Back to plan B, I guess.

The Large Hadron Collider, the greatest atom smasher ever created, the world's biggest machine, was switched on today at CERN, the European nuclear research centre outside Geneva. And the result: rather less than earth shattering.

"Five, four, three, two, one, zero - nothing," joked Lyn Evans, leader of the LHC project, before a fuzzy dot appeared on a monitor.

It was 9.30am local time when a stream of protons was introduced into a short stretch of the circular 17-mile underground racetrack, buried in the Jura Mountains on the Franco-Swiss border.

The fuzzy dot registered their arrival, and then - well, not a lot. But to the scientists who have devoted their working lives to the project it was a moment of consummation.

Protons streams were then introduced into more and more of the machine until less than an hour later - far earlier than predicted - a stream whizzed around the entire circumference of the particle accelerator at a shade under the speed of light. The LHC had passed its first crucial landmark.

Looks like the Earth will continue to spin and Obama's campaign will continue to panic regarding a certain hot librarian moose hunter.

* - I know this is a bit of a stretch but I have an obsessive need to tie physics news to my rampant Palinmania.  Sorry.

Posted by: Moron Pundit at 08:29 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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