Large Hadron Collider smashes another speed record
- 20 March, 2010 06:41
- Comments
The world's largest atom smasher has broken yet another record.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said that its Large Hadron Collider has accelerated proton beams 3.5 teraelectronvolts (TeV), the top speed ever for an atom smasher machine.
Late last November, the collider, which sits astride the Swiss/French border, set the previous record by accelerating two protons at a speed of 1.18 TeV.
CERN said that it's next major step will be to collide beams that have individually accelerated to the 3.5 TeV level. The research organization hasn't scheduled that test yet.
"Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC's overall design, and the improvements we've made since the breakdown in September 2008," said Steve Myers, CERN's director for Accelerators and Technology, in a statement. "And it's a great credit to the patience and dedication of the LHC team."
Shortly after the Large Hadron Collider's first test run in September 2008, scientists running the machine disclosed that a faulty electrical connection had knocked it offline. The team initially thought the collider would remain out of service for six months, but later confirmed to Computerworld that the problems were more extensive .
CERN said the price tag for the repairs was about $21 million. The system was finally back online last November.
The collider, which has been called "one of the [great engineering milestones of mankind," was built to explore the Big Bang theory, which holds that more than 13 billion years ago, an amazingly dense object the size of a coin expanded into the universe that we know now.
The Large Hadron Collider, which had been under construction since the late 1980s, shot its first beam of protons around a 17-mile, vacuum-sealed loop in September of 2008, but then quickly ran into trouble.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email CIO
- Follow CIO on twitter
-
The 30 best Safari extensions -- so far
-
Apple and Google disagree over licensing of essential patents
-
Monash Uni reduces IT teams after consolidation project
-
FTC warns makers of background checking apps
-
QLD govt demands answers after pay glitch
-
Cost Effective Security and Compliance with Oracle Database 11g Release 2
Information ranging from trade secrets to privacy related information has become the target of sophisticated attacks from both sides of the firewall. Protecting data now requires a strategy that enables both preventive and detective controls. Read on. -
8 reasons why Citrix NetScaler beats the competition
Application delivery controllers (ADC) are one of the most critical elements of cloud infrastructures and enterprise data centre architectures. ADCs strongly impact performance, scale and security of the entire application environment, so it is extremely important for IT leaders to choose the right one. -
Solid State Storage 101 - An introduction to Solid State Storage
Solid state data storage is gaining significant acceptance today. Storage based on Ram Access Memory (RAM) and Flash chips instead of mechanical hard disk drives is earning much greater attention by meeting the market requirements for reliability, performance, and cost more effectively than ever before. Read on.
-
Teach Yourself Visually Windows 7
-
Office 2007 for Dummies
-
Computers for Seniors for Dummies, 2nd Edition
-
Windows 7 for Dummies® Dvd+book Bundle
-
Windows 7 for Dummies®
-
MYOB Software for Dummies 6E Australian Edition
-
Excel 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies
-
Office 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies
-
Microsoft Office
Get exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis. 
Comments
Post new comment