Thanks for this interesting question, and the nice comments towards this blog and my writing ;) This is always appreciated!
Electric and magnetic fields are two facets of the same phenomenon: electromagnetism. Let me try to explain how they work with more details.
The first thing to keep in mind is that two electric charges of the same sign repel each other, while two electric charges of different signs attract each other. The strength of this attraction/repulsion strongly depends on the distance between the charges. The closer they are, the stronger is the phenomenon.
Let's now assume that we have a bunch of charges present at different positions in space. If I take a fresh charge and put it somewhere, it will start to move. This motion is charaterised by the sum of the electric forces coming from the different charges already present. The electric field is a quantity characterising this force. It tells us in advance which motion any charge put in a given place will have, from the knowledge of the charges already present.
At colliders, we can create strong electric fields in well-defined regions of space so that any charge going through them will feel an important electric force that will accelerate their motion.
Magnetic fields are a bit different (and in fact more complicated to explain), and they are related to magnets and electric currents (charges in motion). Those fields have an impact on the motion of an electric charge. This time, it won't however change the speed of this motion, but only act on its trajectory. Therefore, we can use appropriate magnets to have a magnetic field that will be such that accelerated particle stays within the collider. We can moreover collimate a bunch of particles by forcing their trajectories to be very close to each other.
Does it clarify?
If you have a science project that you would like to involve the lay (non-science) community in, I would be willing to be a participant. Know this though: my computer skills are extremely limited. I would be willing to put in the time (a few hours a week) but might be challenged by the the required skill level.
The only requirement is time (and patience), and obviously a computer that does not necessarily need to be a super computer. Anything from a regular shop works. In this sense, if I start the experiment you can definitely be part of the game! From then, we will see how this evolves.
PS: I am very scary by all of what is currently going on... next door... Crazy world, indeed!
Geopolitically, things have accelerated from yesterday. Once the machine is in motion, no one can predict the outcome. Unlike introducing an electrical charge into a clearly defined space. I get it. You know exactly the nature of what you are adding and what already exists. You can predict the outcome. And I get it about the magnetic field. It pushes and pulls the charges in a defined way so that these behave predictably.
Thank you @lemouth for the explanation.
As for the project. I am game. Hope I will be a worthy participant.
Have a great, and I hope peaceful, week.
I have indeed noticed the evolution, I am afraid war is there, unstoppable... :(
PS: glad to read that you are part of the game! I will probably give it a try, and announce it either with the blog of next week or with the next-to-next one (in two weeks).