Launch in Europe of the largest particle accelerator ever built
© CERN
- On: 10.09.2008
- In: Switzerland, Geneva
On the morning of Wednesday 10 September, the physicists at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) started up the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the biggest machine ever made.
Two beams of protons travelled around the entire
27 km length of the accelerator for the first time. This took less than two hours, although the most reasonable estimates had forecast it would take a day and a half.
This is a huge success for
Europe which demonstrates its world leadership in the main fields of science, particularly when it combines its best abilities and efforts.
The findings from this scientific investment - unprecedented in the history of humanity - will be essential not only for intimately understanding our universe, but also for their direct applications in areas as wide-ranging as intensive computing and medicine.
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is delighted with this success and congratulates all the European scientists who contributed to this project.
- Updated: 23.09.2008
