Scientists said they simply didn’t know what surprises might emerge when they started up the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest and most complex machine which until Wednesday lay benignly in its underground home on the outskirts of Geneva.
Perhaps crashing together millions of particles at close to the speed of light would replicate the conditions just after the Big Bang that created the universe.
Perhaps the high-energy collisions, which will generate temperatures more than 100,000 times than the heart
of the sun, would lay to rest an unproven theory of physics.
And maybe, just maybe, the largest scientific experiment in human history would produce some anti-matter, or miniature black holes that would quickly disappear
“The most exciting result would be something we don’t expect,” British physicist Stephen Hawking said on the eve of the tightly sealed machine’s start-up, echoing his scientific peers who bubbled over with enthusiasm about the prospect of finally cracking more of the universe’s mysteries once data starts spewing from the physics playground at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
But not everyone likes surprises.
For non-scientists, the scale and ambition of the 10-billion Swiss franc ($9 billion) project seem unnerving. The possibility of creating black holes simply sound scary.
Many people allow themselves to ask, are there limits to what science should seek to find out? Will this experiment result in the end of the world as we know it, or even bring about the end of the world?
Millions of people — myself included — were first introduced to CERN reading “Angels and Demons,” the prequel to “The Da Vinci Code,” in which bad guys try to steal anti-matter from the ultra-modern research centre to destroy the Vatican.
But the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider on Wednesday proceeded without the drama or adrenaline of a Dan Brown novel. Project director Lyn Evans even wore jeans and running shoes for the occasion. 
So without a Big Bang of a start, we all may have to sit back with another book and wait to see what mysteries particle physics eventually beholds.
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It really rises thousands of questions in our mind regarding the birth of the universe! will these experiment clear all our queries? will it cause any harm to our world? can we relate these impossible things with god?i think some supernatural power is ruling the universe!has universe really taken place?
- Posted by ashishwhy are they doing this if it could end then world
- Posted by jakenice thinking, if eventually i come to pass, will the scietist survive, what has it got to do with the global worming, will it not increase the ozone dipriciation,,,,,
- Posted by femiHuman kind needs to be improved! For us to survive we need to grow and move on. I hope this operation is a success so we will have knowledge on space and what we can do for ourselves to further life other than this world. If god is a part he would want us to further ourselves. Btw if it wasn’t a success and we all die nobody would know about it anyways. so theres no stress on that. just not to suffer.=) But i agree we need to focus on this earth but we also need to focus what is out there in the universe for us to grab! I want more, people want more and thats how us humans are going to have to live and get a grasp on!
- Posted by pizzathehutIt is not in the hands of the scientists to create a black hole or to destroy our universe. This is in the hands of God; he is the only one who can create universes or destroy them. As a Muslim, I consider this as a waste for the knowledge, money, and efforts.
- Posted by sarahAt a time when 70% of the world have no food and shelter they spend 9 Billion Dollars on What? Im sure that the starving of the world feel a lot better now they have “answers”
- Posted by aebi just don’t know how these people are making decisions like this on our behalf which could then in return kill us??? i mean why can’t we just live and they spend money on cancer research or i don’t know the study of MS?? i just want to know who is deciding yeah lets do that, lets find out we might blow us all up but yeah lets give it a go!!
- Posted by sara ReynoldsNot just the Mayan prediction either. But for all of you who say, “Read the bible, the world wont end this way,” I challenge you to take a closer read. I’ve read the bible, and it is assured that some type of catastrophy will happen. According to the bible the stars are going to fall. How? Maybe a black hole produced by this experiment? What if the whole thing explodes? These scientists are human, not perfect and we all make mistakes — some bigger than others. This experiment shouldnt have been allowed to happen… How dare those scientists take my life, my child’s, your life into their hands. I’m so angry.
- Posted by LynnThis experiment absolutely terrifies me. One of the scientists against this experiment said nothing would happen for at least 4 years. 4 YEARS! So none of us will know what actually happened until its too late. Very scary. Also, is anyone familiar with the Mayan prediction for the year 2,012? Uh huh, yeah. 4 years from now…
- Posted by Lynn“Science can only determine what is, but not what shall be, and beyond its realm, value judgements remain indispensable. Religion, on the other hand, is concerned only with evaluating human thought and actions; it is not qualified to speak of real facts and the relationships between them.”
-Albert Einstein
- Posted by MaddyHow dare are them who do such things and spend money just to destroy what God has created. How dare are they who think that explosion will bring something good for our world. They need to clarify in their minds the second low of thermodynamic. God have mercy on them!
- Posted by EriThe chances of the world being destroyed are very small.
The chances of learning anything useful from the experiment are just as small.
The problem with recreating conditions that existed just after Big Bang centre on their being no proof there ever was a Big Bang.
Physicists enthusiasm for their work would be admirable were so much of it not based on theories that are based on theories. The chase for the theoretical sub particle, the Higgs Boson, would be less pointless if the scientists could tell us how they will distinguish it’s manifestation from any other wavy line on an oscilloscope screen.
The previous experiment a few years ago picked up what was thought to be the Higgs Boson. Turned out to be the energy exerted by the moon’s gravity on the surface of Lake Geneva which causes a miniscule tide.
At least that is what they thought it was but others think it was more likely side emissions from the electric cables on a railway track a few kilometers away.
- Posted by Ian ThorpeThis is probably going to sound stupid but just out of curiosity, is it going to create like… a mini kinda universe or something? if they’re replicating the big bang.. wouldn’t that create some kinda universe? and if our universe is (as they say) constantly expanding.. then wont a mini version do just that? maybe im just confused but yer… =/ i dunno.. with all the stuff thats posted on the web about this experiment its hard to sort out the incorrect information from the facts, but thats what i understood from it. Please correct me if I’m wrong though, lol.
- Posted by samwhat a shame on these world wide organisations, who are supposed to watch over our world, like ecology wars hunger, sickneses terrorists ipedemics etc, and spend billions on something that puts our lives in danger! did they ask the world if they could make an experment like that! where was the world comunity to stop them, because I am sure the mojority of the world is against such crazy experements, what is this world is coming too.
- Posted by Victor VshnevskyGreat experiment being performed…hope it would bring some good results…
- Posted by Digantwhat a waste of money,think of all the starving people in the world.god created earth and he has a plan.
- Posted by luke burgessThis experiment seems to be the most jeopardous one in the history of science.Even if this experiment is gonna be successful,in what way is it gonna improve the living conditions on earth????As such there are so many threats for the persistence of life on this planet!!!! Is it necessary to conduct such hazardous experiments and threaten the life on earth further???
- Posted by Nikky Michale