Physicists celebrate first tests of unlocking secrets of universe
Friday, 12 September 2008
Physicists around the world, some in pajamas and others with champagne, celebrated the first tests on Wednesday of a huge particle-smashing machine they hope will simulate the "Big Bang" that created the universe, report agencies.
Staff in the control room on the border of Switzerland and France clapped as two beams of particles were sent silently first one way and then the other around the LHC's 17-mile (27-km) under-ground chamber.
It will be weeks or months before two particles ever crash together in the giant tube, and even longer before scientists can interpret results, said Jos Engelen, chief scientific officer of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
"Anything between a year and four years, depending on how difficult this new physics is to find," Engelen said.
Physicists earlier brushed off suggestions that the experiment could create tiny black holes that could suck in the planet.
"The worries that scientists had were nothing to do with being swallowed up by black holes and everything to do with technical hitches or electronic failure," said Jim al-Khalili, a physicist at Britain's University of Surrey.
Meanwhile, a teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a "Big Bang" experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.
The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.
Staff in the control room on the border of Switzerland and France clapped as two beams of particles were sent silently first one way and then the other around the LHC's 17-mile (27-km) under-ground chamber.
It will be weeks or months before two particles ever crash together in the giant tube, and even longer before scientists can interpret results, said Jos Engelen, chief scientific officer of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
"Anything between a year and four years, depending on how difficult this new physics is to find," Engelen said.
Physicists earlier brushed off suggestions that the experiment could create tiny black holes that could suck in the planet.
"The worries that scientists had were nothing to do with being swallowed up by black holes and everything to do with technical hitches or electronic failure," said Jim al-Khalili, a physicist at Britain's University of Surrey.
Meanwhile, a teenage girl in central India killed herself on Wednesday after being traumatized by media reports that a "Big Bang" experiment in Europe could bring about the end of the world, her father said.
The 16-year old girl from the state of Madhya Pradesh drank pesticide and was rushed to the hospital but later died, police said.