What is this LHC, and what does it do?

Question

ok in english please? for average folks like me, and should I be concerned?

Answer 1

LHC stands for Large Hadron Collider

Basically it is a huge ring where atoms can be accelerated to high speeds (around the speed of light) and then crashed into each other. The two atoms colliding releases a vast amount of energy and which either rips the atoms apart (revealing their internal structure) or else allows atoms and particles to be created.

There are a lot of horror stories about black holes being created and gobbling up the earth and it being a conduit for time travel. These will not happen since the cosmic rays from the sun contain far more energy than that produced at the LHC and we are all still here.

I think all the stories have been made up by bored reporters looking for a sensational story. If anything did go wrong the scientists that built it and run it will look bad so rest assured they will be very careful that nothing goes wrong as they know the world's press are watching.

Answer 2

http://www.uslhc.us/What_is_the_LHC

,A big magnet that makes thnig go reallly fast