asif !
is there a possibility of us all dying?
ha
asif!

No lewis, not at least until full-power collisions start, which is scheduled by the end of the year to happen.

By now, it is just beams sent clockwise, stop, and then counterclockwise. If something goes wrong with that, only those at CERN will notice.

Congratulations all around. Splendid work over years and years finally brought this day!

$10 billion project. No sign of working. Great. Constracting contactors probably happy already. :) But we will wait untill the end of the experiment. Everything will be fine? Hope this machine will do nothing with this world.

Probably, from our point of view, these protons started their journey and completed a hole lap on the tunnel in an incredible 0.00009 s from our eyes and we couldn´t see them. Only the physician can watch and observe these prontons using the detectors that capture their energy in graphics. So, I hope this experience reach its achievement and we can describe new unkown thigs that involve our existence in the Universe.

Suppose this opens the world as we know it up into a complete other dimension that we could not see until this happened and all the things written in the book of Revelation in the Bible start to happen!

I kind of enjoyed reading that people tried to place a legal halt on this project for fear that the machine could create a black hole that could suck in the entire Earth. I'm not sure if it's possible or not, but that's just fantastically funny. I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

Read "As She Climbed Across the Table" by Jonathan Lethem. This story reminds me of it.

9 billion they spent on this? I could tell you how the universe originated for free. God created it. Simple as that.

"The sky if falling! The sky is falling!"

isnt it worth all of us dying to find out what really happened a milli-second after the "big bang"??

Atika, If you cannot explain the historic significance of this $10 Billion machine then CNN sent the wrong person. They should have sent someone who had a basic clue about high-energy physics and how the LHC could seriously enhance our knowledge of the universe.

Why would CNN send someone unqualified to report on an event? Maybe for the same reasons political parties choose candidates completely unqualified for their positions.

Greg...Atika has a point. We need the implications of this test explained to the rest of us in ENGLISH. If they had sent a "real" scientist he would have hullabalooed the same stuff without telling us the possibilities in ENGLISH. Are we saying explaining the implications in english is so difficult yet its impacts and possibilities will impact life so so much and never be the same again. Give me a break!! If you dont know it too, join us in the asking – what the hell does this stuff mean really?

Great news

We just felt strong tremors in Dubai...is it bcoz of this experiment??

Oh yes, Dubai is the first city to be shallowed by this anti-humans machine.

Please, come on, let's be serious. This is a really important experiment.

Aw man! I wish I finished my physics degree! I was so bummed when the international particle accelerator in TX was canned.

My reaction was "SWEET!!!" when I saw CERN had finished it.

Daudi: I totally agree. They should tell people in laymen's terms. No need for fear. (Plus, if it happens? It will be over quick.) :)

Well I was serious and had no intention of making fun out of this experiment.

ENGLISH-two beams of atoms are sent around a tube a near the speed of light to collide with one another. polaroids are taken of the small pieces created from the collision. people much smarter than you and I check sensors that saw what happened and can figure out any number of physical properties of matter(life) as we know it.

potential knowledge gained ranges from the existence of parallel universes, extra dimensions, or things like new kinds of energy(like things we could power a new spacecraft with and travel to the far reaches of the universe)

Help any?

I don't know Luke, but I sense a great disturbance in the Force...

This is really about the "How" of creation. It doesn't question the "IF". It is hypocrisy for "Christians" and the "religious lot" to type warning messages via the WEB on their COMPUTERS that we shouldnt do this. Care to wonder how your message eventually gets to us. Because brave people armed only with their visions sought answers. SHAME.

WOW! 10 Billion Bucks? Did they use Union workers? Sure is alot of extra money in the world!

Well, i'm a part-time physicist, and i think that most of you are full of it, there are basically NO chances of it destroying the earth, much less the Universe. Don't worry about it. Everything is fine, we have some of the most brilliant minds in the world over there. Nothing to worry about. Skeptics have less of a clue then these Physicists, don't listen to them, they are insane, lol, just listen to what the scientists over there are saying, Nothing is to fear!

~AdamtheGreat

Man trying to create God? Now that's a laugh and a half! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen! Waste of $$ that could be used to help needy people on this planet.

When will people really get it? There's no such thing as a Big Bang. It's a theory! Tell me... where did the original atoms( ions, protons, neutrons, electrons) come from then? They had to be there before all this collision nonsense, right?

Get real folks! It's so simple. God's your Source- of all things!

(..and the God of the Universe sits back, smiles, folds His hands and shakes His head saying: "I forgive them because they know not what they do...")

We are all gonna end up like "half life" the Pc game... because of being messing with dimesion of space and time...
If it success it'd be one big achievement for humanity.. bur if not, it'd be a totally desaster.
watch half life to let you know what i mean.....

Funny but honest report! I wonder if anything will happen at all, when they eventually send protons in opposing direction and finally collide them. It ain't gonna be any big bang after all. There is a massive difference in energy. In any which case, the big bang too is a theory,,,,,,,,,,

Daudi.....Well said.

