On Wednesday, 10 September 2008, physicists turn on the multibillion-pound machine that will recreate the birth of the universe: the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, applauds the greatest experiment in history.
Science is a global birthright: it's an intellectual impoverishment to be unaware of the chain of events whereby, from a mysterious beginning, atoms, stars and planets have emerged, and - on at least one planet - creatures have evolved that are able to ponder their origins.
And those creatures have come up with a colossal achievement. Within the LHC's circular tunnel, 27km in circumference, beams of protons will be accelerated to up to 99.999999 per cent of the speed of light.
When they smash together, they will generate concentrations of energy resembling those that occurred during the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang (without, of course, the explosive consequences).
Read the entire article by Martin Rees on The Telegraph here.
More info about the sub-atomic world here.
See LHC's homepage here.
Listen to LHC Rap on youtube here.