From various sources in the science blogotopia, we learn that the LHC has been started for the first time! For those unfamiliar, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is designed to be the world’s largest particle accelerator, which will probe the frontiers of known physics in search of a greater understanding of the fundamental forces of nature.
I don’t have a lot to say on the start up of the LHC itself, other than the fact that it’s very exciting (I did undergraduate and graduate work in high-energy physics, so I have a bias). I can’t resist, however, pointing out CNN’s initial lede on the subject:
Scientists applauded as one of the most ambitious experiments ever conceived began today. The Large Hadron Collider — designed to simulate conditions of the Big Bang — was switched on this morning. Skeptics claim the experiment could create a black hole capable of swallowing the Earth.
Emphasis mine. This is highly misleading, as the ‘skeptics’ in question to the best of my knowledge have no scientific experience and are contradicted by every reputable scientist on the planet. The structure of the story has changed since I first read it, but it still highlights the concerns of the ‘skeptics’. Just for fun, let’s look at what some other CNN ledes might look like if given similar skeptical counterbalance:
Skulls in the Stars 