IF YOU’ve ever heard of CERN, chances are you know it’s associated with science and nuclear research.
But what exactly does the institution do? Read on to find out.
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What is CERN?
The European Organization for nuclear Research, known as CERN, exploits the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.
The acronym is derived from the French translation of the institute – Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.
Founded in 1954, CERN is located in the Northwest Geneva on the French-Swiss border and has 23 member states.
CERN’s main function is to provide particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics.
Numerous high-profile experiments have been realized at the institute through international collaborations.
CERN is also used to refer to the lab, which in 2019 had 2,660 employees and housed approximately 12,400 users from institutions in more than 70 countries.
The iconic CERN is also the birthplace of the World wide web†
What will happen at CERN on July 5, 2022?
CERN is scheduled for a series of events starting on July 3, 2022, with the first celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson†
There will also be a scientific symposium on 4 July.
On July 5, 2022, there will be collisions with unprecedented energy levels at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The start of Run 3 of the LHC will be streamed live on CERN’s social media channels.
This marks the launch of the new physics season at the Institute’s flagship accelerator.
It comes ten years after groundbreaking research on the Higgs Boson was presented to a packed CERN auditorium.
CERN says events look back on where a decade of Higgs Science has brought the field and is also looking forward to new prospects.
What is a Hadron Collider?
The LHC is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
First launched on September 10, 2008, it remains the latest addition to CERN’s accelerator complex.
The LHC took ten years to build and cost about $4.75 billion.
It is found 100 meters underground and investigates the smallest particles of the universe.
It is a 27 kilometer long ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of particles.
Inside the accelerator, two high-energy particle beams travel at nearly the speed of light before colliding.
Scientists then record the resulting events caused by the collision.
They hope it will tell us more about how the universe started and what it is made of.