Yes, I think I know what the LHC is and yes, what a Higgs Boson Particle is too ... but naked protons?

Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland

But more to the point: I never really believed that last week was likely to be our last on this earth--or for this earth or for this galaxy to read some of the more exciting blog postings. First, protons pass through the earth relatively frequently at even greater speeds than they will race around the LHC and yes, we're still here, and secondly, anything suggested by both Jay Leno and David Letterman in the same evening should be disregarded anyway.

For some good reading that is at a level that I can lecture it at the community college level (yes, I still teach at my age), read Quantum, a Guide for the Perplexed or simply the latest issue of Popular Science--which I subscribe to as a donation to the institute wherein I teach--about which I am not permitted to say more.

My guess is that the picture below is more likely to result from a four or five star general's miscalculation or some political leader's dream of a New World Order than from some scientist's having gotten the sixth or seventh digit to the right of the decimal point incorrect in an application of Schrodinger's Equation--considerably more noteworthy than E=mc², btw.

Incidentally, the LHC won't be up to 'full speed' until sometime after November--as best can be estimated today.

More likely to be the concluding 'Shock and Awe' of World War III than any LHC, HBP or an electrical malfunction in Steven Hawking's electronic walking/talking apparatus