Get Ready for September 10th: CERN Announces LHC Switch-On

by Ian O'Neill on August 7, 2008

The Large Hadron Collider will go on-line in one month (CERN/LHC)

The Large Hadron Collider will go on-line in one month (CERN/LHC)


It’s official, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will begin operations in a little over a month. On September 10th, the most sophisticated particle accelerator will go online, injecting the first circulation of accelerated particles. Actual experiments involving collisions will occur once scientists are satisfied the LHC is fully optimized and calibration is complete. The LHC has been undergoing “cool-down” for some time, ensuring the LHC’s eight sectors are approaching the 1.9K (-271°C) operational temperature (that is 1.9 degrees above absolute zero). All going well, on September 10th, the first beam will be accelerated to an energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV), the preliminary step on the path to attaining particle energies of 5 TeV, a record breaking target… awesome.

Earlier today, CERN announced that the LHC will be ready by September 10th to attempt to circulate a beam of particles. This news comes as the “cool-down” phase of LHC commissioning reaches a successful conclusion, cooling all eight sectors to 1.9 degrees above absolute zero. To manage temperatures this extreme has been a long and painstaking task, referred to as a “marathon” by the project leader:

“We’re finishing a marathon with a sprint. It’s been a long haul, and we’re all eager to get the LHC research programme underway.” – LHC project leader Lyn Evans.

Now scientists and engineers must synchronize the LHC with the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator, which is the last component in the LHC’s particle injector chain. For the system to work, the LHC and SPS must be synchronized to within a fraction of a nanosecond. This task is expected to begin on August 9th (Saturday). These calibration tasks are expected to continue through August and into the beginning of September, preparing the LHC for its first particle injection on the 10th.

The LHC will accelerate particles to relativistic velocities, accessing energies previously unimaginable. Once the LHC reaches its optimum design specification (possibly by 2010), it will generate beams seven-times more energetic and 30-times more intense than any other particle accelerator on the planet. The accelerator ring lies below the Swiss countryside with a circumference of 27 km (17 miles).

Source: CERN

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  • omg

    ok here is what i reken…

    if the LHC does create a blackhole
    theres no God

    if it doesnt well lets say that God is on our side :)

    End of story

  • >-)

    all this talk about GOD makes me laugh. people take the bible ay to serious. Me being a non believer and think the LHC is a fantastic idea that should not be feared but respected. Nature is there to be played with and explored by us.

    If anything goes wrong then it will…i honestly cant believe that some say this is a waste of money. CERN may discover a new type of fuel which will have no polution, cures my aids/HIV or cancer may be found. ISNT that worth the money and the risk. OK people are starving but how come we donate hell of a lof of money to those countries and they are still in their damn state believe me its not the amount its how their goverment spend s that given money!!!!

    if it wasnt for the mass media (TV etc) no one would actually be worried or ould have even heard of the LHC.

    well i cant wait for the out come…only the future knows whats coming our way :D

  • >-)

    sorry meant to so for aids no my aids lol

  • Rick Ratel

    we are all going to die Says:
    September 10th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
    CERN are nothing more than a group of international terrorist that need to be stopped. they do not know if a blackhole or other unknown things would dissapear. the risk of earth being destroyed is more than 50% when they start to smash. We have a few days. why isnt the worlds military there and stopping them?? I can not belive we would allow a group of award seeking egomanical selfish madmen the go ahead on this
    ___________

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080910-collider-success.html

    read the article and shut the hell up.

  • itchy8me

    ummm ya, i see many people saying here that the experiment is trying to prove the big bang and how everything was made.. thats not what the experiment is for. They are trying to prove the existence of the gluon which in the atomic model holds all particles together and was supposedly formed in a very short period after the big bang, its not going to prove the big bang in any way, only that the gluon exists and the current atomic model is right or at least on the right path. The experiment is also going to be used to test a couple of other things, read here for some more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider#Purpose

    and is it going to make a black hole that is going to swallow us all.. i very much doubt it, what could happen is that physics as we know it can be turned on its head, which too many of us will actually be a happy happening :-D

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