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Physicists have just had the most headlines since the Manhattan Project. Bragging rights must be one of the more satisfying perks of working on the largest physics experiment ever. Quantum physics has never been this exciting.

It’s the end of the world, as we know it!

As Big Bang Day was yesterday, when the Large Hadron Collider was switched on, we may reflect a little on the fact that we are still alive. The Earth has not blown up, it was not swallowed by a black hole and no antimatter whatsoever has materialised in my underpants. God bless the God Particle.

It’s not the end of the world! Yet!

Note should be taken of the fact that no high-energy particle collisions have taken place as yet. This is scheduled for 21 October, when highly charged particles will collide at near the speed of light. Question: if both particles travel at almost the speed of light, will the total speed at which they collide not be almost twice the speed of light? What would Einstain say about this?

Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited. This has the potential to change human life forever, just as the world wide web did, and whom do we have to thank for that? Exactly, the men and women in the white coats at CERN in Geneva.

However, yesterday’s event has been hyped up a lot, only to culminate in someone shouting “Two spots! Fantastic!”

Let’s see what other results this gigantic experiment will yield in the long term.

Photo by Claudia Marcelloni © CERN

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