This is science. If the experiment is successful then we can just multiply it with a big and long enough number to show it to those peoples who may not understand the details but believe it like any other end product of science and physics. How many peoples know exactly how the car is exactly working that he is using? It's not necessary to know everything because it's just impossible but there is no problem to eat the fruits of science.

Hi,

How much time it will takes for complete the experments and what are the precaussion we have to take?
from theesesss " BIG BOMB(BANG)",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Daudi Chigoyo is right. Science, particularly physics, is the HOW of the world. A long time ago a religious man taught that God created the world for us and it was our DUTY to investigate it. We should ALL be scientists discovering the wonders that God created. Belive me, knowing HOW things work does not lessen the wonder of it.
It is too bad that this had to take place in Switzerland. The days of the US being the home of BIG science and the bold vision of the future that it takes to do are over.
BTW, a few years ago (about 10) it was thought that the creation of the Bose-Einstein condensate might chain react to swallow the whole world in an amorphous cloud of indistinct particles. Didn't happen but it did make for a great Halloween costume that year!

The greatest ever experiments mankind has ever witnessed. I wish all the team members in this mamoth project a great success in the years to come when the data will be analysed and calculated by 60000 computers for a fruitful outcome. A million applauds to one and all involved.
Thanks... Murthy

I have two things to say, to the scientists, congratulations!
to the critics of this experiment I say , no tangible change in the world will ever require the approval of the the entire population. if we all were to vote about this experiment, I bet, the experiment would not pass even with a simple majority!

Most articles about science typically make me sad because the comments that inevitably follow them just scream how ignorant our country is about science and scientific principle, and they display the effects that the waning drive true creativity, curiosity, and exploration have had on our society. I'm no longer surprised by the reactions– which always seem like a Dark Age parody of a witch burning– but they are depressing.

What is surprising with this article, however, is that the *author* of it, apparently a paid correspondent for CNN, is just as ignorant of science as most of the superstitious and proudly uneducated people who leave their trails of stupidity in the comments.

I can certainly understand where the $9 billion spent on the LHC went, and I understand why it was spent, and I believe that it was money very well spent. I can't understand, however, why CNN would spend a single dime to send Atika Shubert on a trip to Switzerland in order to contribute no information whatsoever and to pen words that actually increase the ignorance around this topic.

Hunting for God partical is like hunting for black cat in a dark room. Any part of God is highly inteligent which tends to be super elusive in any scientifical process – this machine will remain as a mega-expesive machine invented by super inteligent humans in search of illusions!

And the point of all this? To proof something about which you can do nothing. I dont get it. Atika, dont feel alone.

This Is All A Joke
They Said The Worlds Going To End Years Ago!

I'm really shocked. Shocked to see how people are ignorant and how the modern world can be so mediaeval. What's the possible future if the main part of the population is interested only in soccer, beer and sex on internet? I'm so scared if I think that those people vote. Vote and decide what the world will be. Instead of being proud of our science, our technology, our ability to create a rich world. Only 100 years ago we all were dying for common infections and our condition of life was poor. The science that all hate changed our lives. But they can see only the bad side... the side that has ever been used by ignorants and politicians but never by scientists. Will we go to Mars or will we come back into the caves? who knows.

Will this bring understanding, leading to unification, leading to peace, leading to world contentment? I just wonder how many people could have been fed, clothed, sheltered with $10 bilion... Where are the world's priorities? For those who believe, there are no questions; for those who don't, there are no answers...

Is science magic, mythical, or mystical...depends on who's interpreting it.

BP what u felt was the earthquake in Iran...

Time is a teller of tales, lets see what happens when CERN fully pwer up the collider. If successful life will continue as usual...if unsuccessful, you wont even feel a thing...I will welcome you all in paradise...well some of you that is.

hey listen people no bodies knows when the world is going to end
exccept the only GOD CREATION

My understanding of this is simple. If atomic energy is so immense, and they are trying to find sub-atomic particles, then subatomic energy is probably even greater. So what they are trying to find is a new source of energy. Am I completely wrong?

Here's some a few truths for you to swallow today:
1) We are all made of the same simple materials.
2) Those simple materials have been here since the beginning of the earth. They will always be here. (Matter cannot be created or destroyed)
3) So in that sense, you have always been here and you will always be here.
4) Life is about balance in every aspect. Achieving absolute perfection(aka heaven) is counter intuitive to our existence.
5) Hell is the other extreme, also not gonna happen.
6) God is created by man, out of fear, ignorance, and self loathing. Why do you think so many gods have been created in so many different cultures. And you think your god is somehow the right one?
7) Just take comfort in the fact that you are apart of this earth, you're never leaving and you're not significant.
8) Once you accept this, you can finally relax and enjoy life, the way every other species on the planet does.

