Large Hadron Collider

European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) has made a historical step forward in its quest to know how the universe was created. The world’s largest particle collider successfully passed its first major test on September 10, 2008. It fired a beam of protons all the way around a 07-mile tunnel. The deep tunnel is under the surface of the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva. It is supposed to be the next great step to understand the make-up of the universe.
Over 8,000 scientists from 85 countries, including 30 from India and hundreds of universities participated in the experiment.
After a series of trial runs, two white dots flashed on a computer screen at 10.26 a.m. (1356 IST) . They indicated that the protons had travelled clockwise along the full length of four – billion Swiss franc (Rs. 16,340 crore; US $ 3.8 billion) Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . It is described as the biggest physics experiment in history. It took 14 year of work and $ 10 billion in funds to conceive the massive project . The LHC is designed to study the effects of collisions between very small particles – smaller than atoms. They should travel at nearly the speed of light . This is why it is called LHC. ‘Hadron’ because the particles it used (protons) belong to a class of subatomic particles known as hadrons and ‘Collider’ because it will smash these particles together.
However , the world’s newest and largest particle accelerator, LHC will not begin operations again until April 2009. Scientists said a faulty electrical connection between magnets was to blame for a large helium leak which caused the LHC to be shut down on September 18, 2008. owing to a fault with its cooling system.

New Dwarf Planet Approved

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) on September 17, 2008, approved a newly discovered dwarf planet in the solar system. It was given a Hawaiian name : Haumea, after the Hawaiian goddess of earth and fertility.

Haumea is the solar system’s fifth dwarf planet , in the same category and region as Pluto. Haumea is shaped like an elongated egg. It was discovered in 2005. The other dwarf planets Include Ceres, Pluto, Eris and Makemake.

Massive Deposits Of Subsea Methane

A team of British scientists on September 23, 2008 , discovered that massive deposits of subsea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats . This is the first evidence that millions of tonnes of a greenhouse 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed.

Key To Evolution Of Universe Found

Scientists at the Durham University have detected dark matter- the mysterious substance thought to make up 85 percent of the universe- for the first time. They have discovered a surge of high- energy particles from the heart of the Milky Way, the Earth’s home galaxy. It closely matches the radiation signature predicted for dark matter. Dark matter holds the key to the evolution of the universe but it has never been detected before.
The idea that visible matter, such as galaxies , stars and planets , is just a fraction of the universe’s mass , was first put forward in 1933.