'Big Bang' Machine Switched On, We're Still Here

Feared planet-devouring black hole fortunately fails to materialize
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 10, 2008 5:09 AM CDT
'Big Bang' Machine Switched On, We're Still Here
This is the magnet core of the world's largest superconducting solenoid magnet at the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Martial Trezzini, file)

The Large Hadron Collider was switched on today and the world did not end, as some doomsayers predicted, Reuters reports. Scientists at CERN in Switzerland now plan to use the giant particle-smashing machine to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang and shed light on the origins of the universe. Interest in the experiments soared after doomsday writers predicted the machine could spawn a black hole and destroy the world. (More CERN stories.)

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