Over in Switzerland, CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is preparing to run the most powerful machine on Earth, the large hadron collider (LHC), in hopes that smashing particles together will simulate the Big Bang and unlock the mysteries of the universe—or at least a couple of them. Known as the ATLAS Experiment, the project could help determine the origin of mass, possibly by producing the Higgs boson, aka the “God Particle.” It seems to me that the experiment, which will boast 40 million collisions per second, doesn’t come without risks, such as inadvertently creating another universe. Here to explain why that doesn’t make sense is Uwe Bratzler, Ph.D, a UW graduate and a physicist working on ATLAS, who’ll explain the magic of the machine. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255. $5. 7:30 p.m. BRENT ARONOWITZ

Wed., March 5, 7:30 p.m., 2008