Large Hadron Collider back up and running

Sat Nov 21 2009 14:15:38

After a year's delay, scientists at the world's biggest accelerator have restarted an experiment to recreate "Big Bang" conditions, which once sparked suggestions the earth would be sucked in by millions of black holes.

Scientists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) have established circulating particle beams in both directions in the underground Large Hadron Collider.

That step is already beyond where the experiment stalled during a first attempt in September 2008, according to CERN spokesman James Gillies.

The high-profile experiment, through which tiny particles are smashed in an attempt to learn more about the birth of the universe, failed just nine days after it was launched, because of a technical problem which took longer than expected to put right.

"The Large Hadron Collider is a far better understood machine than a year ago," said CERN's Director for Accelerators Steve Myers.

CERN is a 55-year-old organisation that counts 10,000 scientists and technicians worldwide working on its research projects. It has vigorously denied any suggestion the ground-breaking experiment would cause the world to end.

CERN's Director General Rolf Heuer said getting the experiment re-started at the £6 billion collider under the French-Swiss border had been an "herculean effort".

"We've still got some way to go before physics can begin, but with this milestone we're well on the way," he said.

The experiment will be fully underway when the particle beams are smashed at energy levels higher than those so far tested in such type of collisions. This will most likely happen in January.

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