Atika ,

you will not believe but its a fact ( check with your friends in India). people here has been performing poojas ( prayers) so that with this test there is no danger to the Earth. Almost all local channels gave live coverage of the so called test. at the end of the day all were happy that their payers are heard and nothing happened to the earth.

but there is lot of confusion created as there was no countdown of the days like if the media would have started this news may be 10 days back then there was enough time for common man to understand, what is all this about. as far i know this is hard work of 80 countries 1200 scientists worked for this day. hope they get the desired result

good and timely blog ...

what do you mean explain it in english, anyone who used to watch star trek, atlantis, or paid attention in physics could understand the concept. it is disturbing to those who buy into religion, because it shakes their core beliefs, i find it disturbing that we have to reach so far back in time to move forward. 10 billion would have made a great impact on feeding the world or cleaning up the water supplies, or trying to stop (ha) global warming. it doesnt take a scientist to realize that. but then again, would it have been newsworthy.......

this could put new meaning into the phrase : BEAM ME UP SCOTTY !!!

I see a lot of posters here complaining about the waste of money on this project. Where were you 10 years ago when this project was first being built? And, have you personally done anything about the world situations that you speak of in your dribble posts? Or are you just that type of person that thinks by posting on the day of reckoning, you will be a better person for having posted "should have fed the poor" OR "should have found new energy" because it's obvious that 10 years ago you didn't give a crap about it.... you probably didn't even realize what was going on..... FRONT-RUNNERS. I applaud these (or any) scientists that have the courage to test and evaluate the unknown ... to find out the why and how and where and what and who of this universe.

A friend of mine while serving in the army he was studying for the acceptance exams for a university. He was solving a very complicated equation, while a redneck was sitting next to him. After about 1 hour of calculations he did it and the final result was something like x = 0. When the redneck saw that he start laughing like a moron and said: “You spent 1 hour and you got a 0”. That was the reaction of the average Joe (which make the vast majority of the human race BTW).

bp. thats the oil drilling machine behind you

HA-HA!.... in the end..... who cares if or if not? we're not going to be here to dwell bout it.
All the worried, just enjoy it and get excited about quantum physics!
This is really incredible and it is happening in our lifetime.

ye guido your really shocked i think.

Sure it is not a waist of time and money ….
Be optimist …..
Sure God is so scared about reveal his/her secrets …

Trust in great Humanity ….

kiramon@rediffmail.com

Foolish Earthmen. Do you not know? This is exactly how it happened last time, The Big Bang.

"Okay Lothar, throw the switch and let's see what happens".

BOOM!

Let there be light.

Atika,
very nice report you posted and i agree with you that there was really not much to see. Nevertheless, glad that it was covered by CNN and that they did not sent some unknown reporter but you, giving the event the attention it deserves. Keep up your great work!

I wished they had spent the 10 billion on cancer research.

Please why not sensitize the world about the experiment?many persons have heard about the big bang experiment but donot know what the whole thing is all about.

Did they already do it wtf isnt the world suppose to be ended

I think if they don't know for sure what it is going to do when they smash it together,it is not intelligence but severe lack of intelligence and everyone involved should be held accountable as the murderers they are because we all should have a vote in something that could affect our world and possibly harm our children.To the scientist envolved in this if your wrong and you die doing this think of who you will be standing before responsible for the death of much humanity,I woudn't want to be you!

Research – discovery – knowledge. The practical applications are unknown. The costs are extreme, but stagnation of the intellect is damning. I'm for moving forward.

I think it's the coolest thing. Even for the $9 billion.

Hmmm 10 billion dollars in my opinion could be spent on something more beneficial to the human race as a whole. I would like to represent all of the desolately impoverished people dying of TB and malaria that can't afford computers or even enough food to feed their families. I think they might respond with something like, "Hey that money would have been nice to perhaps save millions of people from starvation and improve world healthcare drastically." But no, of course its spent on fantasy fanatics and a a pat on the back for the grossly overpaid ceo's who funded this project.

If it doesn't cause a problem I would be surprised I am a positive person and truly believe in GOD, I feel this experiment is going to cause us all a problem, if not now later but we will know where the problems came from, the experiment. I just feel it. Somethings just not right. How come we didn't have the right to comment on this project before it got started?

$9 billion? ye its a load of money, but well spend. this experiment can bring us so much more than the billions spend in wars, entertainment and so on...

I'm slightly amazed that people regard the $10 billion spent in this kind of research as overly high. Just look at the piles of money the US has spent in waging war in Iraq and think again. Atleast this research has _potential_ to be beneficial for the whole human race.

What if 13.7 billion years ago when we believe the universe was created, it was just the effects of some people smashing particles together near Geneva, who accidentally created a black hole large enough to collapse the (then) known universe? Then, 13.7 billion later, here we stand, about to repeat ourselves. Then, in 13.7 billion years time, the process starts all over? Answer solved.

Science continuing its path of bringing the invisible realm of energy into physical manifestation....

in other words, science on its path of proving the physical reality of THE Source of all things...

Just face it the selfish idiots are going to kill us all just because they are old and have lived their lives doesnt mean they should risk all of us younger peoples lives. Were all gonna die! :(

it is scary to know that a blackhole can be created by man.even though they are extremely small but, what if alot of them were created at the same time in the same exact spot. then what?
it is just a scary thought for people to be able to have that kind of power.

ENOUGH PEOPLE! Science AND faith can both be accurate! We need to break away from dogmatic beliefs that only create ignorance and contention. Unless YOU were there when "God" created this planet, maybe you should open to some other ideas.

Science does not obliterate your faith. If it does, maybe you don't really have enough "faith."

Stay open-minded. Yeesh. People get so offended so quickly. Calm down people.

I'm glad there are countries on this planet where people still see the value of learning new things. The idea that we shouldn't try to learn something because 1) we don't already know it and 2) it's too hard and expensive is completely counter-progressive.

Before saying such exploration is useless because you already know that God created the universe, you should consider things like the microwave oven, television, cell phone, sattelites, and medicine that wouldn't be available without investigative exploratory research that had no predetermined applications.

BTW, a black hole composed of a few subatomic particles smashed into a singularity would have as much gravitational force as... a few subatomic particles. People who know better should really emphasize this for people who don't understand that the "dangerous" sort of black holes have such powerful gravity because they are composed of entire stars. To the psuedo-physicists getting all bent out of shape over that inverse-square nonsense – matter is mostly space, and the likelihood of other particles drifing into the event horizon of such a tiny black hole is so remote that it will indeed take many lifetimes of the universe to become a noticeable phenomenon.

@Cory: they circulated the beams, but without colliding them yet. It's like starting your car, but leaving it idling in the driveway without going anywhere (yet).

@Greg Smith: Atika's video reports make clear that she has at least a layman's (laywoman's?) grasp of what the LHC is for. She's just saying that she wasn't sure what to expect when they actually turned it on, and she wasn't too impressed. Neither was I, for that matter. She also didn't say that she *couldn't* explain the historic significance, she said that it's a problem to explain why a little blip on a screen is such a big deal.

Einstein was not sure the world would not burn before the first atomc bomb. He was fairly sure that it woulden't, but not 100%. Is anything 100% positive? I think that the people working on this have a little more going for them then Einstein did back in the 1940"s. But then he did destroy his unifield field theory after the militery used the bomb didn't he.

Maybe he knew something the rest of us didn't, o what can we expect from this? Flying anti-gravity cars is not unrealistic. But what the military might do is more scary than a black hole creaping up on us in the middle of the night.

This device is not only an incredible scientific achievement, but a veritable work of art.

To Citizen X :

Your injection of racism into this discussion was most unseemly.

You might want to consider that many European "rednecks" labored mightily to assemble this incredible machine.

To Bradley:

Here is one truth you need to swallow yourself.

8. You're an over pretentious pompus clown.

NOW! You can relax and enjoy life.

Congrats to the scientists! I have been excited to hear the results and can't wait till later this year when they do the actual collision (if it IS done later this year). I also find it funny that people think this will destroy the earth or something similar. Where do those rediculous ideas come from, reading sci fi?

To the doubting christians...really?? I know you are so sure that god created the earth...but how? Is it because you read the bible? I mean...really? Have you read the history of the bible and christianity, or even religion for that matter. You may think the big bang is just a theory (which of course it is), but it has more scientific backing by things we can prove than say...the bible. The only thing the bible has going for it is the fact that people believe in it. Has god come to you and spoke to you denouncing the big bang theory? If not...then how do you know??

What a about the earthquake in Iran and Chile? Just the day they turn on the machine!!.. I don't want to think about the day the machine reach its highest velocity and heat!.. Poor of us!!. This really could be big error for our planet and the end of all of us!.

What about if the LHC explode when reach the speed light? what about the heat.. it will be the same temperature as the core of the Sun!..

Poor planet!!... I fell sorry for us!!

People diying beacause they don't have food, or a place to live, or go to the doctors, or just there is no cure for illness!!. I can not believe this!...

I am absolutely terrified. Not only do I want to die, but I don't want to know I'm going to die. I suppose if the world blows up, I won't know, but my daughter is only 2. I was hoping to watch her grow up. I think this experiment is the stupidest thing man could do. They are pretending to be God and nature. That just spells disaster.

Fools! The Earth is flat! and the it is the center of the universe!

Do not listen to these her...

Sorry thought I was in 16th century Europe for a moment there with all the rhetoric going around.

It's funny how even over 500 years later we still have people afraid of scientific discovery. Thankfully, it's not as pervasive as back then.

Hopefully the discoveries and knowledge gained by the LHC will be shared publicly and will benefit us in the future.

They should have talked the Saudis in building this large waste of money, the Saudis have money to spare. So far turning this machine on hasn't helped me get thru the day. Hasn't feed any starving people nor put a bandaid on anyone hurt. At least the US Space Program yielded some useful items for everyday use.

by looking at it , this project seems to be very serious business, as a lay man who is more of a finanace guy , i am still unable to understand the details of it but i am really curios ? need answers of 4question > whats really happening in the tube ? is there any dead line for results if any ? whats the motive ? & how it will help us in future meaning in what aspects ,what r the things we ar looking for???? if any body can help , havt gone thru a single suitable write up so far to get the answer of these basic 4 questions. IF ANY BODY CAN HELP ? EMAIL ADDRESS alvimansoor@yahoo.com

for putting no scientific significance in this article. I this a report for a college newspaper? Honestly, send a reporter who understands physics and the scientific impact of what this accelerator is doing. If I wanted to read an article that plays off the stupidity of people, I would have read the national enquirer.

D-\mn , The world came to an end while sleeping and I missed out completely.

Distroy the earth huh? Guess we don't have to worry about global warming anymore. I'm going out to buy the biggest SUV I can find and enjoy my last days.

For those that think the 9 billion should have gone to Darfur: why would we spend money to support a government that is slaughtering its own people? What "fantasy world" do you live itn that any of our (the western world) aid gets through to the people that need it? As for cancer or a cure for AIDS, much, much more than 9 billion dollars have been spent on these things. Sometimes it is worth it to develop a fundamental understanding of things.
I love the thread about this being how the "big Bang" was created to begin with! I would rather go out with a "bang" than the cold slow process of increasing entropy which is going to wipe out the universe eventually anyway... (in a few billion years)

A LOT OF TROUBLE AND EXPENSSE TO TRY AND PROVE GOD DID NOT CREATE THE EARTH............GOD BE WITH THEM ALL, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO..........

I think it's funny how many people here are concerned with the cost of this experiment. I don't think money is the problem here. If they didn't spend 9 or 10 billion on this, they sure as heck wouldn't have used it to go towards world hunger.

Maybe we should think this thru more thoroughly. The fact is we do NOT know if this will destroy the world, hell we dont even know what to expect it to do.

Oh theres the possibility of a blackhole. But it PROBABLY wont affect us or the Earth. Probably? Yikes. Some of the key defenders of the these test argue, it would take millions of lifetimes for a generated blackhole to become dangerous. These things grow.... BY CONSUMING MATTER. Besides, arent we supposed to be forward thinking, what if life still exists on Earth millions of lifetimes from now... are they at risk from our experiments?

Besides the hooplah about the possibility of a black hole, there are countless other ways this could affect the Earth and ultimately LIFE. Change the gravity of Earth... crush us with our own atmosphere. Affect any of the delicate balances of our world and we die... be it chemical, distance from the sun, or even dispersing our atmosphere.

What if this thing just starts emitting gamma ray bursts?

Most alarmingly, shake the earth at its core. Earthquakes.... kinda like the small tremors described in Dubai, or the 6.0 from South America today. Related? Who knows.

Although I cringe at the thoughts of what could happen, it is possible no ill affects come from these experiments. And there is also the possibility that maybe some unforseen good comes to light. Perhaps this machine can save us from what is going to happen on Dec 21, 2012.

so everyone in my town has been saying that in 2 weeks this will speed up and form black holes that wil make it be the end of the world?????!!! im still confused on all of this and quite freaked out. andyone care to clear it up?

Congrats to the scientists. Good luck on future endeavors. This is very exciting and I can’t wait to get home and read more about it. I look forward to what’s to come. My son was asking me about this last night and I bet he’ll have more questions for me tonight about this.

To the critics/angry folks who want to preach here, if you have faith in your God why get so angry about scientific work- angry enough to come here, read about this, and post? If you have faith let the world sort itself out rather than tell people they are wrong and this work is useless. Why can’t you let science and your god co-exist? If you can’t get past something like that there are bigger problems on the way.

To Jamie Axford- What a crazy and awesome thought. I'll have to pass that on to my son to mull over tonight. Thanks!

The posts done by ignorant, religious, self appointed prophets are my idea of true obscenity. If you spent decades learning superstition instead of scientific reality don't expect to be able to understand why we need this machine. Better to spend your time starting another inquisition.

Although I may understand the scientific significance and possibilities to this experiment, I can't help but think what 10 billion dollars could accomplished in the way of researching cures and causes for Cancer, Autism for example.

Why should we need bake sales and walkathons to raise what is fraction of what was spent on this endeavor, when governments seem more than willing to shell out more money than tge GDP of many developed nations?

Scientists guess all the time, and they learn from the aftermath of a few experiment, and i don't think they did any sample/experiment to assure the safety of this project. If things go wrong at some point which could happen because of computer issue, are they prepared to safe not only them-self but also the world. Its a big thing specially for quantum physics person, i like the idea but not sure if it is safe!

i just hope we can get to Mars before we destroy our Earth.

I dont get what is going on. did it already happen? is it happening right now? should i be relaxed that we are all still here or scared that it might all go away soon? This is so not worth it...

10 billion is a lot of money. While I personally believe that Big Bang Theory is more of a "God said it and, bang, it happened" sort of thing and just a theory is its other aspects, I have to ask, what is the point of this experiment? What is it going to do for this world? There are people starving, dying from aids, cancer, and other diseases, children being molested, raped, and killed, corruption in the political system, and, unfortunately, corruption in the church (which is a whole other issue for me). I understand how people want to know what took place and the curiousity about the universe but with so much destruction in the world, would it not be better to spend that money (the money that everyone claims no one has to help anyone) on the things that really matter like human life that is so precious and fleeting?

I am not trying to downplay the experiment and I do understand the point of view that it is a major moment in science, but it just seems to me that there are so many more pressing issues that should be dealt with first.

If anyone really is that interested in knowing all the ins and outs of this thing and what could come of it, I refer you to Wikipedia for a search of "particle physics", "antimatter", "antimatter annihilation", and so on. Any chance of a bomb is covered under the annihilation topics. Antimatter and matter collide and instantly annihilate each other into pure energy at an efficiency of nearly 100%, compared with an efficiency of less than 20% for current thermonuclear weapons that fuse or fissile. So yes, the potential SEEMS scary if there were a chance of it happening, but there's not.
We can and have created antimatter(specifically antihydrogen) in these things, however to quell any doomsday fears, the amount created is measured in picograms. Calling a picogram small is to say that the universe is big, or that physics is hard. With today's technology, in order for a mad scientist to make an antimatter bomb it would take trillions and trillions of dollars and a billion years(literally) to produce enough antimatter to make a viable bomb, of which we have neither. By all measures, we don't have enough energy left to run the things to produce enough antimatter for a bomb. The Earth's lights would go out trying. That's not to mention there's not a known process for how to actually construct one if you had it.
That aside, this thing MAY produce black holish EVENTS...not black holes of sci-fi dreams. This isn't Star Trek. Black Holes are created mostly by the death of STARS, won't bother explaining how much energy is involved in that process. Conservation of energy, to create an black hole powerful enough to end us, we would have to input at least enough energy to end Earth to begin with, and Earth isn't a star, so there's literally not enough energy on Earth to create a "real" Black Hole. Everybody sleep tight, you're all safe and sound.

These scientist have gone mad. What do they want to prove by pumping bilions of dollars, how was the planet earth atmosphere when d big bang actually happened (still not proved whether it happened or not). Rather than letting the people know the importance of the experiment d scientist are comparing project with pyramids in Egypt. Lolz. Wake up scientist wape uk. This much money could have easily helped thousands of welfare campaigns run by UN and other welfare agencies worldwide for human welfare..........

One or a combination of things will occur when the particles are actually sent on a collision course in the next 30 days:
1. small black holes will be created (some speculate they will be so small as to 'evaporate' while others indicate black holes grow)
2. creation of a new man-made universe (a small big-bang re-creation with unknown consequences)
3. a large explosion/fire ("The team was holding its breath in the countdown to the switch-on after a series of technical hitches, including problems with the cooling system." and "limiting collision energies until safety can be proven.")
4. conclusive evidence of the big-bang theory which in turn may cause some religious-political uproar (already in progress around the world due to this experiment)
5. nothing (that we can currently perceive or measure)
6. Stephen Hawking will rise from his wheelchair and be on Dancing With the Stars

Do you really think these few thouthand CERN guys are all madmens who take a risk to detroy the world. Nobel prize winners, Princeton, Harvard .., all are involved. Most have families. Are they all completly mad!? You cannot be serious. Noone involved or with physics degree went to court.

This experiment will greatly increase our understanding of the subatomic universe, eventually helping the world to produce cleaner, cheaper energy. If you'd like to see the planet avoid massive starvation due to the ever-increasing energy shortage, you should be very excited about this project.

Congratulations to all working on the LHC.This project will help us better understand where we come from and where we are ultimately destined to end up. I think that ultimately, the most important discovery would be gravity particles and controlling them.

Where to begin... To all the people who thought " Hey, I could look smart by posting." You might want to spell check, then know what it is you are talking about. As to the 9 BILLION dollars spent on this, Bill Gates could have funded this and danced a Jig while he was at it. To the starving children, they will continue to starve not because of the money but because of the country they live in. When will you fly over there and deliver a pizza or any food? I thought not. Now to the black hole. Even if it swallowed us up, you wouldn't even know it or feel it. Read Einstein's General Relativity. To God, why bring him into this? He is the one who gave us the intelligence, and curiosity to continue on with science. A thank you goes out to all the scientists and people defending their actions. To those whom I hoped for so long that "survival of the fittest" should have eradicated by now, "Go play in traffic."

Well... Way to bash religion you mongoloids. Seriously, I saw several posts about 'false prophets' and everything else.

Ok, so the scientist have no idea whats gonna happen, yet they have all these 'theories'. Who's the prophet then?

Quite frankly, regardless of your IQ, you miss the point. God is Existence. Man upsets God when he puts himself above God.

Therefore the Universe is upset, when Man (or any creation...regardless of how we came to be), raises its importance above that of EXISTENCE. Upsetting the Universe seems like a bad idea. If you live with your MOM, you dont wanna piss her off right. Same idea, just on an unimaginable COSMIC scale. Yea, thats right, us brilliant humans cant even fathom how large our universe is.

Attempting to re-create cosmic events may not be above our intelligence, yet we still lack the intelligence to know what it will do. There is no room for error. 1 mistake is all it takes, no second chances. You put alot of faith into science, which has been proven and DISproven, time and time again. Oh, but the stupid ones are only the ones who put their faith into existence, GOD. Right?

