A European Organization for Nuclear Rese

A European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) scientist looks at computer screens showing traces on the Atlas experiment of the first protons injected in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during its switch-on operation at the Cern's press center on September 10, 2008 near Geneva. Particle physicists fired up the world's biggest atom-smasher in a mission to answer some of the most perplexing questions about the nature of the Universe. Built in a tunnel 100 metres (325 feet) below ground in a complex straddling the French-Swiss border, the LHC is designed to accelerate sub-atomic particles to nearly the speed of light and then smash them together replicating conditions which prevailed in split-seconds after the "Big Bang" that created the Universe 13.7 billion years ago. AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI/POOL (Photo credit should read FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)