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Large Hadron Collider

First antimatter atoms created and trapped

Thu, 11/18/2010 - 10:27 by Prince damin

Geneva, Switzerland -- Atoms of antimatter, long the stuff of science fiction, have been trapped for the first time, European researchers at the Large Hadron Collider say.

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have trapped and held 38 anti-hydrogen atoms in place, each for a fraction of a second, the BBC reported Wednesday.

While anti-hydrogen has been produced before, it was instantly destroyed when it encountered normal matter.

The CERN team, writing in the journal Nature, says the ability to study such antimatter atoms will allow previously impossible tests of fundamental laws of physics.

Search for the 'God particle' closer

Sat, 11/13/2010 - 06:43 by Prince damin

Geneva, Switzerland -- The Large Hadron Collider has produced a pair of Z bosons, a step in the search for the Higgs boson, the so-called God particle, European scientists say.

The achievement is based on data released by the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration, designed to detect a wide range of particles and phenomena produced in the LHC's high-energy proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions, RIA Novosti reported.

"Seeing this first pair is an important step in the giant collider's hunt for the Higgs boson because the generation and analysis of many more such events could provide one of the key signatures of the elusive Higgs," physicsworld.com said.

LHC sees its first proton beam speed up

Tue, 11/24/2009 - 17:20 by Jaspreet Virk

New York, November 24 -- Faster than anticipated, scientists running the mighty Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have succeed in using the machine’s accelerator to speed up proton beams Tuesday.

Bing Bang machine Large Hadron Collider revived

Sat, 11/21/2009 - 15:44 by Jaspreet Virk

New York, November 21 -- After a year of repair work, scientists at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have switched on the mighty Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Collider cooled to deep space temps

Sat, 10/17/2009 - 00:06 by surajdogra

Geneva, Switzerland -- Europe's Large Hadron Collider has been chilled to temperatures colder than deep space for its restart next month, scientists said.

The collider, or LHC, is the world's largest particle accelerator and is kept in a tunnel 17-miles long and 570-feet wide beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva.
Just days after beginning operation last year, the LHC was shut down for repairs when a ton of liquid helium leaked from a magnet into the collider's tunnel.

The helium cools giant magnets to minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit, enabling the magnets to bend proton beams that scientists hope will provide data on how the
universe was formed, the BBC reported Friday.

Collider to resume operation at half-speed

Fri, 08/07/2009 - 22:29 by surajdogra

Geneva, Switzerland -- Switzerland's troubled Large Hadron Collider is expected to restart in November at half-speed and reach full capacity in 2011, scientists said.

The world's most powerful atom-smasher initially began operating Sept. 10 but was shut down nine days later when two magnets failed, causing a serious helium leak in the cooling ring.

The $6.7 billion collider, located in the suburbs of Geneva, has been under repair since then.

When it starts smashing protons in mid-November, the collider is to run at 3.5 teraelectronvolts, or 3.5 trillion electronvolts. A review several weeks later will determine how quickly engineers can boost it toward a full capacity of 7 teraelectronvolts, The Times of London reported Friday.

Collider restart decision expected soon

Sun, 02/08/2009 - 09:38 by Rakhi Kaptiyal

Geneva, Switzerland -- Scientists in Switzerland are expected to make a decision soon on when to restart the Large Hadron Collider.

The "Big Bang" machine suffered a catastrophic malfunction after being started last September, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

The newspaper said officials from the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, which built the device, have been in talks this week about when to restart the atomic collider.

A final decision on a start-date is expected following a meeting Monday.

The breakdown was blamed on a faulty electrical connection. As a result, 53 of the magnets used to accelerate sub-atomic particles around the machine's 17-mile underground tunnel had to be brought to the surface for repair or cleaning.