Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) located at CERN began conducting an experiment to recreate a miniature version of the "Big Bang" on Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
Scientists hope to find answers to questions about black holes, dark matter and why the universe appears the way it does.
he LHC was successfully turned on and two beams circled the 17-mile underground ring. The first going clockwise and the second going counter clockwise during different trial runs. CERN has not announced when it would begin experimenting with the actual collisions of protons.
Fast Facts

1. The "Big Bang Experiment" will be conducted by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
2. The collider circulates a beam of protons around a 17-mile-long tunnel.
3. Estimated project cost: $10 billion.
4. On September 10, 2008, the collider was turned on for the first time.

Big Bang Experiment Fears

Skeptics questioned the safety of the experiment and a group of scientists tried to challenge the project in court. Some believed the black holes would grow and "swallow the planet." Experts involved with the project said the claim is nonsense.

Scientist Death Threats

Groups opposing the "Big Bang Experiment" have tried to challenge CERN's project in court. Some of the scientists involved in the project have received death threats.CERN scientists said that the experiment could in theory create small black holes, but it is a safe experiment overall.

'Big Bang' experiment starts well

Scientists have hailed a successful switch-on for an enormous experiment which will recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang.

They have now fired two beams of particles called protons around the 27km-long tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The LHC has been in construction for some 13 years

The £5bn machine on the Swiss-French border is designed to smash protons together with cataclysmic force.

Scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics.

The first - clockwise - beam completed its first circuit of the underground tunnel at just before 0930 BST. The second - anti-clockwise - beam successfully circled the ring after 1400 BST.

So far, all the beams have been stopped, or "dumped", after just a few circuits.

On Thursday, engineers hoped to inject clockwise and anti-clockwise protons again, but this time they plan to "close the orbit", letting the beams run continuously for a few seconds each.

The BBC understands that low-energy collisions could happen in the next few days. This will allow engineers to calibrate instruments, but will not produce data of scientific interest.

"There it is," project leader Lyn Evans said when the beam completed its lap. There were cheers in the control room when engineers heard of the successful test.