"What if you could become God, with the ability to build a whole new universe in the lab? As startling as it sounds, modern physics suggests that within the next two decades, scientists may be able to perform this seemingly divine feat--to concoct an entirely new baby universe, complete with its own physical laws, star systems, galaxies, and even intelligent life. To create your own cosmos, you would need a particle accelerator, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva or one of the proposed next-generation colliders, a lot of physics know-how, and a bit of luck"--

Zeeya Merali is a journalist and author who has written for Scientific American, Nature, NewScientist, and Discover, as well as published two textbooks in collaboration with National Geographic. She lives in London, United Kingdom.