CERN scientists resume probes into origin of universe

CERN scientists have staged their first speed-of-light particle collisions of the year, resuming their probes into the origins of the cosmos in the centre’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

“It started up well, with stable beams. We are even a little ahead of schedule after the winter break,” spokesman James Gillies said.

Oliver Buchmueller, a leading physicist on the €7 billion project, said the priority in 2011 and 2012 would be finding evidence of super-symmetry, extra dimensions, dark matter, black hole production and the elusive Higgs boson.