20.11.2009: LHC about to restart
The LHC tunnel. Illustration shows the beampipes inside a dipole magnet. [M.Brice, CERN]
On 18 November, the LHC was handed over for operation. Teams are now preparing for injecting and circulating the first beams of 2009.
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13.11.2009 CLOUD experiment begins operation
![[View inside the CLOUD chamber]](http://mediaarchive.cern.ch/MediaArchive/Photo/Public/2009/0911185/0911185_11/0911185_11-A5-at-72-dpi.jpg)
The CLOUD experimental chamber. More photos »
CERN is home to lots of experiments and collaborations. CLOUD is an experiment that uses a chamber to study the possible link between cosmic rays and cloud formation. The experiment is based at the Proton Synchrotron; this is the first time a high-energy physics accelerator has been used in the study of atmospheric and climate science. CLOUD's results could greatly modify our understanding of our planet's climate.
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9.11.2009: Particles have gone half way round the LHC
![[Screenshot showing a Splash event in the CMS experiment]](../features/0911_CMS_splash.png)
Splash event recorded by the CMS experiment on 7 November. The electromagnetic calorimeter is in red, the hadronic calorimeter in blue, the muon system is yellow and magenta. The barrel muon detector was on standby and the inner tracking detector was off.
On Saturday evening, at around 8 p.m., after passing through the LHCb detector, for the first time since last year's incident, protons arrived at the doorstep of the CMS experiment, thus completing half the journey around the LHC's circumference.
Low energy protons from the LHC were dumped in a collimator just upstream of the CMS cavern. The calorimeters and the muon chambers of the experiment saw the tracks left by particles coming from the dumping point (a so-called 'splash event', see image). During the weekend, bunches of protons were also sent in the clockwise direction passing through the ALICE detector and were dumped at point 3.
30.10.2009: Particles are back in the LHC!
Last weekend (23-25 October) particles once again entered the LHC after the one-year interruption following the incident of September 2008.
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23.10.2009: LHC News: The Large Hadron Collider is cool!
The LHC News is a regular video update of what is happening at the LHC. It is posted to CERN's YouTube channel.
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16.10.2009: The LHC is cold!
![[Screenshot from the LHC Hardware Commissioning website showing the LHC ring is cold]](../features/0910_LHC_cold.gif)
On Thursday 8 October, sector 6-7 reached the cryogenic temperature of 1.9 K; it was followed, this week, by the last one, Sector 3-4, thus marking an important step towards the final commissioning of the machine.
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12.10.2009: LHC News: Particles knock at the door to the LHC
The LHC News is a regular video update of what is happening at the LHC. It is posted to CERN's YouTube channel.
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02.10.2009: Lead ions at the doorstep of the LHC for first time
A screenshot showing lead ions in the TI2 transfer line from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) to the LHC
Commissioning of the LHC is progressing according to schedule:
- During the weekend of 25-29 September, particles were injected into the transfer lines that link the SPS to the LHC. These crucial tests showed that the whole injection chain is ready.
- Six out of the eight LHC sectors are at operating temperature.
- The new Quench Detection System and the energy extraction system have both been tested and are performing well.
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25.09.2009: FlashForward.
Robert Sawyer's novel FlashForward is currently being transformed into a big budget ABC TV series. Sawyer's book follows a research team using the particle accelerator at CERN in pursuit of the elusive Higgs Boson, a theoretical subatomic particle. But instead of finding the Higgs, the consciousness of the entire human race is thrown ahead by twenty-one years.