This November, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), above, will become operational in a tunnel underneath the border between Switzerland and France. The tunnel is circular and 17 miles in length. It is hoped that this accelerator will reveal the Higgs Boson, an hypothesized but never detected particle that is part of the make-up of "empty" space. The theory is (as far as I can understand it) that what we think of as a perfect vacuum is in fact a super-conductor, and the Higgs Boson is the medium of conduction. This particle would help explain how other particles acquire mass and point the way to a Grand Unified Theory of physics.
Albert Einstein said, "Space is not merely a background for events but possesses an autonomous structure." The Higgs Boson would help define that structure. I have always loved Einstein's statement, since it seems to explain, metaphorically, the function of space in the plastic arts, like ballet and architecture -- and movies. The illusory space on the other side of the movie screen feels to me like something solid, which can be molded, carved, shaped by movement within it -- even, in a purely imaginative way, by the potential for movement within it. It is plastic -- in the sense that it can be molded.
The LHC (seen above under construction) could also result in other observable particles and phenomena -- one of which is tiny black holes. Some scientists believe that it could create a black hole large enough to suck up the entire earth, resulting in the total annihilation of the planet. There is a pending lawsuit which is seeking to prevent the operation of the accelerator on just these grounds. Most scientists believe that if black holes are created they will be so small that they will break up of their own accord. If they don't, we will never know about it, since we will be instantly consumed by them.
Back in 2000, when some Catholics were fearing that the end of the world was at hand, based on secret revelations supposedly given by the Virgin Of Fatima, Pope John Paul II said that if the world was coming to an end we should face the prospect "with dignity and courage". That strikes me as the best policy, all things considered.
One other possibility is that the LHC will reveal nothing, which will be a signal to physicists that almost all current thinking about the nature of the universe is heading in the wrong direction. That would be interesting, too.