There has been a lot of controversy lately surrounding the Large Hadron Collider, a $9 billion monster of a device that may be able to create a type of matter not seen since the big bang. The problem is that there's a teeny, tiny chance that firing it up could create a black hole that can destroy the earth faster than you can say, "Screw you, Einstein." Of course it's a lot more complex than that, but the worry is so great that a lawsuit has been filed to prevent its activation. Personally, I think they're being worrywarts. If movies have taught us anything, it's that planet destroyers are not always all they're cracked up to be.


The Death Star
From: Star Wars
Destructive potential: The empire's crowning jewel was capable of turning any planet Darth Vader disliked into fine space dust.
What it took to stop it: It only took one photon torpedo to take down the original death star. But to explode the unfinished Death Star from Return of the Jedi, Luke and his crew had to shut down the shield generator while Lando and Wedge strolled in and wrecked up the joint. Lucky for Darth, he had good home owners' insurance.