11 September 2008

LHC launches and girl suicides

If you haven't heard about the LHC launch yesterday, you've been living under a rock.

My family life is going crazy with Dad being on TV every hour. Of course, I'm excited and proud and stuff, but I can't avoid TV like I usually do and therefore I'm forced to watch living proofs of journalists' stupidity. Each time they interview a scientist I'm wondering when they are going to ask about the philosopher's stone and the time machine. All the suggestions of the LHC causing our world to collapse were starting to get boring... until this morning, when I learned a 16-year-old had committed suicide:

A teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a "Big Bang" experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.
How cruel/stupid/I don't know what can these journalists be? Don't they feel the slightest bit of responsibility? Do they wonder about the impact of their words other than the number of viewers/readers?

Okay, enough ranting. There are also many good reports and articles out there, like
"How long would it take the LHC to defrost a pizza?".

2 comments:

  1. With time I learned not to believe in such stories, they're mostly just made up to increase the number of comments = more visitors = more money from adds.
    And even if the girl really killed herself, it's because she had more serious problems than LHC and her father had even more reasons to hide them. Or maybe he was the main reason himself, who knows...

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  2. You're probably right... the way girls are sometimes treated in India is a way bigger subject, and a by far more depressing one.

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