Eliezer, it might seem to you, as a non-physicist, that RHIC idea was over the threshold, but for physicists it likely doesn't look this way. They are sure enough to place the suggestion in the same bin with Apocalypse-2012. Analysis is implicit in the rational evidence composing their expertise, and as you noted, non-physicist must trust in the rationality of those who confidently refute the argument as nonsensical, but it is the rational estimate of the same people that determines whether to perform a dedicated analysis.