You're reading this, so the world hasn't ended...And this has nothing to do with the Presidency

It may be "the greatest experiment in history" (according to Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal). It may revolutionise the way we understand the universe. But, for a few million Luddites, sceptics and wiseacres, the Large Hadron Collider is a £5bn liability. Not only, they say, will mankind not benefit materially from the collision of particles in the reactor; mankind may not be around at all.

It's not, of course, the first time the end of the world has been predicted. Internet fans are convinced that 21 December 2012 will be the end; it's the final date of the Long Count Calendar of the Mayans. Jehovah's Witnesses cheerfully discuss the coming final conflagration while standing on the nation's doormats. The Millerite Sect, led by William Miller, predicted that the apocalypse would fall on 22 October 1844. When nothing happened, Miller shamelessly called it "The Great Disappointment".