I came across this little tidbit as a friend sent it to me through an IM. Turns out that the forums over at SomethingAwful.com, a gem of a thread about the Large Hadron Collider.

The forum is lucky enough to have a member, that just happens to be a PhD student working on one of the LHC experiments, and he decided to start a mega-thread on the forum where he explains the basics of the thing in an understandable way, and then takes all comers and answer questions ranging from scientific to workplace humor.

I’m only on page three now but there’s already been a wealth of information, like how the damn thing is powered, how they shut it down in case of an emergency etc. Now this is obviously a forum, so it’s not filled with ponies and rainbows, so expect some “fucks” and “shits” in his explanations, but honestly, i prefer it that way. So head over to the mega thread, and read some refreshingly non-standard questions and answers about the LHC. If you’re feeling adventerous, you might even want to sign up and ask a question of your own.