CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most energetic particle accelerator, is scheduled to turn on September 12, 2008 so that the first high-intensity proton beam can be injected and circled around its entire system. This test will hopefully prove that all is functioning as designed and expected, allowing the collider to be used as intended in the coming months.

When fully operational, the LHC will accelerate two beams of atomic particles in opposite directions around the 27km collider. When the particle beams reach their maximum speed, the LHC allows them to ‘collide’ at four points on their circular journey. Thousands of new particles are produced when particles collide and detectors, placed around the collision points, allow scientists to identify these new particles by tracking their behavior. The detectors are able to follow the millions of collisions and new particles produced every second and identify the distinctive behavior of interesting new particles from among the many thousands that are of little interest. As the energy produced in the collisions increases, researchers are able to peer deeper into the fundamental structure of the Universe and further back in its history. In these extreme conditions, unknown atomic particles may appear.

The collider will go to full power sometime in the year 2010 - at which time, it will produce energy thirty (30) times more intense than any other machine on Earth.

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For a very entertaining and informative description of the LHC, check out Kate McAlpine's "The Large Hadron Rap" on YouTube.