An event display shows activity during a high-energy collision at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, outside Geneva. The $10 billion Large Hadron Collider directed two proton beams into each other at three times more force than ever before as part of its ambitious bid to reveal details about theoretical particles and microforces. Photo: AP
An event display shows activity during a high-energy collision at CERN. Two beams of protons began 10 days ago to speed at high energy in opposite directions around the tunnel, the coldest place in the universe, at a couple of degrees above absolute zero. CERN used powerful superconducting magnets to force the two beams to cross, creating collisions and showers of particles. Photo: AP
Scientists at CERN react after a successful proton-collision experiment. The collisions herald a new era for researchers working on the LHC, the world's largest atom smasher, in a 27-km tunnel below the Swiss-French border at Geneva. Photo: AP
Scientists celebrate after the Big Bang Machine set a new milestone at CERN, near Geneva. Scientists hope the machine can approach on a tiny scale what happened in the first split seconds after the Big Bang, which they theorise was the creation of the universe some 14 billion years ago. Photo: AP
The globe of CERN, near Geneva is illuminated ahead of Tuesday’s experiment. The extra energy in Geneva is expected to reveal even more about the unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of antimatter and the search for the Higgs boson, a hypothetical particle that scientists theorise gives mass every object in the universe. Photo: AP
A file photo shows a view of the LHC in its tunnel at CERN, near Geneva. After its much-publicised launch in 2008, the LHC was stopped when a badly soldered electrical splice overheated, causing extensive damage to the collider. Photo: AP
File photo shows the magnet core of the world's largest superconducting solenoid magnet, one of the experiments preparing to take data at the LHC. More than a year and $40 million later, the machine was restarted in November 2009 and quickly eclipsed the energy record of the next largest accelerator — the Tevatron at Fermilab near Chicago. Photo: AP
Tense moments for scientists at CERN's Alice experiment control room during the historic proton-smashing experiment. The experiments will come over the objections of some people who fear they could eventually imperil Earth by creating micro black holes. CERN and many scientists dismiss any threat to Earth or people on it. Photo: AP