'Big Bang Machine' Successfully Completes First Test

The Large Hadron Collider, the world's new and largest particle collider, passed its first major tests by firing two beams of protons in opposite directions around a 17-mile underground ring Wednesday...

The project organized by the 20 European member nations of CERN has attracted researchers from 80 nations. Some 1,200 are from the United States, an observer country that contributed $531 million. Japan, another observer, also is a major contributor.

Some scientists have been waiting for 20 years to use the LHC.
The complexity of manufacturing it required groundbreaking advances in the use of supercooled, superconducting equipment...

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'Big Bang Machine' Successfully Completes First Test
• Click here to find out how the Large Hadron Collider works.