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Smooth start for 'Big Bang' machine
11.09.08
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Scientists began the world's largest science experiment hoping to unlock some of the secrets of the universe.
The £5 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will smash protons - one of the building blocks of matter - into each other at velocities only a fraction less than the speed of light.
In the flashes from the collisions, scientists expect to reproduce conditions that existed during the first billionth of a second after the Big Bang at the birth of the universe. No one knows precisely what will come tumbling out of the primordial soup of disintegrating protons. But the scientists have dismissed suggestions that the experiment could somehow cause the end of the world.
The LHC could help scientists explain mass, gravity, mysterious "dark matter" and why the universe looks the way it does. It could also produce the first evidence of extra spatial dimensions and even create mini-black holes that blink in and out of existence in a fraction of a second.
The eyes of the world were on LHC project leader Dr Lyndon Evans, from Aberdare in south Wales, in the tense minutes before the machine was "switched on".
Looking relaxed in a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, Dr Evans counted down the last few seconds before the first beam of protons was put into the LHC.
"Five, four, three, two, one, zero - nothing," he joked before a blip appeared on a computer monitor signalling that the long years of hard work had paid off and the machine was working. Dr Evans, whose father was a coalminer, said: "This is really the biggest and most complex scientific project ever undertaken, and you cannot do a thing like this without engineers and applied scientists of very top quality."
The LHC, a colossal machine housed in a 27 kilometre (17 mile) tunnel under 100 metres of rock, straddles the borders of Switzerland and France between Lake Geneva and the Jura mountains.
Beams of protons will be accelerated in opposite directions through the ring-shaped tunnel, which is supercooled to just 1.9 degrees above absolute zero (minus 271C), the lowest temperature allowed by nature. Reaching velocities of 99.99% of the speed of light, each beam will pack as much energy as a Eurostar train travelling at 150 kilometres per hour.
Concerns have been voiced - in particular by German chemist Professor Otto Rossler - that black holes created by the LHC will grow uncontrollably and "eat the planet from the inside". But those involved in the project insist they have reviewed all the evidence and concluded that it poses no risk to the universe.
Reader views (5)
My sir is very interested regarding cosmology and he has written a book in this concept for non science students and he is very interested regarding this big bang LHC experiment and we also became interested in this subject because of him and we are searching for the sites which give us brief explaination.
- Ppdssrinivas, TUNI & India
Today it becomes operational, however, the first high-energy collisions are planned to take place after the LHC is officially unveiled, on 21st October, 2008.
- Jack Masters, London, UK
Of COURSE it went smoothly - it's run by the Swiss!
- Suzanne, surrey
I'm delighted the Evening Standard's picked up this story - I thought there was a news blackout on the subject!
- Marianne, SW France
Nevermind that whatever collisions CERN has planned are nothing but a wan reflection of the violence of cosmic rays that have been sleeting through the earth every second since it was formed. Unfortunately no-one who has sold all his stock because he believes in the end of the world is going to be swayed by such wishy-washy considerations, right?
What they might be swayed by however are Legal considerations.
I have been told that CERN's legal department has been asked for an assessment of CERN's potential liability in case the world ended because of their experiments.
I have furthermore heard that the legal department reasoned thusly. In case the CERN machinery does not cause the end of the world, there will be no damage and therefore CERN will not be liable. In case however that it *does* destroy the world all in one day or less, it is very likely that both the the mail service and any courier service needed to deliver a subpoena will be out of action. Obviously CERN won't be able to be sued for liability if the subpoena can't be delivered, right? If the destruction of the world takes slightly longer, the legal department is confident that the current court backlog will prevent the case from being heard before the end of the world.
The upshot is that people won't be able to make a quick fortune by suing CERN for e.g. property damage. So from a legal point of view there are no grounds to object, and CERN is in the clear.
Solid thinking! That should convince doubters.
- Golodh, London, UK
