The above picture is of the LHC. The Large Hadron Collider. The LHC consists of a 17-mile long ring of superconducting magnets and in using it scientist hope to create a particle beam(s). These magnets will be used to bend and focus the beam(s). There will be a shitload of protons moving at a gnats hair beneath the speed of light. And there will be collisions. Lots of them. These collisions have a lot of folks concerned, but more on that later. For those of you still saying "huh", this experiment is supposed to recreate the conditions that existed right after the Big Bang. Sounds cool doesn't it?
All in all, this is a pretty big week in the world of Science. Big enough that even Carl Sagan might've stopped what he was doing to take serious notice. Prof. Stephen Hawking says that this experiment is vital to the future of our lives here on Earth. This week, when they flip the switch on the Hadron Collider or Supercollider depending on how attached you are to the whole deal, some fear the world could come to an end.
Of course there's been some controversy over the entire idea. And I'm not sure if the Holy Rollers have gotten a hold of it yet to tell us all how wrong we are for playing God. I do know that some folks are really concerned that one of the side effects of the experiment will be a few(miniature) black holes that will cause the end of the world. Actually that sounds kind of cool too.
For more on the LHC go here
I know, I know it's all a little nerdy but step back and think about what they're doing. We're talking black hole here. When I was born I'm pretty sure they were just theoretical and now someone might create one as a side effect. That Rocks!!!
And speaking of a little nerdy...Enjoy!
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