Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

LHC generates first proton beam collision

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 23, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Advertisement

GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider, located underground near the French-Swiss border, say proton beams have collided for the first time in the machine.

The scientists told the BBC the event occurred Monday as two beams were circulated simultaneously around the 16-mile-long ringed tunnel that's located nearly 330 feet beneath the ground in Switzerland.

When fully operational, the LHC will smash together numerous beams of protons to shed light on what conditions existed in the universe less than a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

"It's a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time," Rolf Heuer, director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, told the BBC. "But we need to keep a sense of perspective -- there's still much to do before we can start the LHC physics program."

The LHC is the world's largest machine.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Oscar nominations 2012 High Fashion in Paris 2011: The year in space
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 20
Cold snap across Europe
View Caption
fark
Mein Kampfy shorts
Protip: Dude, you're supposed to wait until you actually assume your teaching job before making...
Theme of Farktography Contest No. 353: "Apples vs. Oranges 2: The Rematch." Details and rules in...
(Almost) everyone loves the Taiwanese media animations of current news events. Now, learn the cool...
The mail never stops, Jerry
Vulcans dealing with Pon Farr, Microsoft defenestrating 200 workers, and Don Cornelius starting...