CERN's 17 mile Large Hadron Collider TrackRemember the Waffle Man's talk at Town Hall?
At the time of his talk, the launch of CERN's ground-breaking experiment was mere months away. Coinciding with a large spread in National Geographic, the timing could not have been better. His talk was recorded by National Public Radio...and attended throngs of science buffs. Town Hall's 250 seat venue overflowed capacity with standing room only in the back.
And yesterday, they made history.
Near Geneva, buried deep beneath the earth, CERN's Large Hadron Collider sent two beams of protons, traveling in opposite directions around the 17 mile track. The trials were deemed a success...and yesterday, celebratory champagne bottles were popping in labs throughout the world.
Eventually, the two beams will be fired simultaneously in opposing directions, with the intention of colliding. In layman terms, scientists are trying to recreate conditions within split seconds after the "big bang." Studying that brief moment in time, they hope to unlock the origins of the earth.
Dubbed "The World's Largest Experiment," the ATLAS and the LHC projects at CERN have been years in the making. Billions have been invested and over 6,000 of the world's premier scientists have contributed their talents to this landmark project. While there is much work that remains, the project has taken a major step forward.
Google even marked the occasion with one of their famous graphics:
