The LHC: The "Life Hazard Cause"?

            This is obviously not what “LHC” stands for, yet not only a vast number of people from the scientific community but also civil people may actually consider this name a suitable choice; the erection of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator in the world—and highest-energy one as well—began in 1998 in the frontier between Sweden and France—close to the city of Geneva—and finished four years ago by the CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire [European Organisation for Nuclear Research]).

            The pursuit for hints that can lead these nuclear scientists to the discovery of the key constituents of matter, the scrutiny in the course of a possible set of hidden dimensions, and the unearthing of the tremendously sought-after Higgs Boson, which is considered the elemental particle of the substance of the whole universe (i.e., the very origin of it), are the major purpose of the construction of this 27-kilometre cylinder.

            Nevertheless, these tempting raisons d'être became nothing against the terror unleashed a few years ago by the time the LHC was set into gear; this colossal particle accelerator has been said to be the potential reason of the end of the world. How is this possible? Why was this sort of massive destruction weapon built, knowing that it could mean the end of life in planet Earth as we know it?

            This controversy came out in 2008 when a group of scientists presented their complaint to the court of the CERN after having made some speculations about the possible creation of antimatter or black holes, which means that the Earth—probably along with other planets and satellites—would get absorbed and destroyed.

In simple terms, what happens inside the LHC is a series of ‘mini-big-bangs’ that are supposed to last a few seconds and then vanish into thin air—something that has not been proven yet, which has caused this hullabaloo. However, these speculations seem not to have any mathematical support and scientists affirm that there is not anything to be concerned about.