Bigger crashes promised in 2nd run of Large Hadron Collider

Scientists will soon debut the blockbuster sequel to the so-called Big Bang Machine, which already found the elusive Higgs Boson. They're promising nearly twice the energy and far more violent particle crashes this time around.

After a two-year shutdown and upgrade, the multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider is about to ramp up for its second three-year run. Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, say if nature cooperates, the more powerful beam crashes will give them a peek into the unseen dark universe.

Beams should start running through the giant machine later this month, with the first high energy crashes probably coming in May, accelerator director Frederick Bordry said in a Thursday news conference in Geneva. A test beam ran through the collider last weekend, he said.

Scientists hope to see all sorts of new physics, including a first ever glimpse of dark matter, one of the chief focuses of the experiment.

"I want to see the first light in the dark universe," CERN General Director Rolf Heuer said. "If I see that, then nature is kind to me."

Dark matter - and its cousin, dark energy - make up most of the universe, yet scientists haven't been able to see them yet, so researchers are looking for them in high-energy crashes, in orbit on a special experiment on the international space station, and in a deep underground mine.

"What we know about dark matter is that it exists and then very little after that," MIT professor Michael Williams said at a science conference in February.

CERN spent about $150 million to upgrade during its down time, opening the massive machine every 20 meters (66 feet), checking magnets, improving connections.

"It's nearly a new machine," Heuer said. "It has the power which can melt 500 kilos (1100 pounds) of copper. Each beam. Two beams together, one ton of copper."

___

Online:

CERN: http://home.web.cern.ch/

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears