"There’s an ion collider in Long Island named Rhic that critics thought might create something called strangelets, which have similar earth-gobbling talents to black holes. One report estimated that the possibility of strangelets popping up was only 1 in 50 million — odds that Dennis Overbye noted in The Times were actually more favorable than some government-sponsored lotteries.
Still, we’ve had the collider in the New York metropolitan area for some time now with no ill effects and have turned our attention to more important projects, such as never finishing construction of the 9/11 memorial. If there are any strangelets, they have adapted and merged into the general population. Some of them are no doubt running for the State Legislature at this very moment."
No doubt!
"There’s an ion collider in Long Island named Rhic that critics thought might create something called strangelets, which have similar earth-gobbling talents to black holes. One report estimated that the possibility of strangelets popping up was only 1 in 50 million — odds that Dennis Overbye noted in The Times were actually more favorable than some government-sponsored lotteries.
Still, we’ve had the collider in the New York metropolitan area for some time now with no ill effects and have turned our attention to more important projects, such as never finishing construction of the 9/11 memorial. If there are any strangelets, they have adapted and merged into the general population. Some of them are no doubt running for the State Legislature at this very moment."
The New York Times, Digging Ourselves a Black Hole, by Gail Collins, August 23, 2008