Scientists start world's largest particle collider

International scientists, including researchers from McGill University, celebrated the successful start of their massive particle-smashing machine which aims to simulate the conditions of the "Big Bang" that created the universe. Experiments using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the biggest and most complex machine ever made, could revamp modern physics and unlock secrets about the universe and its origins. The project has had to work hard to deny suggestions by some critics that the experiment could create tiny black holes of intense gravity that could suck in the whole planet. Such fears spurred huge public interest in advanced physics ahead of the start up of the 10 billion Swiss franc ($9 billion) machine, which proceeded smoothly on Wednesday morning.