The Large Hadron Colliderhas been fired up and the planet still exists! They have not started smashing particles yet but even then the planet will still exist. The collider has been designed in the hope of capturing the after image of the Higgs Boson. Which would be a major discovery for the standard model of physics...the scientists involved in the project project having the results once they begin the collisions in 2009.
What I find really interesting is that Stephen Hawking is betting against finding the Higgs boson

[caption id="attachment_702" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="1 Second after collider activation"][/caption]

Well. despite Charlie's fears, we're all still alive.

And whilst progessive peoples of all nations and races strive to advance humanity's dignity by expanding its knowledge of itself and the ineffable beauty of its origins and surroundings...

...there remain others (unfortunately), who still attempt to drag us back into the mire of ignorance, stupidity and superstition. And, tragically, sections of the so-called "left" go along with it in their ignorance and /or  willful misrepresentation of that militant atheist and scientific socialist, Karl Marx.

Today is the day that the Large Hadron Collider is kicked up to half power. They are firing protons into the tubes as we speak. And guess what? The world didn't end! Imagine that!

Rebecca Watson over at tells us of the secrets living deep in the basement at CERN, and xkcd is partying hard over the big event.

For those unfamiliar or confused on the topic, here is a short video from CERN about itself and the LHC.

Moving to and from California and New York City ! , By Edward Wilson.
A couple of years ago I decided to develop my own engineering company. At the beginning it was pretty harsh, contracting and hiring and meeting up with clients, but since I already have a bit of a career going on, I took up pretty quickly. At first I found it very exciting, but then, I began to miss traveling, moving to different cities, meeting new ways of living. I really wanted to have that back, but now I have a business to take care of and I can´t just move away and leave it to run itself, Crisis And Issues Management. 

So having spent all my money on drugs and booze last night was a total waste. There was no end of the world today. No giant black hole sucking us into the next dimension. Ok I was kidding, there was no drugs or booze last night. In fact, I, as usual, got up, went to the lab, did my experiments, had my caffeine fix, and complained how my experiments did not work. Usual day at the office really. Another successful scaremongering attempt by the media. The fact that there was next to no chance that the worst is going to happen was just brushed aside and focus was put on how we will have a black hole created on Wednesday, when the actual colliding procedure is not going to happen for another month! Insanity!

The Time Of Relapse. VerseVisions Art; John 6:67, originally uploaded by Mark Lawrence.

"Will ye also go away?" John 6:67

This painting was inspired by the moving devotions penned and published by Oswald Chambers in the early 1900’s. His powerful book, My Utmost for His Highest, continues to touch my life and draw me closer to Jesus. I hope that this art and verse do the same for you!

Read the devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that inspired this work.

Today was special. The Large Hadron Collider fired it's first beams this morning around 3:36 AM Central time.

That begs the questions - what the heck is the Large Hadron Collider? Which James Bond movie did they pull this idea from? How dangerous is 14 TeV? Who the F%^# cares??<!--more-->

A 16-year-old girl from Sarangpur, Madhya Pradesh, India allegedly committed suicide after watching Indian news channels stating the possibility of Doomsday as the experiment begins

Ok. Well thats sad, and not exactly to my point, but:

CERN, Switzerland (CNN) -- Scientists Wednesday applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived got successfully underway, with protons being fired around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the universe.

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Since we've been keeping an occasional eye on the goings-on at the LHC, I would be remiss if I failed to note that this morning the accelerator turned on, and the proton beams successfully circled the 27 km underground tunnel.  The official press release from CERN reads, in part:

The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 this morning. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific discovery.

I haven't been able to find any indication of the current energy of the proton beams.  I expect that they have started at a relatively low energy, and will slowly ramp up as time goes on.