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After Higgs Boson, scientists prepare for next quantum leap

 
Published on Feb 14, 2013
6:08 AM
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The globe of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN, is illuminated outside Geneva, Switzerland. The world's largest and most powerful atom smasher goes into a 2-year hibernation in March 2013 , aiming to reach maximum energy levels that may lead to more stunning discoveries after hunting down the so-called "God particle. But physicists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, known by its French acronym CERN, won't exactly be idle as the US $10 billion proton collider goes on hiatus for maintenance and retooling _ in preparation for unlocking more mysteries. There are still reams more data to sift through since the July 2012 discovery of a new subatomic particle called a Higgs boson and promises a new realm of understanding in subatomic science. -- PHOTO: AP

GENEVA (AFP) - Seven months after its scientists made a landmark discovery that may explain the mysteries of mass, Europe's top physics lab will take a break from smashing invisible particles to recharge for the next leap into the unknown.

From Thursday, the cutting-edge facilities at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) will begin winding down, then go offline on Saturday for an 18-month upgrade.

A vast underground lab straddling the border between France and Switzerland, CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was the scene of an extraordinary discovery announced in July 2012.

Its scientists said they were 99.9 per cent certain they had found the elusive Higgs Boson, an invisible particle without which, theorists say, humans and all the other joined-up atoms in the Universe would not exist.

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