In the beginning: scientists get ready to hunt for God particle·
Giant machine to recreate conditions of big bang·
Collider may create miniature black holes
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Monday November 20, 2006
The Guardian

At security posts dotted around the fields between the Jura mountains and Lake Geneva scientists are installing hi-tech retina scans above shafts descending 80m down - and leading to the largest scientific instrument ever built.

The machine is being bolted together inside a tunnel 17 miles (27km) long, and when the power is thrown on next year it will recreate conditions unknown for 14bn years since the extraordinary fireball that marked the beginning of the universe - the big bang which blasted time and space into existence. the rest