When beams collide...

Worried that scientists are recreating the Big Bang? Don't be - they're not. Experts are sure the Earth won't explode, and although they might make some tiny versions of black holes, these will collapse harmlessly.

'Although we'll recreate conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang, the "explosion" will be confined to minuscule amount of space, and only last for a tiny instant in time,' says David Evans, a physicist working on the ALICE detector.