If you have ever worried about a gamma ray burst destroying the earth, rest assured. It cannot happen. According to Sam Hughes’ Web site, “Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.”
Hughes’ Web site titled, “How to Destroy the Earth,” exposes how durable the earth actually is.
“This is not a guide for wusses whose aim is merely to wipe out humanity. This is a guide for those who do not want the earth to be there anymore.” the Web site states.
“The idea came as I was browsing http://everything2.com.” said Hughes via e-mail, “I realized that the site had an awful lot of how-to on it, so I suddenly started wondering what the ultimate how-to would be. ‘How To Destroy The Earth,’ hit me like a lightning bolt.”
According to Hughes, the Web site is a combination of his writings, along with contributions and corrections that people have sent in and “it’s all real, checked-out science.”
The site includes 11 ways the Earth could actually be destroyed. The list is in order by how feasible the events are according to Hughes. Although he calls them feasible, Hughes admits that we don’t have the technology to perform any of the events right now.
Wayne Cooper, professor of physical science at BC, said, “They are possible, but as far as feasible. I don’t think so.” He went on to say, “I think someone is trying to yank your ankle. All these include technology we don’t have.”
The instructions for one event say you will need to place a microscopic black hole on the surface of the Earth.
Next, according to the site, you just wait. The black hole will begin to pass through the earth, absorbing its matter until eventual there is no more Earth.
The least feasible way to destroy the earth, according to Hughes, is to build an earth-size body of antimatter, and make it collide with the Earth. When the two collide they would destroy each other, leaving only a flash of light from the explosion.
According to Cooper, “A positive and negative electron can annihilate each other. It is a possibility, but I don’t know where you would get that much antimatter.”
The most feasible way, according to the site, includes moving the entire planet of Jupiter into earth. The theory describes building a huge rocket through Jupiter and propelling it from its orbit and into Earth.
The Web site states this is, “Impossible at present,” because we don’t have the technology. Cooper agreed that in theory it is a possibility, but it is not probable to happen. “Some of the things he says are possible,” Cooper explained after reviewing the site, “but we don’t have the technology, and probably won’t.”
Hughes says he is in the process of writing a book with completely new information on how to destroy Earth, but has not spoken to any publishers as of yet.