CERN is the world’s leading Particle Physics research laboratory. It is based in Switzerland, crossing the Swiss border to France.

During the visit our group had the opportunity to see the L.H.C, one of CERN’s biggest projects. Once the L.H.C (Large Hadron Collider) is finished (not until 2006) it will be inserted in one of CERN’s particle acceleration tunnels - the longest one is 25 km long - and it will be strictly forbidden to visit the tunnel. The L.H.C briefly consists of accelerating protons, and making them collide with each other and recording every single fragment of the protons given off. The L.H.C will be the biggest, most powerful instrument ever built to investigate particle properties. During our visit the L.H.C was the main subject of conversation and we were told that CERN would lower the temperature around the L.H.C to around –270°C (almost absolute zero), reducing air resistance and therefore optimising the protons’ performance.

Ultimately  CERN’s main aim is to search for answers about the fundamental nature of matter and the earliest origins of the universe.

Sometimes while investigating any kind of subject, a major discovery can arise without having been searched for: this is the case with CERN and the World Wide Web.  CERN needed to share information between all of its computers, which were spread over more than 25 km, so they decided to create a Web between all computers from which required information could be accessed and modified. This idea was then applied on a Global scale leading to the ‘World Wide Web’ which we use every day.

Edgar Quaglia, Year 11