Things that “they” say will eventually kill us all: global warming, disease, nuclear war — particle accelerator? MSNBC reports a bizarre lawsuit:

The builders of the world’s biggest particle collider are being sued in federal court over fears that the experiment might create globe-gobbling black holes or never-before-seen strains of matter that would destroy the planet.

Representatives at Fermilab in Illinois and at Europe’s CERN laboratory, two of the defendants in the case, say there’s no chance that the Large Hadron Collider would cause such cosmic catastrophes. Nevertheless, they’re bracing to defend themselves in the courtroom as well as the court of public opinion.

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, is due for startup later this year at CERN’s headquarters on the French-Swiss border. It’s expected to tackle some of the deepest questions in science: Is the foundation of modern physics right or wrong? What existed during the very first moment of the universe’s existence? Why do some particles have mass while others don’t? What is the nature of dark matter? Are there extra dimensions of space out there that we haven’t yet detected?

Some folks outside the scientific mainstream have asked darker questions as well: Could the collider create mini-black holes that last long enough and get big enough to turn into a matter-sucking maelstrom? Could exotic particles known as magnetic monopoles throw atomic nuclei out of whack? Could quarks recombine into “strangelets” that would turn the whole Earth into one big lump of exotic matter?

Whoa! I don’t want to be turned into one big lump of exotic matter! (Or do I?)

Personally, I don’t think man has the ability to harness enough power to destroy the planet — yes, I’m speaking to you, Al Gore. Actually, physicists have debated this topic quite extensively: the result is the Kardashev scale, a method of classifying how technologically advanced — and powerful — a civilization is. Currently we are a 0.7 on the scale, with a 1.0 being the level in which a civilization can harness all of the power on a single planet. It’s a fascinating topic, check out the link.

But as for the lawsuit, well, even though it sounds silly — and will be dismissed — it does raise a valid concern: We should be very careful with our new technology. Let’s make sure security is real tight at the facility, okay? Oh, and scientists — double-check your arithmetic, please.