Large Hadron Collider Experiment

• On September 10th 2008 scientists at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva switched on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as the first step towards smashing particles together at almost the speed of light in an attempt to recreate the conditions that existed immediately after the Big Bang
• The attempt has been called "the world's most ambitious scientific experiment" and the Large Hadron Collider is the "largest and most complex scientific instrument ever built". It is 100 metres underground and runs through both French and Swiss territory
• For news, information and live webcasts from CERN itself, visit the CERN web site

At the CERN web site home page, in addition to up-to-date news, there is a link to 'LHC 2008'. At the 'LHC 2008' page:

click the 'LHC First Beam' tab and scroll down to see videos and photographs of the experiment

click the 'What is the LHC?' tab to go to The Large Hadron Collider pages for readable explanations of the science and the experiment

At the CERN web site home page, click 'Ask an Expert' for answers to frequently asked questions and for an enquiry form; click 'Multimedia Gallery' for images and videos of the LHC

• For concise information, see BBC Radio 4's Big Bang pages. There is a brief guide in the About the experiment section, a Gallery of images and more
• News, comment, explanations and an interactive graphic guide to the Large Hadron Collider are at the Guardian's CERN pages
• You can see videos of the Large Hadron Collider, along with news articles at BBC News Science/Nature. Enter large hadron collider in the search box and press 'Enter'
• There is a British Large Hadron Collider web site giving information for teachers and students, with links to related science sites
• Find more details and many related articles at New Scientist's Special Report on the Large Hadron Collider
• On YouTube you can view videos on the Large Hadron Collider and the related physics, provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
• The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) also provides free leaflets, posters and wall-charts that you can download or order, at STFC Publications. For the Large Hadron Collider and the Big Bang, see the section on Popular Science and Schools and Education: Particle Physics & Nuclear Physics
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