Physics

Just when I thought I had the Universe figured out, I find out that matter, or, mass, doesn't exist...
Well, according to the Standard Model, all the nice subatomic particles we call Fermions and Bosons do not possess mass. Of course, something is missing in the Standard Model's theory of the Universe, and that is: What causes mass to exist?
That's the job of the Higgs Boson, or, rather, the Higgs Mechanism.
There's only one catch: The Higgs Boson is so shy, nobody has seen it. Well, there was one 'sighting,' if that counts. However, help is on the way: The LHC (Large Hadron Collider, at CERN), will start experiments targetting the Higgs Boson in November of 2,007. With more than 800,000 collisions per second. Those who know are telling us that it may take 2 years to analyze the data once the LHC's experiments start.
What does it all mean to the average person?
This experiment might ruin an otherwise perfect Fall day if, as a result of the experiments, we are rewarded with our very own Black Hole, here, on earth. First to go would be Switzerland and France, then... Well, you know how Black Holes behave.
Does anybody know how to 'put down' a Black Hole?
Me neither...
The scientists at CERN believe that, if a Black Hole is formed, and they expect many, these will be 'very small,' so much so, that they will 'evaporate' instantly.
As you can see, I am still worried about the Higgs Boson. I hope the F1 07 Championship will be finished by then!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6244899.stm