720m Large Hadron Collider upgrade 'could upend particle physics'

[Judi Lynn]

Collider will be far more sensitive to anomalies that could lead to entirely new theories of the universe

Ian Sample
@iansample
Fri 15 Jun 2018 06.33 EDT Last modified on Fri 15 Jun 2018 17.00 EDT

A massive project to supercharge the world’s largest particle collider launched on Friday in the hope that the beefed-up machine will reveal fresh insights into the nature of the universe.

The 950m Swiss franc (£720m) mission will see heavy equipment, new buildings, access shafts and service tunnels installed, constructed and excavated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, the particle physics laboratory on the edge of Geneva.

The vast machine, which occupies a 27km circular tunnel under the French-Swiss border, hunts for signs of new physics by slamming subatomic particles together at close to the speed of light. In compliance with Einstein’s law E=mc2, some of the energy of impact is converted into new matter.

The upgrade will make the collider far more sensitive to subtle quirks in the laws of physics, and physicists hope these anomalies will prise open the door to entirely new theories of the universe.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jun/15/720m-large-hadron-collider-upgrade-could-upend-particle-physics

[Laffy Kat]

1. I'm feeling so negative (no pun intended) right now that....

Part of me hopes for an accelerator accident to suck us all into a black hole. We have it coming.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Gosh ! I wonder how much the US gov't is contributing to this research ... NOT. nt