Ahead of its next run, the Large Hadron Collider has received completed a new upgrade which will bring new power management capabilities to the equipment.
It’s odd to think that one of the most advanced pieces of technology known to man – which spans 27 kilometres long, natch – could be undone by a weasel short-circuiting a high voltage transformer. Now, after a new upgrade, the Large Hadron Collider is ready to run again.
The machine, which is now best known for its role in discovering the Higgs Boson in 2012, has just completed a two year upgrade which has substantially boosted its power management capabilities.
Read: Higgs Boson particle finally discovered
Now capable of managing energy levels up to 13 TeV (previously 8 TeV) the Large Hadron Collider is set to study a new anomalous particle first seen in 2015.
The particle in question could be a larger ‘cousin’ or ‘sibling’ to the Higgs Boson, as present theories of supersymmetry dictate that every particle has a heavier relation.
The Large Hadron Collider’s next batch of experiments are slated to begin this week, from which results will be collected within the coming months. Researchers predict that we could have new information regarding the discovery of a new particle before the start of the second semester.
In a statement to TechRadar, Frederick Bordry, the Director of Accelerators and Technology at CERN, said that “What we are looking for are very rare phenomena, (and) when you are looking for very rare phenomena you need a very large number of collisions. We are really at an energy level that enables discoveries.”
Watch: Tour of CERN’s new facilities
What are your thoughts on the new upgrades made to the Large Hadron Collider? Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
Source: TechRadar
