==Challenges==
The LHC survived legal and political challenges. Legal challenges revolve around the possibility it could open a microscopic [[black hole]] that would swallow the Earth. However scientists have effectively ruled out this scenario, pointing out - among other things - that such particle collisions take place quite often naturally.<ref>Steven B. Giddings, Michelangelo M. Mangano: [httphttps://arxiv.org/abs/0806.3381 "Astrophysical implications of hypothetical stable TeV-scale black holes"]</ref><ref>Benjamin Koch, Marcus Bleicher, Horst Stoecker: [httphttps://arxiv.org/abs/0807.3349 "Exclusion of black hole disaster scenarios at the LHC"]</ref> The LHC seeks to prove or disprove other important concepts and theories, such as [[supersymmetry]], [[matter]]-[[antimatter]] asymmetry and strong gravity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://atlas.cern/updates/atlas-blog/philosophising-physics|title=Philosophising physics|accessdate=2018-12-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://home.cern/science/physics/matter-antimatter-asymmetry-problem|title=The matter-antimatter asymmetry problem|accessdate=2018-12-20}}</ref>
Ethical challenges have been raised as well, with many {{who}} considering the search for the so-called "God particle" to be a sign of human hubris. An analogy can be made to the Biblical [[tower of Babel]].