Okay, you may or may not know it at this point, but I am a huge, ginormus fan of CERN and Dr. Brian Cox (one of the leading brains behind it.) I was browsing their site checking out the latest updates, and noticed that this was a featured link:

http://angelsanddemons.cern.ch/

Its this cool website he and his guys created to answer any questions fans of the movie/book "Angels and Demons" might have about their research or the actual science behind the movie. Awesome (if predictable) idea, and its a very well done website. However, I couldn't help but fall out of my chair laughing at one of their FAQs:

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Q. Does CERN conduct secret research?

A. CERN does not conduct any secret research. Its business is fundamental scientific research, and most of the world's nuclear physicists are involved with it in some way. However, many important discoveries made at CERN benefit industry, medicine, and other fields of research. For example, positron emission tomography (PET scans), and the web are both technologies that have developed from research conducted at CERN.

CERN's convention explicitly states that its research should be of a 'pure scientific and fundamental character.' Further, the convention states:

The Organization shall have no concern with work for military requirements and the results of its experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available.

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Phew! It's a load off my mind to know they aren't. Because ANY organization that WAS conducting super-secret research is required under Supervillian Law to 'fess up to it on the FAQ of their website, right?


Not that I think they're up to anything but smashing particles, but it made me laugh. Seeing as Dr. Cox is well known for his sense of humor, I'm tempted to send them a hyper-relieved message explaining how glad I am that they aren't doing anything underhanded lol.