Atom Smasher To Set New Power Record

(FOX News) - Swiss scientists plan to increase the juice flowing through the world's largest atom smasher to eight trillion electron volts, accelerating not only the speed of the protons inside but also the quest for the most elusive particle in modern science.

By boosting energy through the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 14 percent -- and breaking a power record set by the LHC itself last year -- the team hopes to further experiments into the microscopic world of particle physics. The ultimate goal: finding a tiny particle called the Higgs boson, which may not even exist.

"By the time the LHC goes into its first long stop at the end of this year, we will either know that a Higgs particle exists or have ruled out the existence of a Standard Model Higgs," said Sergio Bertolucci, the research director for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

The particle, which exists only in theory, is infinitesimally tiny and thought to be the fundamental building block of matter, ultimately responsible for giving mass to all things.

In December, scientists announced that they had seen tantalizing hints of the Higgs. By increasing the power of the collider, scientists hope to continue their pursuit of that elusive bit.

"When we started operating the LHC for physics in 2010, we chose the lowest safe beam energy consistent with the physics we wanted to do," said Steve Myers, director for accelerators and technology with CERN.

"Two good years of operational experience with beam and many additional measurements made during 2011 give us the confidence to safely move up a notch, and thereby extend the physics reach of the experiments before we go into the LHC's first long shutdown," he said.

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