Physicists around the world cheered today as the biggest science experiment on the planet started up, at the European particle-physics laboratory known as CERN. The project, called the Large Hadron Collider, is designed to smash protons together in hopes of answering fundamental questions about the universe, such as, How do fundamental particles get their mass?
Thousands of scientists, including 1,600 in the United States, are working on the project, many of them remotely.
It’s taken nearly two decades to build the collider, and CERN today sent beams of protons around the 17-mile-long track for the first time, according to an announcement.
For those who need instant news about the project, CERN is twittering about the progress of the beams.
And readers who want to do a little physics dance should check out the Large Hadron Collider rap, produced by some people who work at CERN. —Richard Monastersky
