Kieran Healy

There are some things money can’t buy

Large Hadron Collider: $350 billion.

2,800 Physicists and support personnel: $450 million.

Lab Coats, Jolt and caffeinated mints: $25,000.

Accidentally annihilating everything within a couple of light years: Priceless.

(Via Brad DeLong.)

“Get ready for a view of the universe we’ve never seen before.”

Actually, come to think of it, if the shockwave of any accidental destruction of the universe travels at the speed of light, and, as we have a sneaking suspicion, it might be comparatively easy to set off a chain reaction that makes the whole universe go bang, this gives me a very good reason to hope that we are truly alone in the universe, as sudden and completely unexpected annihilation is something I want to avoid…