Large Hadron Collider

I hadn't realized that the Large Hadron Collider was so close to being online. This is a cool bit of science. Webcam views can be seen at http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html. Information can be found at http://science.howstuffworks.com/large-hadron-collider.htm.

I know there was a lot of controversy over this as some people believe it will destroy the Earth by dropping a microscopic sized black hole into the center of the earth. My understanding (admittedly very little education in this area, but I have read a little) is that the microscopic black hole would have to have the mass of a mountain in order to not evaporate. We're smashing protons together. I think we are pretty safe for now. That does remind me of a conversation that I had a while back. If such a black hole did fall into the Earth's core, the resulting black hole (after the earth had been devoured) still wouldn't destroy the solar system, like some people claim. Since it's original mass was the mountain+the earth, it would most likely orbit the sun and still have the moon orbiting it. Quite a site for some future ET, don't you think?

I just love watching the webcams. It feels a little voyeuristic, but I think it's fun to see such dedicated people at work.