I think this deserves it\'s own thread.
Sept launch for bid to crack secrets of universe :wah:Thu Aug 7, 1:08 PM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - The world\'s most powerful particle accelerator, aimed at unlocking secrets of the universe, will be launched on September 10, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Thursday.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), housed in an underground tunnel 27 kilometers (17 miles) in circumference, will recreate conditions just after the Big Bang which many scientists believe gave birth to the universe.
It will seek to collide two beams of particles at close to the speed of light.
"The first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be made on September 10," the Geneva-based CERN said in a statement.
The LHC will study a new frontier of physics, producing beams with seven times more energy than any previous machine.
But starting it up is not as simple as flipping a switch.
Each of its eight sectors must be cooled to their operating temperature of minus 271 degrees Celsius (minus 456 degrees Fahrenheit), colder than outer space. This phase is reaching a successful conclusion but electrical testing must follow.
"We\'re finishing a marathon with a sprint," said LHC project leader Lyn Evans. "It\'s been a long haul and we\'re all eager to get the LHC research program underway."
Scientists hope the experiment will help explain fundamental questions such as how particles acquire mass. They will also probe the mysterious dark matter of the universe and investigate why there is more matter than antimatter.
Some 10,000 scientists from around the world have worked on the complex 10 billion Swiss franc ($9.5 billion) apparatus since construction began in 1994, a spokesman said.
(reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jonathan Lynn and William Schomberg)
Official press release:
CERN announces start-up date for LHC
The CERN Control Center, from where the LHC will be operated.
Geneva, 7 August 2008. CERN1 has today announced that the first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be made on 10 September. This news comes as the cool down phase of commissioning CERN?s new particle accelerator reaches a successful conclusion. Television coverage of the start-up will be made available through Eurovision.
The LHC is the world?s most powerful particle accelerator, producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2010. Housed in a 27-kilometre tunnel, it relies on technologies that would not have been possible 30 years ago. The LHC is, in a sense, its own prototype.
Starting up such a machine is not as simple as flipping a switch. Commissioning is a long process that starts with the cooling down of each of the machine?s eight sectors. This is followed by the electrical testing of the 1600 superconducting magnets and their individual powering to nominal operating current. These steps are followed by the powering together of all the circuits of each sector, and then of the eight independent sectors in unison in order to operate as a single machine.
By the end of July, this work was approaching completion, with all eight sectors at their operating temperature of 1.9 degrees above absolute zero (-271?C). The next phase in the process is synchronization of the LHC with the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator, which forms the last link in the LHC?s injector chain. Timing between the two machines has to be accurate to within a fraction of a nanosecond. A first synchronization test is scheduled for the weekend of 9 August, for the clockwise-circulating LHC beam, with the second to follow over the coming weeks. Tests will continue into September to ensure that the entire machine is ready to accelerate and collide beams at an energy of 5 TeV per beam, the target energy for 2008. Force majeure notwithstanding, the LHC will see its first circulating beam on 10 September at the injection energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV).
Once stable circulating beams have been established, they will be brought into collision, and the final step will be to commission the LHC?s acceleration system to boost the energy to 5 TeV, taking particle physics research to a new frontier.
?We?re finishing a marathon with a sprint,? said LHC project leader Lyn Evans. ?It?s been a long haul, and we?re all eager to get the LHC research programme underway.?
CERN will be issuing regular status updates between now and first collisions. Journalists wishing to attend CERN for the first beam on 10 September must be accredited with the CERN press office. Since capacity is limited, priority will be given to news media. The event will be webcast through http://webcast.cern.ch, and distributed through the Eurovision network. Live stand up and playout facilities will also be available.
A media centre will be established at the main CERN site, with access to the control centres for the accelerator and experiments limited and allocated on a first come first served basis. This includes camera positions at the CERN Control Centre, from where the LHC is run. Only television media will be able to access the CERN Control Centre. No underground access will be possible.
For further information and accreditation procedures: http://www.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam
1 CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world\'s leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.

sweet pics here
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/the_large_hadron_collider.htmlWhat happens if they do create the same circumstances as the big bang and they create a new universe in that tunnel?
**** is ca-razy!
ya i read about this a while ago.... i thought i might have started a thread about it? i\'m a little nervous they might blow up the world by accident, but i heard the chances of anything crazy happening are pretty much non existent...
did you check out those pictures? they are pretty mind blowing. I tried to post a few but it wasn\'t allowing me to for some reason.
seeing how it took billions of years for the universe to grow, I think we\'ll be safe for a little while.
When they first tested the atomic bomb they were afraid that they might crack the crust of the earth and destroy the planet. THey were also afraid it might blow the atmosphere off of the planet causing everyone everywhere to suffocate instantly but they still went forward with those experiments also, so why would this scare them?
Hadrons that last more then 9 hours should consult their physician.
:rolleyes:
didn\'t work? had ta try, it was out there for the taking.
Hadrons that last more then 9 hours should consult their physician.
Cleverest. Post. Ever.
As a side note, I was shocked to learn that "cleverest" is a word. Grammar are awesome.
came online this morning! woOt!
10 September: the LHC’s first circulating beam
05/09/2008.
On 10 September, a first beam of protons will circulate in the LHC. The first moments in the life of the LHC will be an exciting time for the CERN staff, and will be captured by more than 250 media organizations from all over the world.
The first injection of the beam into the machine will be between 9:00 and 10:00 a. m. At 9:15 the LHC project leader, Lyn Evans, will give a brief explanation of the day’s proceedings in French followed by some words from Robert Aymar, CERN Director general.
CERN personnel are invited to follow the first beam day events, which will be shown in the following rooms around CERN:
All day:
Council Chamber, Main Auditorium, IT Auditorium, AB Auditorium Pr?vessin, Conference Room 40-S2-A01, Conference Room 40-S2-C01.
Afternoon:
AB Auditorium Meyrin, AT Auditorium.
Please note that the event will also be webcast but, given the limited number of connections, this option is intended for use of the public outside CERN. CERN personnel are encouraged to follow the event from the conference rooms.
http://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/popup?name=CERNBulletin&type=breaking_news&record=1124329&ln=en
Almost started this thread yesterday. This thing is indeed awesome.
Hawking bet $100 that they wouldn\'t find the Higgs. Ha ha.
I bet $100 that this thing does not end the world.
i agree. I saw a thing on good morning america today where the woman announcer after the piece airs goes " who would have known this was going on while we slept?" in utter shock that this project
THAT HAS BEEN BEING CONSTRUCTED FOR THE PAST 30+ YEARS was happening without her knowledge. Yea, who would have known? People that say follow or work in the industry, go to school for physics, quantum mechanics, hell, general science? Maybe politicians, people who follow international (including their own governments) budgets seeing how this was a joint operation between several countries including the us? WHo would have known. Those crazy french, they just overnight built something over 17acres in size costing billions of dollars in equipment let alone man power to put it together... They did that all in one night.
ridiculous. It\'s people like that who are shocked to find there\'s an old
nike base in staven.