The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27 kilometer (17 mile) long particle accelerator straddling the border of Switzerland and France, is nearly set to begin its first particle beam tests. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is preparing for its first small tests in early August, leading to a planned full-track test in September - and the first planned particle collisions before the end of the year. The final step before starting is the chilling of the entire collider to -271.25 C (-456.25 F). Here is a collection of photographs from CERN, showing various stages of completion of the LHC and several of its larger experiments (some over seven stories tall), over the past several years.
Latest News from the LHC
Successful start up for LHC on 10th September 2008 .
The first proton beams were injected into the LHC on the 10th September. This critical step in commissioning the LHC went smoothly and over the next few months the LHC team will move towards the first particle collisions (more...).
This major milestone in the LHC project was be covered live by international broadcasters. UK media organisations were at CERN and at a simultaneous media event in London.
BBC Radio 4 devoted a day of programming to the LHC, including covering first injection of beams live on the Today programme. See the BBC website for programming, background etc.
Press Release announcing start up date.
Dr Tara Shears talks about some of the scientific questions that the LHC project will help us answer, on the www.labreporter.com website.
You can try your hand at running the LHC and interpreting collisions on our simulator at www.particledetectives.net.
The extensive preparations for the start of LHC experiments have included exhaustive safety assessments, including the potential risk of creating new particles, black holes etc. The latest risk assessment is available here.
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
0 comments:
Post a Comment