't argue with that. I am not sure why I even bothered to write this blog. Except ... except ... I am just not convinced that Europeans have screwed the pooch on this one. I get that a black hole consuming the planet is a very bad thing but the only reason it's even conceded as statistically possible is because these are, you know, scientists. 'Infinity' is a big number to scientists and their intellectual honesty is being used against them by conspiracy theorists. From a practical point of view, the actual energy in each LHC beam is 10 three-pound tubs of Crisco shortening - am I supposed to be afraid of Crisco? Of course there is the 'men are fallible' argument coupled with the 'didn't the government say Hurricane Katrina would be no problem?' argument. Sure, but no science would ever get done with that mentality. Regarding men and fallibility, there's more room for concern so why put my money on, of all things, French engineers primarily responsible for making sure this thing works? Well, Stephen Hawking is betting $100 the LHC is all hype and won't find the Higgs Boson but I am going a step farther; I will bet $200 the world is not even destroyed, which, if you read popular accounts in the media, is a lot more newsworthy. That's right, I have twice the confidence of Stephen Hawking and he is a physics genius. So if you dispute my infallible reasoning, send me your check and I'll put it in escrow. Doomed? Not by the LHC. Unless this guy gets involved. Then anything can happen: