This coming Wednesday, September 10th 2008 marks the activation of CERNs Large Hadron Collider. This multibillion dollar atom-smasher will finally come online after two decades of planning and production. It will attempt to re-create the big bang, on a considerably smaller scale, to give scientists a better understanding of the make-up of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.
The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet.
The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.
Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.
CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars. So, in the event we are not consumed by black holes there will very likely be some amazing discoveries in our future thanks to this incredible machine!
For further information check out these links:
Here are some pictures, serious and funny.............
