Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/20
In Pictures: Weather extremes 2013
In Pictures: The Israeli separation barrier: A West Bank wall
In Pictures: Derby Day devotees, Kenyan style
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/16
In Pictures: Dazzle like Beckham
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/15
In Pictures: Duchess Kate's royal baby bump
The Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, undergoes winter maintenance work. Zuma/Newscom/File
This picture, taken on Nov. 23, 2009, shows scientists reacting as they stand in front of a screen at CERN control center during the restart of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva. Germany's top court on March 9, rejected a woman's appeal to halt experiments at the world's most powerful atom-smasher because she feared it would create mini black-holes that would destroy the planet.
This picture, provided by CERN, shows a large dipole magnet being symbolically lowered into a tunnel, in April 2007, to mark the end of a crucial phase of installation of the LHC. This completes the basic installation of the more than 1,700 magnets that make up the collider, which measures almost 17 miles in circumference.
A handout photo, provided on November 30, 2009 by CERN, shows scientists celebrating in the control room as the world's biggest atom-smasher sets a world record by accelerating to energy levels that had never been previously reached. Scientists are looking to the collider to mimic the conditions that followed the Big Bang and help explain the origins of the universe.
A technician assembles computers at CERN LHC Computing Grid room during its inauguration on October 3, 2008 in Geneva. The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid combines the power of more than 140 computer centers in 33 countries that process more than 15 million gigabytes of data every year produced from the hundreds of millions of subatomic collisions expected inside the collider every second. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Newscom/File
The LHC is designed to produce frontal collisions between two beams of identical particles that will reach more than 99.9 percent of the speed of light. These collisions will give birth to a multitude of particles, the study of which will allow physicists to better understand the Big Bang. Sipa/Newscom/File
CERN's campus includes older particle accelerators installed as sculptures.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (r.) receives a briefing on the LHC after visiting the CERN on Aug. 31, 2008.
A worker rides his bicycle during construction of the LHC on May 16, 2006.
CERN director general German Rolf-Dieter Heuer looks on during a press conference on the restart of the LHC on Nov. 23, 2009 near Geneva. Scientists hailed the restart of the the LHC as an 'enormous success,' as two beams began circulating simultaneously in the world's biggest atom-smasher. The LHC, straddling the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, was started with great fanfare in September 2008, but was shut down nine days later due to technical faults.
This 2007 photo shows the magnet core of the world's largest superconducting solenoid magnet.
Belgium's King Albert II (r.) visits the LHC in the French village of Cessy, near the Swiss city of Geneva, on Feb. 19, 2009.
One of the huge particle detectors in the LHC is seen in this 2008 photo.
A street sign on the CERN campus is seen. Other nearby streets are named after Marie Curie, Isaac Newton, and Heinrich Hertz.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/20
In Pictures: Weather extremes 2013
In Pictures: The Israeli separation barrier: A West Bank wall
In Pictures: Derby Day devotees, Kenyan style
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/16
In Pictures: Dazzle like Beckham
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/15
In Pictures: Duchess Kate's royal baby bump
Why are you currently reading this on your screen, instead of having had all your atoms completely obliterated at the dawn of time? A pear-shaped nucleus might explain.
The Standard Model of particle physics is a thing of beauty. Developed over by generations of the world's smartest minds, it can predict, with astonishing precision, accuracy, and simplicity, the behavior and interactions of almost every known form of matter and energy.
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