Scientists in Switzerland have been trying to decode this for the last two decades and will finally begin a historic Big Bang experiment late Wednesday in an effort to learn more about how the universe began.
At The European Organisation for Nuclear Research - better known by its French acronym Cern, engineers will attempt to circulate a beam of particles around the 27 kilometre-long underground tunnel that houses the Large Hadron Collider. The $US10 billion machine is designed to smash particles together with cataclysmic force.
It will push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel, which is 150 to 500 feet under the Geneva countryside.
This will re-create conditions in the Universe moments after the Big Bang. But some critics fear that this collision could create "black holes" that would endanger the planet.
The project has attracted researchers from 80 countries.
Update 23 September 2008
CERN officials said the Large Hadron Collider was shut down after nine days of operation when the meltdown of a small electrical connection caused the release of a large amount of liquid helium into the 27-kilometre long tunnel, near the Franco-Swiss border. This electrical failure will delay a series of physics experiments until spring 2009.
So close yet so far....remember patience is a virtue!
