Science's summer blockbuster

Maximilien Brice / CERN Components of the ALICE detector spread out like sunbeams during the integration of the device's inner tracker in March 2007. ALICE is one of the four main detectors at the Large Hadron Collider. The advance buzz over the world's largest atom-smasher is reaching a steady hum, and the date for the Large Hadron Collider's official premiere in Europe is due to be announced as early as this week. The first all-around injection of proton beams is expected in September - at just about the time that a federal judge in Hawaii considers a case claiming that the darn thing could destroy the world. Meanwhile, the LHC's older, less powerful rival - the Tevatron at Fermilab near Chicago - has announced discoveries that suggest the Americans could yet steal some of the Europeans'... [read full story]