Big Bang re-created
A machine built to re-create the microseconds after the Big Bang will be switched on tomorrow — leading some scientists to worry that it could mean the end of the world.
The Large Hadron Collider, 178-mile long ring of supercooled magnets, embedded 330 feet beneath the Swiss-French border, will eventually smash opposing beams of protons together at high speed, creating a series of mini black holes.
Tomorrow morning, the first beam of protons will be flashed through the LHC, but the first collisions are not anticipated until Oct. 21.
One French scientist launched a court battle last week to prevent the switch-on, so convinced is he that the black holes will swallow the earth.
Other scientists have received abusive messages and, in one case, a death threat. One of the leading protestors is the German scientist, Otto Rossler, who has campaigned against the experiment through the media.
However, general scientific consensus is that there is no danger.
CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) carried out experiments which concluded there was “no basis for any conceivable threat” to the planet.
