Giant magnet will try to explain life and the universe

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

GENEVA (AFP) — The world's largest ever magnet was lowered underground at the European particle physics laboratory (CERN) on Wednesday, setting into place an experiment aimed at shedding light on the origins of the universe.

The 1,920 tonne magnet, equivalent in weight to five jumbo jets, is being gently lowered 100 metres (328 feet) into CERN's 27-kilometre (17 mile) tunnel under the Franco-Swiss border, the laboratory said in a statement.

Once in place, it will form part of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) particle detector, and will take part in an experiment where elementary particles are thrown together at something close to the speed of light.

The detector is part of a wider CERN project known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a giant particle...