Probably.

Sure, there is a large scientific experiment underway in Europe right now that at least a few reputable people have gone on record saying could lead to global catastrophe.

But they are small in number. Certainly, the international team of physicists and engineers building what is known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) would not be doing so if they believed such an outcome were possible.

After all, they're just people who are curious about the nature of the universe, not mad scientists.

As far as we can tell.

Still, it's not every day the topic of the imminent end of everything comes up, so Niagara This Week thought it presented an ideal opportunity to pose a simple question.

What would you do if the world was going to end in a short time, say two weeks?

Naturally, most people had an interest in knowing why they were being asked such a question.

In recent months, there has been sporadic news coverage about the device being built cooperatively by European Organization for Nuclear Research (whose French initials spell CERN), an international team put together following the Second World War to advance physics research through large, highly expensive and complicated projects.

The LHC, now finished construction, is located in a tunnel 27 kilometres in circumference about 100 metres underground. Inside two beams of particles, protons and heavy ions, will be smashed together at high speed. They will be travelling through the tunnel 11,000 times per second, or 0.999997828 times the speed of light.

When that happens, scientists predict some interesting results which should shed some light on some of the mysteries of the universe. Among the predicted discoveries are evidence of dark matter, which is theorized to make up 96 per cent of the universe, but has thus far been nearly impossible to detect. It is also hoped the extremely high energies will make it possible to "see" hidden dimensions beyond the three we experience.

And those are just what's expected. CERN's public outreach website proposes the high energies "may even reveal some unexpected results that no one has ever thought of!"

It is the unexpected that has some worried. Some physicists fear the LHC could create miniature versions of black holes, those forces of nature that are so powerful that nothing, not the Earth, not even light, can escape from the gravitational pull.

Most physicists, however, note that these black holes will be so small as to be invisible and thus will not have enough energy to cause any harm.

So, even though the likelihood is all but non-existent, the question remains: what would you do if the end was on its way?

One thing Caroline Rigby, a server at Art's Restaurant in St. Catharines, wouldn't do is panic.

"What could you do?" she asked. "You just have to live like you would every day."

Rigby said she's satisfied she hasn't been putting off anything in life and if the time comes, it comes. Thinking about it more, though, she said she would, as the time drew closer, spend the majority of her time with friends and family.

As would Jamie Kalio, a paramedic with Niagara Emergency Medical Services, who said he's got family across the province and would want to see them as soon as possible.

"Family's more important than work," he said.

Then again, he added, this particular device is just one more thing supposedly threatening human existence, so he doesn't think he'll be leaving his job anytime soon.

"It's either pollution or a particle accelerator, I guess," he said. "Take your pick. It's either quick or slow."

For Ed Lajoie, assistant chief with St. Catharines Fire Services, the end of the world is not the end of his responsibilities. There will still be fires to put out.

"We still have to do what we have to do," he said. "Life goes on. Life doesn't stop just because of something like that.

"We still provide the best service to our citizens."

While for most people the question seemed to come from outer space, for Wendy Howell, the answer was a little more down to Earth.

A health-care aide and heart attack survivor, Howell knows a thing or two about our limited time here and makes the most of hers with frequent travel.

"When you work with seniors, you learn to live like that," she said. "And after my heart attack I learned to live like I want to.

"I was lucky with the last one. I might not be so lucky next time."