Well, the world didn't end. I just lost $20.

The atom smashing, black hole spewing, 27-km long particle accelerator has finally been turned on. It didn't end existence as we know it and it also didn't break so we're not going to be sitting around for years waiting for it to get fixed. Scientists and researches shot a bunch of protons around the ring, registering a fuzzy dot on a monitor, which is apparently a great success.

The world-altering particle smashign won't fully get going until around the year or so, which means that there's plenty of time for you to go skydiving or tell Chrissy Matthews from high school that you've always loved her. It's kind of like Y2K, but the odds that something catastrophic is actually going to happen are even lower, right scientists?

"Our standard odds are 1,000,000/1, but anyone wanting longer or shorter odds is at liberty to take them. A number of customers took us up; on our offer and have bet that the world will end as a result of the Large Hadron Collider experiment."

Oh million to one odds huh? Well, I'd feel a little better if they said there was NO chance that the world was going to end, but whatever. And the scientists are already cashing in on their faith in the LHC.

"Meanwhile, William Hill celebrated Man's continued existence. It had taken £119 from punters willing to bet that September 10 2008 would see the end of the world."

Yeah and $20 of that is mine douchebag. Stephen Hawking also has a bet going for $100 that once they start mashing things up, they won't find the Higgs boson (or "God particle") in the LHC. And when Stephen Hawking bets something, you know he's deadly serious.

Stay tuned for more updates. If the world does end, I'm using the LHC to go back in time to say "I told you so."