Specially commissioned by CERN for the ceremony to inaugurate the Large Hadron Collider, ORIGINS is a 20-minute adaptation of the original, one-hour, multimedia production LIFE: A Journey Through Time, featuring Frans Lanting’s photographs and Philip Glass’s music, choreographed by Alexander V. Nichols Image courtesy of LHC Fest

Imagine that in a few days (the 21st of October, to be exact), you are hosting the formal, invitation-only, LHC Inauguration, in front of several notables, 11 heads of state, and VIPs from many nations.

What, exactly, do you serve your honored guests, and how do you entertain them?

For one thing, you give them ice cream cooled by liquid nitrogen. It's all part of the philosophy of  “Molecular Cooking,” which chef Ettore Bocchia said consists of foodstuffs pushed to similar extremes, in order to keep everything at its absolute, flavorful best.

All accompanied by music composed for the occasion by Philip Glass, and performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, with images from famed National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting projected dynamically on a cinema-width screen. (Called Origins, the audio-visual extravaganza, commissioned by CERN, depicts the history of life from its earliest beginnings, starting with the Big Bang.)

And later that same day, there will be another reception, called LHC fest, to honor the “physicists, engineers, technicians and administrators who took part in the LHC enterprise and who could not be invited to the Official Inauguration Ceremony.”

Between the two events, it all promises to be quite a shindig. And to keep track of everything—and stay up to date with all the traffic rules and security precautions—check out the official website.

—Dan Drollette, iSGTW