Caution: Science and Video Game Content Ahead
The world of Quantum/Particle Physics gets a new uber powerful "toy" today ... the 16 mile long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) goes online. It's purpose? To smash protons together at energy level's never produced on Earth before and see what happens. The hope is it will create yet undiscovered particles that help explain the underlying rules that govern the universe and it's creation. The fear is it will create some bad mojo and destroy the Earth if not worse :-)
If you ever played Doom or more specifically Half-Life you know how this story plays out. Physicists "accidentally" open a wormhole/portal to Hell/Xen. And pretty much very bad things happen.
Let's pray there's no "resonance cascade" in real life or we'll all be looking for our H.E.V suits and a crowbar for starters ;-)
From The American Institute of Physics (yes, I subscribe to this)
The Large Hadron Collider, the largest and most expensive scientific instrument ever built in peacetime, begins operations on September 10 when a beam of high-speed protons begins shooting around the machine’s 16 mile (27 -kilometer) circular tunnel beneath Geneva, Switzerland. When the protons collide with each other inside the machine, one thing that scientists are certain won’t happen is the production of miniature black holes that gobble up nearby matter. A new study shows that the continuing existence of old stars in the sky is evidence that small black holes can’t swallow the Earth.
That is not to say that the new collider might not actually create mini-black holes as no one knows for sure what will emerge from the debris of the LHC collisions. Black holes are thought to represent the ultimate state of compressed matter, with gravity so powerful that any bit of matter, and even light, would be sucked inexorably inwards with no chance for escape if it gets too close to the black hole’s boundary. [more]
Actually I'm baiting you all a bit. There's really nothing to worry about. Many thousands of big brain people have studied and researched this and most believe there are no safety issues ... most ;-)
Here's a link to the LHC website (wow, can you tell this site was made by science type peeps?)
Wikipedia has some good LHC facts
The search for "the fingerprint of God" continues ... and I'm excited to see what the LHC "discovers" over time.