Big Bang machines sets power record

Big Bang machines sets power record

Updated at: 1444 PST, Monday, November 30, 2009 GENEVA: Scientists say the world's largest atom smasher has broken the record for proton acceleration, sending beams of the particles at 1.18 trillion electron volts. A statement by the European Organization for Nuclear Research says the Large Hadron Collider eclipses the previous high, which was just short of 1 Tev at Fermilab outside Chicago. The latest success Monday at the LHC is part of the preparation to go much higher for significant experiments to start next year on the makeup of matter and the universe. It comes on top of a rapid series of operating advances of the machine, which underwent extensive repairs and improvements after it collapsed during the opening phase last year.