CERN’s Large Hadron Collider To Increase Energy
The power of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will soon increase by 14%, reaching “a total collision energy of 8 trillion electron volts.”
The particle accelerator is currently resting up after an exciting year in 2011. When it starts up again “later this year,” it will break its previous energy record and allow scientists a better view of the smallest bits of our universe.
According to Steve Myers at CERN, everything they’ve accomplished up to this point has given them the confidence to “extend the physics reach of the experiments.”
But we all know the end game here: This jump in energy will hopefully allow scientists to discover the Higgs Boson.
In November, the LHC will shut down for a 20-month downtime, during which it will be upgraded to “14 trillion electron volts,” far greater than even this current increase.
It’ll rise again around 2014, more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