If you truly believe the science you preach, do you then believe in quantum physics? Hopefully not cause QP would tell you to expect anything from this experiment, but how can we expect what we could never expect. Sounds like a loophole. Thats the basis of our science, sit and around and hope the results come out the same everytime.

Pompous fools, I'll see you in hell soon. Real soon.

9billion CHF is more or less the amount. Or 8billion USD.
Instead of calling it a waste, think about it in an economical way. How many people worked on it? How many manhours? I´m quite convinced it gave a lot of people a lot of work.

And to all the religious extremist out there: What are you worried about. This experiment has to do with the "BIG BANG". Last time I checked, there is no religion that beleives in that theory.

What are worried about then?

Justin Heylen
Valencia, Spain

Playing God (in Catholicism) would be: surgically removing a rib from a male and molding it into a female.

:-)

Hi Carl I am an 8th grader in wyoming (a little town) well our 8th grade history class really likes the idea of recreating the idea of how the universe or the world at least PLEASE PUT THIS ON CNN STUDENT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! our class is waiting

from an 8th grade history class

What would happen if there was a Black Hole? I mean just think about it OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nima Arkani-Hamed's theory has actually existed in Shintoism (the native religion of Japan ) for many many centuries. The Japanese alphabet is based on the sounds of the universe. Nima's string theory says the world is made of extremely small vibrating loops called strings. Like cords. Musical?

by Johnson Sensei (Jikishinkan Aikido Dojo )
Kotodama involves sounds that are viewed as the fundamental sounds of the universe. The incorporation of these sounds into chanting rituals allows the chanter to connect with the basic building blocks of sound that make up the universe. For instance, the sound “SU” is viewed as the sound created when the universe suddenly exploded out of nothingness. From a cosmology perspective, SU is the sound of the “big bang” itself. What is particularly interesting to note is that recently, scientists examining the sky for the background radiation from the big bang have discovered waves that are the remnants of the actual “sound” produced by the big bang at the moment of the creation of the universe. In essence, current state of the art science in the field of cosmology has validated the most basic premise of Kotodama, that there was in fact a sound produced at the very instant of the creation of the universe.

Oh and... we really have to STOP materializing GOD into a person who gets angry, mad, happy , sad, hungry, etc.

GOD is so , oh sooo very much above and beyond our existance and understanding. Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnibenevolent. How can anyone actually expect that GOD will have a human reaction to all this such as anger?

PURE ENERGY. Positive and negative but never good or bad.

What in our little, diminute insignificance makes us think we can actually begin to underestand how GOD will react to all this?

We are nothing!

I saw a fireworks expert once blow his finger off, just after he said "don't worry nothing can happen I know what I am doing." The point being plainly that arrogance, man's primary fault has caused great atrocities throughout the world. If the scientists are devoid of arrogance, awesome go to it! If not perhaps they should be humble enough to look again. –for you science buffs/proponents, what deadly wonders have occurred in opposition to what was expected? I see a lot of support for the scientists for what reason? They came up with an idea to test a theory so they can say "see I was right!" as though we really care. Will it pay my bills tomorrow? Or help me pay for my child’s education? sure maybe in the long run but most people care about now.
I agree that great advancements may come from the research after the fact and it's a truly amazing accomplishment. I am eager to see what they find. My only question pertains to the idea that $9/8 billion + twenty years of time, tends to make people singularly minded.
I am not so concerned, with blackholes, the scale being “SMALL!!” —sensationalism–but the Big Bang theory does consist of an explosion from a point infiniteably small, though incredibly dense too. Point being No One knows what will happen really!!!
-BUT Please if you are going to throw God's name around do it intelligently! You make those of us who believe in a True God look stupid with arrogant comments. Are we not supposed to search the mind and breath of God? Which includes all of creation right? Won't God lead us into all knowledge and understanding? If you are going to limit your god please don’t limit mine, nothing they are doing contradicts God anyway, multiple dimensions no biggie, Biblically supported. Big Bang see INESCHA’s post

If you think this is a waste of money, take all your medicine and throw it away. Sell your watch, car, computer, anything that science has contributed to your oh so difficult life. Because you are going to need the money to buy a tent and live outside like an animal like "God" wanted. Wait, your tent is most likely made by matierial a scientist made. I'd rather tithe 20% to science if I know its going to feed the hungry/get us off fossile fuels than pay for my former-pastors 12 overweight kids.

So just to be clear here....No one knows exactly WHAT THE HELL is going to happen???

There isn't even the possibility of an educated guess??!! People are literally doing this to "see what happens"

These are the great minds and thinkers of our time...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT!!

