have you heard about this?

the large hadron collider? apparently the most expensive gadget AND the biggest that is -- stretching 27 kilometers in circumference somewhere in geneva, switzerland.
well apparently, some well known scientific organization (i think it's CERN) is trying to copy the big-bang theory.
there were even some scientists who feared that building the LHC and attempting to do a mini big-bang experiment would imperil the earth to extinction or what we call the black hole (no, not that black hole you ijot). so what's the big fuss? according to some site i read days ago, they have already started doing their project and, well, it was a success. i just don't know their definition of success because i got lost through the mumbo-jumbo of star-trekscientific jargons midway through the article.
anyway, for my two loyal readers, i dutifully placed a link here for the wikipedia entry and i'm also embedding the youtube version of what exactly the large hard-onhadron collider is.

but if you don't want to click or to watch. here's the deal:

The LHC, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, is the latest addition to CERN’s accelerator complex. It mainly consists of a 27 km ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way.

Inside the accelerator, two beams of particles travel at close to the speed of light with very high energies before colliding with one another. The beams travel in opposite directions in separate beam pipes – two tubes kept at ultrahigh vacuum. They are guided around the accelerator ring by a strong magnetic field, achieved using superconducting electromagnets. These are built from coils of special electric cable that operates in a superconducting state, efficiently conducting electricity without resistance or loss of energy. This requires chilling the magnets to about ‑271°C – a temperature colder than outer space! For this reason, much of the accelerator is connected to a distribution system of liquid helium, which cools the magnets, as well as to other supply services.

Thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes are used to direct the beams around the accelerator. These include 1232 dipole magnets of 15 m length which are used to bend the beams, and 392 quadrupole magnets, each 5–7 m long, to focus the beams. Just prior to collision, another type of magnet is used to 'squeeze' the particles closer together to increase the chances of collisions. The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing needles from two positions 10 km apart with such precision that they meet halfway!

All the controls for the accelerator, its services and technical infrastructure are housed under one roof at the CERN Control Centre. From here, the beams inside the LHC will be made to collide at four locations around the accelerator ring, corresponding to the positions of the particle detectors.

-- Source: http://press.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/HowLHC-en.html

geekness warning.

that's all.

ciao!