Scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) say they have moved a step closer to their aim of unlocking the mysteries of the Universe.
The world’s highest-energy particle accelerator has produced a record-breaking particle collision rate – about double the previous rate.
The collider is now generating around 10,000 particle collisions per second, according to physicist Andrei Golutvin.
The LHC is housed in a 27km circular tunnel under the French-Swiss border.
The vast machine is operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern), based near Geneva in Switzerland.
Physicists say this marks the start of turning the LHC into the world’s most powerful particle collider.
“It’s clear that the LHC is the new boy in town, but in two years running we’re going to put Fermilab out of business,” operation group leader Mike Lamont told BBC News.
The Tevatron particle accelerator at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois, USA, is the LHC’s rival. It has operated at higher intensities, but the current collision rate is a record for Cern.
Full story: BBC News – LHC smashes beam collision record