Next Stop: Big Bang!

"9:30. First beam injected and stopped at 1/8 of a circuit. Loud applause in the control room."

And with that, en exciting era in science begins as the Large Hadron Collider begins it's initial test to ensure that all systems are working properly. It's a historic moment and the buildup to this event has been utterly palpable. It's had a profound effect on everyone, ranging from the most respected minds in physics, all the way across to those who feel that this will herald the end of the Earth as we know it. The buildup to this event has been a long time coming and is the beginning of the culmination of a project that's been more than a quarter of a century in development.

For those not aware, the Large Hadron Collider is a project meant to help physicists understand the very nature of matter. Most of the hype surrounds the potential discovery of the Higgs Boson, the so-called "God Particle" that will help explain how mass is constructed out of massless energy. Some religious scholars feel that this flies directly in the face of a Creationist view of world origin. Some scientists believe that this will certainly unlock many, many secrets of particle physics, thus opening all sorts of doors into research as to how everything in our world is made. There are even a few who feel that the collision of particles on this scale will end up causing several "miniature black holes" that will undoubtedly rip our world apart. The debate over these principles has raged for decades, picking up steam in recent years as the construction of the LHC neared completion.

Speaking for myself, I am very excited by all of this. While I do hold religious views, I believe that science and religion can peacefully coexist and that the LHC can help unlock both the secrets of everything around us, and potentially redefine our concept of what "God" actually is. I've always felt that science is what augments religion and, thus, religion is what can help push science. Of course, I'm not a scientist, but I still hold this conviction deep in my heart. My idea is that God is a scientist as well and wants us to unlock the secrets of what has been created around us. Of course, this view is sometimes controversial, but I also feel that, eventually, it can be more widely accepted as we begin to realize that science and religion aren't all that different from each other.

Turning our attention back to the LHC. It's currently 1:06 AM PST (10:006 AM CEST) and the first beam injected has now completed one-half of the 27-kilometer "lap" back to the beginning. So far there are no reported problems aside from some "cleanup" on the beam requested by the test director. However, this is more to ensure the test gets the best possible beam to circulate and in no way reflects some of the vast safety concerns that have been raised, but otherwise disproven in a statement issued by Director General Robert Aymar.

It is now 1:18am PST (10:18am CEST) and the beam has now made the final step of it's first revolution. The final step is to send the beam through the ATLAS experiment to ensure that the ATLAS is detecting particles correctly by firing a single beam through an entire circuit in one go.

It is 1:25am PST (10:25am CEST) and the test has completed successfully. The LHC has managed to fire a single particle around it's entire 27 kilometer circuit. History has been made as the largest experiment in the world has passed its first test. From here, the next stop is 21 October, when the LHC is unveiled to the world and the first particle collisions will occur.

So many congratulations go out to the staff of dedicated engineers who've worked so very hard on this project for so very long. You all have done outstanding work and deserve to be recognized for helping humanity take another bold step in understanding and unlocking the secrets of our universe.