More pointedly, CERN officials have begun receiving frantic phone calls, e-mails and even death threats from those who staunchly believe the massive underground machine could create black holes capable of consuming the planet.
The Large Hadron Collider, which is the largest particle accelerator ever built, is a giant ring constructed just outside of Geneva and around 300ft below the Swiss-Franco border. Originally offered up as a concept in 1994, the collider has cost somewhere in the region of $8 billion USD to develop and create.
Once switched on, it will circulate atomic particles around its 17-mile circumference at more than 11,000 times per second before then smashing those atoms into each other to simulate the first moments experienced by our universe immediately after the Big Bang.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University has revealed that Frank Wilczek, an American Nobel prize-winning physicist from MIT, has received threats against his life with regard to Wednesday’s launch of the groundbreaking collider.
James Gillies, the head of communication and spokesman for CERN, has also said that he trawls through tearful phones calls and e-mails every day from concerned members of the public looking for reassurances as to the survival of mankind. Some of those people contacting CERN can also be aggressive.
Gillies said that: “There are a number who say: “You are evil and dangerous and you are going to destroy the world.”
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200836/1964/End-of-the-world-hysteria-as-Big-Bang-project-prompts-death-threats
It's been a good run.
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