Cool Science

Cern collider ready for power-up

Three decades after it was conceived, the world's most powerful physics experiment is ready to be powered up.

On Wednesday, engineers will attempt to circulate a beam of particles around the 27km-long underground tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The £5bn machine is designed to smash particles together with cataclysmic force, revealing signs of new physics in the wreckage.

This will re-create conditions in the Universe moments after the Big Bang.

But it has not been plain sailing; the project has been hit by cost overruns, equipment trouble and construction problems. The switch-on itself is two years late.

So tomorrow three things might happen heh 1. the world ends 2. it doesn't work at all or 3. we do actually discover more about the very first moments of the Big Bang.

It looks pretty cool though,

like something out of 2001: A Space Odessy


and Stargate

Images courtesy of Boston.com

BBC Radio 4 are covering the turning on of the Large Hadron Collider.