As mentioned in an earlier post here, the European Organization for Nuclear Research has been building a massive particle collider over the last 14 years at a cost of $8 billion. It is now complete and ready to be placed into service.

Some think these experiments could cause dark matter to envelope the earth and end life. Others are not so inclined. No matter. The collider is on line and will begin firing protons at 3:30 am Eastern time on September 10th.

The first beam is essentially a dress rehearsal, as protons will simply be sent around the track. Kind of like the Indy 500 time trials. Eventually scientists will ramp up the technology over the next few weeks to five trillion electron volts and cause them to collide. They are looking to recreate the temperature conditions as near to the Big Bang as possible. You can follow it here

Tommaso Dorigo, a physicist, has an interesting blog here about the goings on at CERN. Let the games begin.