What I'm trying to say is that you take science for granted. You fear this like a Neanderthal fears fire. Its very sad. If you dont understand it, try to. If you give up on trying to, let people that can do the thinking for you before you hurt yourself. And before you say "your going to hurt all of us!" think about all the mad scientists that got shut down before blowing up the world. There aren't any. Scientists are the true selfless worshipers of "God" by studying the universe- understanding that he is mortal, and will die. He doesnt think "I better be going to heaven for this". He is utterly amazed, and that drives him forward. Thats true worship. Stop shutting your brain off and being a sheep being led by wolves into "God Wars" living your life fearing hell. Appreciate your life. Give something to the world so that your kids can experience this incredible thing called life. My dad is a minister. Do you know what he taught me? Nothing. I was poor. I had no future. My mother was alone with kids. And it was through his ignorance that I learned, for example in lamens terms, that the game Dungeons and Dragons isnt run by demons in the form of people. I was lied to, just so I would fear something. For what? My protection? Its a stupid (but fun) board game!!! Understanding conquers fear. Terrorists and Tyrants use fear to get something done. You people can be very twisted. I cant wait for mankind to come out of the dark ages. Think- your mind is a terrible thing to waste. Anyway, I regress. Is this technology practical? As practical as Benjamin franklin tieing a key to a kite and discovering electricity. Stay in school. Lay off the drugs. I love science!

Humanity has a history of doing things just because we can and not considering whether we really should.

Scientists have a history of discovering things and announcing them to the world only to act shocked and confused that their pet projects, theories and discoveries are suddenly weapons in the hands of governments.

Perhaps (but not necessarily) worse are those who know that their work will be used as weapons in the hands of governments. The United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom and (I am ashamed to say) Canada, designed and built the first atomic bombs under what was called the Manhattan Project. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.

American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who directed the scientific reasearch for the Manhattan Project knew that his work would be used this way as he led the Target Committee that recommended Hiroshima as one of the possible targets. The American forces during WWII deliberately did not attack Hiroshima in order to leave the area pristine so that it was a good place to "test" this new weapon.

There are individuals who are unscrupulous and greedy and don't understand the joy of pure research and learning about the origns of the universe but instead sit back joyously rubbing their hands together and coming up with new ways to use new discoveries to get rich on the backs of those less well off, less technologically advanced, etc. There are also the more sinister individuals who don't care who suffers or dies in the name of scientific advancement. It doesn't
matter as long as it's not our people right? What they fail to realize as every human on this planet are our people.

I am not opposed to this project per se but it can and will change everything. Has anyone considered the military applications of any of the research that will be going on using the Hadron Collier? Of course they have. How much more destructive is a tiny black hole than a nuclear bomb? How can you know? Have you met one? How about any of the other "new" particles that they will discover through this research that we have no possible way of knowing the
properties or dangers of? They are only theoretical so far, they haven't been created by man yet. Theories are never wrong though are they?

How many Oppenheimer-like scientists are there involved in research that will be going on using the Hadron Collider? Oh but I forgot, he's an American hero. He helped poor defenseless great big America defeat that tiny little bully Japan.

Those of us who are not scientists, not industrialists, not members of military or government should probably not worry our pretty little heads about it. After all we are only civilians. Just like those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, going about our daily lives until one day we wink out of existance. At least it will be quick right? Or will it?

I must confess my first sentence is incorrect. Humans do consider whether we really should do things. And then we do them anyway.

Science is wonderful to the imagination, but the greatest creator is woman. The arrogance of man never ceases to amaze, tampering with things beyond our hypothesis is asking to disturb the delicate balance of nature and the symbiotic circle in which all living things share.

Peace be with us all and may wisdom prevail over intellect.

The risks of the LHC are unknown (anyone who says otherwise doesn't appreciate that the experiments are being done to find out what will happen when they are completed). Given the potential for small variations in conditions to result in major differences between expected results, the opinions of the scientists involved could be wrong about the risks and we could all be at risk for some competely unknown phenomenon (such very small singularity that fails to evaporate and then proceeds to restructure all of the mass of the Earth into an infinitely dense form killing us in the process).

The scientists who just spent $10 Billion are making their best guess based on what they don't understand, but hope to learn more about. They may be wrong, but they are probably the best sourece of information we have. Many people were very worried that the atomic bomb would ionize all of the water in the world before it was tested (again killing us all), and while the results of the explosions of nuclear explosions were not catestrophic on a global level, they certainly had negative results (especially health impacts) that we did not anticipate or understand when the tests were begun.

It's kind of sad that they get experts to report on the NFL, but complete layman to report on scientific events.

staying alive!

da bee gees baby

With 10 billion you could save a part of the earth... restore greenbelts, freeze the arctic, plug the ozone layer, generate renewable energy, clean up the air we breathe... just a few to name!

its a lil too much for that tiny spec of nano-second dull spark on some computer screen..

now they proved the theory, what are they going to do with it?

sweet now we really know what happnened , can we take it apart and sell it for scraps now

I think that junior and michelle and inechcae or whatever thats spelled like are wrong if you think that there is somone watching over you then either your insane or extreamly paranoid. i personally think that this experiment is a great way for Switzerland to spend SWITZERLAND'S money.If your "god" is really up their why does he give you a raise because you pray but let a starving child die in india or africa.

So if this machine is built to learn as to how we were created, there is no safety precautions as to what this machine is capeable of doing? We should be appreciative of what we have, not even risk the smallest as to the potential of the possibility of destroying us all just to get your name in a book that won't exist along with mankind.