This week saw all manner of claims that the end of the world was nigh. The reason? Well, some scientists have created a scientific instrument that can be used to crash beams of protons into each other in an attempt to reproduce the conditions that existed in the first billionth of a second after the Big Bang that started our world.

The fear, apparently, was that the scientists would somehow accidentally cause a black hole to be created that would suck all life into it. The first tests, however, went well and the world seems to be going on as per usual. I did have a momentary scare when I thought that a small black hole had appeared on my desk at work. Thanfully, it turned out to be a fleck of dirt. Crisis over!

The device that smashes these particles together is called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and scientists have decided that what they need is a more catchy name. They've therefore invited people to submit ideas for a new name to the following e-mail address: edwards@rsc.org. I've put through some suggestions including the New Dawn and the Revelator. I'm sure they will be inundated with suggestions but ones such as the World Killer or Black Hole Maker will probably be rejected!

The next big date for the testing is apprently due to be the 21st of October so, if you're one of the people who thinks it'll cause the end of the world, then make sure you complete all projects, etc, well in advance of that date!

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