Large Hadron Collider Powers Up (Update 1)

by Rich Bowden - Sep 10 2008, 08:32

Updated to include news of the LHC device's first full circuit.

The most important and expensive particle physics experiment in the history of science has commenced successfully today to the joy of physicists and the consternation of those who consider the safety of the planet to be at risk.

At approximately 9:30am local time, the $10 billion USD Large Hadron Collider (LHC), housed beneath the CERN facility on the French/Swiss border, was switched on. The device duly launched a beam of protons at just under the speed of light and stopped one-eighth of a circuit around the massive, subterranean 27-kilometre tunnel to the "loud applause of the control room," CERN said on its Twitter site.

"After the beam is injected, it takes about five seconds for the acquisition of the data," said LHC project leader Lyn Evans. Shortly afterwards, CERN's control screens registered the first data entry.

Further news coming from CERN has confirmed that the Large Hadron Collider has now successfully completed its first full circuit, a moment it described as "historic".

The experiment, the culmination of work by thousands of scientists from 85 nations, is designed to recreate the conditions experienced at the birth of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago, just one trillionth of a second following the Big Bang.

The next stage will see CERN scientists begin to send a second stream of protons in the opposite direction around the collider in order to smash into the first release.

Physicists hope the resulting mini-infernos created by the multitude of collisions will throw up new, previously unseen particles which will give the scientific community a better understanding of concepts such as the origin of mass and the nature of dark matter, which makes up the bulk of our universe.

CERN controllers also hope the gigantic atom smasher will help scientists gain an insight into some of the mysteries of physics such as the extra dimensions of space-time and evidence of the existence of the mysterious Higgs boson, or "God particle".

Named after British physicist Peter Higgs, who began work on the idea during the early 1960s, the boson is the theoretical 'missing link' of particle physics which, if found, could explain how the building blocks of matter acquire mass and how the forces that interact between them operate. To find such evidence would be considered a major step forward in the understanding of subatomic particles and indeed matter itself.

Scientists are also hoping for the LHC to provide a better understanding of an overarching theory that would reconcile traditional physics and the weird laws governing subatomic particles.

However, not everyone is happy at the experiment going ahead. Some have argued it will end disastrously, with the atomic collisions leading to the formation of minuscule black holes that will join together and gradually consume the planet.

Many are taking this belief seriously enough to call on CERN to stop its experiment, citing serious safety concerns and even pointing to the possibility of a space-time “hole” being opened for the arrival of beings from other dimensions in space-time.

Physicists have rejected these safety concerns, and CERN has released a statement saying the Earth is not at risk with the miniature black holes disappearing as soon as they are formed, if they are created at all.

A full analysis of the multitude of collisions may take many years to perform and is well beyond the range of any one country or computer system. To assist CERN in its examination of the results, a worldwide, 60,000-strong bank of computers called the LHC Grid has been set up to scrutinize the collisions, although any major breakthroughs in particle physics may not be known for a while yet.

For further information about the Large Hadron Collider, see CERN’s official Web page by clicking here.

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