The CERN and the LHC


CERN is the Conseil European pour la Researche Nucleaire (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and is located in Geneva, Switzerland.  Scientists there study fundamental physics using particle accelerators and detectors.  Detectors record the collisions that occur within the accelerators.  These collisions give clues to the origins of the most basic particles that make up everything in the universe.

Dan Brown accurately reported that the LHC, the Larger Hadron Collider, is 27 kilometers long and crosses the border between Switzerland and France.  It is buried 100 meters underground and used to accelerate beams of particles to very high speeds and then collide them to replicate conditions of the Big Bang.  Hadrons are the name given to the subatomic particles, either protons or lead ions, that are collided in the LHC.  The LHC is composed of two vacuum tubes and thousands of magnets.  The magnets have to be in a "superconducting state" for them to conduct electricity 100% efficiently, without losing any energy (CERN, How the LHC Works 2008).  Helium allows the magnets' temperatures to reach -271 degrees C. 









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