Cutting Edge Science? Or Doomsday Machine?

Scientists at the world renowned CERN research facility (the same laboratory that created the World Wide Web) are about to engage in some new research, creating an environment never before created on Earth. In fact, the objective of the experiment is to do no less than recreate the conditions of the "big bang", the origin of the universe itself. Literally thousands of scientists are involved, from over 80 countries. The laboratory has built a $10 BILLION dollar piece of equipment in a tunnel under the French-Swiss border. It is commonly known (!) as an "atom smasher". With an atom smasher this big, though the amount of data being gathered is staggering. "You can think of each experiment as a giant digital camera with around 150 million pixels taking snapshots 600 million times a second," said CERN's Ian Bird, who leads the grid project. To do the analysis, a new computer grid has been created allowing 150 laboratories to work together on the project. The new computer grid alone has potential to contribute to research that could lead to new drugs to new energy sources.
But some folks worry that the machine could create mini black holes that might just engulf the earth! "It's nonsense," said CERN chief spokesman James Gillies. John Ellis, a British theoretical physicist at CERN, said doomsayers assume that the collider will create micro black holes in the first place, which he called unlikely. And even if they appeared, he said, they would instantly evaporate, as predicted by Hawking.
Well they start work Wednesday September 10th. I guess we'll find out who is right soon!
Items in italics were taken from the AOL News web site http://news.aol.com/article/10-billion-science-project-to-launch/167810?icid=100214839x1209027366x1200509309 and you can go there for more information, and photos.