Rhythm of life to change at Cern (photo: Cern team watching low energy first collisions 16 December 2009 at 04:00)
Update 22:50 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The annual shutdown of accelerators at Cern, long a part of the rhythm of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, are coming to an end, with the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) gearing up. The organization will instead continue to operate the LHC for 18-24 months, then close for a longer period, possibly a year, to accommodate the LHC’s needs at a higher energy, Cern said 10 March, confirming information it provided in February, that the LHC would shut down in 2011.
The LHC is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles: the fundamental building blocks of all things.
Control room, LHC startup, Cern, November 2009
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Large Hadron Collider at Geneva’s Cern (European Centre for Nuclear Research) has beat previously recorded energy levels by accelerating beams of particles to 1.18 TeV early 30 November. The previous record was 0.98 TeV.
Scientists at Cern are particularly happy about the results because they come only 10 days after the LHC was started up again after explosions one year ago caused serious and expensive damage.
Updated 24 November 08:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) began to run over the weekend after a year-long delay, but Monday was the real day of excitement at its home at Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research). The LHC is designed to study the world’s smallest known particles, the building blocks of the universe. Two beams have been circulating in opposite directions since the 20 November startup, alternating, but today they began to circulate at the same time, crossing at two points.
Control room for the LHC at Cern, Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) was put back into action Friday 20 November at 22:00, slightly ahead of schedule, announced Cern. The machine started up, but was quickly shut down after a problem a year ago. “The LHC is a far better understood machine than it was a year ago,” said Cern’s director for accelerators, Steve Myers. “We’ve learned from our experience, and engineered the technology that allows us to move on. That’s how progress is made.” The LHC, the world’s most expensive machine, smashes atoms into each other at very high energies in order to recreate the conditions at the very beginning of the universe.
Background story, 20 November 2009
A view of Atlas. Higgs Boson, extra dimensions, dark matter, look here. Photo by Ellen Wallace
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern (European Centre for Nuclear Research) will be switched on this weekend 21-22 November after its year-long repairs. The LHC, the world’s most expensive machine, smashes atoms into each other at very high energies in order to recreate the conditions at the very beginning of the universe. The LHC will start up very slowly at first, probably at no more than 45o GeV, says James Gillies, head of communications. Energy levels will slowly be increased to about 3.5 TeV by mid-January.
GenevaLunch asked Gillies why the LHC, designed to run at 7 TeV, was going to go at only half-steam. He explained that the LHC’s breakdown in September 2008 required a series of careful checks on the machine before it could ramp up to full power.
Title: Accelerating Science, an interactive exposition of particle physics
Location: Globe, CERN, Route de Meyrin, Meyrin
Link out: Click here
Description: A tunnel that looks suspiciously like the interior of the Large Hadron Collider is the venue for a look at all the science we don’t know yet. Entry free. Contact: +41 (0)22 767 76 76
Start Date: 16 Nov 2009
Start Time: 10:00
End Date: 21 Nov 2009
End Time: 17:00
Sorry, can't talk now. We're all chilling at Cern. © Copyright CERN
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The European Centre for Nuclear Research (Cern) straddles the border between Geneva and the neighbouring France department of Ain. It has just launched a site of aimed at the local communities on both sides of the border.
The site recognizes Cern’s importance to the communities it is a neighbour of, and wishes to provide a useful forum shorn of the many technical details. As such, the site is in French only for now.
Angels & Demons exhibit, Globe, Cern (photo: Cern)
Meyrin, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Antimatter is what matters in the new Tom Hanks film, released 15 May. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) has a starring role, too.
Cern’s new exhibition at its Globe centre opened Sunday 17 May and tries to answer the questions viewers of Angels & Demons may have about the science of particle physics. The movie was produced by Ron Howard and stars Tom Hanks.
The exhibit is small, but concise. The average 15 year-old who spends one hour will get a basic grasp of what antimatter is, where it came from, where it went and why Cern is trying to recreate it.
Control room at Cern, first beam in September 2008
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern could be up and running by August, if all goes according to plan. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) said Thursday 30 April that it has taken an important step in completing repairs to the LHC. The massive structure was damaged 19 September 2008, just days after Cern turned on the switch to the machine that is designed to answer questions about the very first instants after the Big Bang.
Cern press office James Gillies shows journalists, October 2008, mechanical damage to the LHC
Cern control centre, LHC, shortly after the accident, October 2008
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, will restart its Large Hadron Collider (LHC), shut down in October 2008 following an accident. The new schedule was announced 9 February following a workshop of technical experts the first week of February in Chamonix.
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LHC control room in October 2008, following breakdown
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – In an interview carried by Swiss German site news.ch (Ger) Sunday, Cern’s new boss Rolf-Dieter Heuer said the bill for the breakdown of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) could go as high as CHF40 million. He also said that he expects to see the LHC starting up again in July 2009, about four months later than the date Cern has previously given journalists.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced Tuesday evening that the LHC, or Large Hadron Collider, will not be re-started before spring 2009. The LHC was shut down after a large helium leak into the LHC tunnel 19 September.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A helium leak at midday Friday 19 September in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern has not caused any injuries but the LHC will have to be shut down for at least two months to allow it to be warmed up and repairs carried out, Cern announced Saturday afternoon.
Ed. note: live video streaming is available on TSR. Le Temps is providing regular reports on site, throughout the day (Fre)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Fourteen years of building and scientific research, and $9 billion spent to construct and test the world’s most powerful particle accelerator will begin to bear fruit today when Cern attempts to inject and circulate the first beam in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). By mid-morning Cern was able to announce that the first beam had made its first successful tour (see BBC video report). Read more…
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The particles injection test on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern 8-10 August was a success, the European Nuclear Research Center reports.
They shared details in an e-mail: “The synchronization of the LHC’s clockwise beam transfer system and the rest of CERN’s accelerator chain was successfully achieved last weekend. Tests began on Friday 8 August when a single bunch of a few particles was taken down the transfer line from the SPS accelerator to the LHC. After a period of optimization, one bunch was kicked up from the transfer line into the LHC beam pipe and steered about 3 kilometres around the LHC itself on the first attempt. On Saturday, the test was repeated several times to optimize the transfer before the operations group handed the machine back for hardware commissioning to resume on Sunday. The anti-clockwise synchronization systems will be tested over the weekend of 22 August.”
