The activation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN should have already taken place by the time this article is published. Looks like the doomsayers were wrong that it would create a mini black hole that would consume the Earth.

It took $8 billion dollars, 13 years, and thousands of people to build, but wow is it a beautiful machine—a machine that will use 14 trillion volts of electricity to smash particles and see what the universe is made of and how it works.

Photos: Maximilien Brice, © CERN