LARGE HADRON COLLIDER WAKES UP
After a two-year snooze, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is due to reopen in May 2021. It’s a 27-kilometre-long particle accelerator that uses rings of superconducting magnets to collide particles to better understand their physical properties and how they interact with one another. But this giant magnet at times needs a cooling-off period.
The LHC powered down in late 2018 as part of the planned ‘Long Shutdown 2’.
The first shutdown occurred between 2013 and 2015 to make vital upgrades to the LHC, and this second closure was no different.
During its two-year hiatus the particle accelerator has undergone several updates: the rings that accelerate the subatomic particles before forcing them to smash together have been renewed and the particle speed, mass and charge detectors will be upgraded.