Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator and hadron collider located at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. Operation was initially set to begin in May 2008. The collider was turned on for the first time September 10, 2008.VOA News: World's Biggest Atom Smasher to Start-up (September 7, 2008)

The LHC is the world's highest-energy particle accelerator. It is theorized that it will produce the Higgs Boson particle, which would be a significant step towards a Grand Unified Theory.VOA News: World's Biggest Atom Smasher to Start-up (September 7, 2008)

On September 23, 2008, the LHC was shut down due to mechanical difficulties. The European Organization for Nuclear Research said that an electrical connection between two magnets melted, causing liquid helium to leak into the tunnel.MSNBC: Supercollider shut down until spring (September 23, 2008) The LHC was restarted November 20, 2009, at less than half of its full power, and shut down again briefly in 2010 for additional retooling.Gearlog: More Leaks Found in Large Hadron Collider (July 21, 2009)

The LHC was restarted again in March, 2010, and began performing experiments at close to full power. CNET: LHC experiments run at highest energy level yetMarch 30, 2010)

Some individuals are concerned that the collider will produce unexpected results. Theories have ranged from the possibility of a mini black hole to the production of some unknown particles that could contaminate the Earth. Researchers at CERN are convinced there is nothing to be worried about.CNN.com: Some fear debut of powerful atom-smasher (June 30, 2008)

• Homepage

• Large Hadron Collider: Teacher's Resources | Teaching Materials | For Students

• <script showbranding="0" src="http://d.yimg.com/ds/badge.js" badgetype="text">mahalocom708:http://www.mahalo.com/Large_Hadron_Collider</script>