Colossal new atom smasher unveiled

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest particle accelerator, have revealed plans for a much larger successor, the Future Circular Collider, which aims to solve the remaining enigmas of physics

SWITZ.
FRA.
ITA.
GER.
Area enlarged

Artist’s impression of FCC

SWITZERLAND
Geneva
FRANCE
FUTURE CIRCULAR COLLIDER (FCC)
Circumference: 90.7km

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (LHC)
Circumference:
26.66km

LAKE GENEVA
SWITZ.
FRANCE
5km
3 miles

Network of magnets in underground tunnel help to accelerate atoms (hadrons), crashing them together at almost speed of light

Sub-atomic particles left over from collisions help scientists determine what atoms are made of

Detection in 2012 of new particle called Higgs Boson is LHC’s biggest achievement

Researchers hope FCC will succed where LHC has failed – track down two holy grails of physics; dark matter and dark energy

FCC is projected to cost around $16 billion and would commence in mid-2040s, pending approval from 24 member countries of CERN* in 2028

Depth not to scale

Depth
200m

Depth
100m

*European Organisation for Nuclear Research
Pictures: PIXELRISE via CERN, Google Earth
Sources: CERN, AP, BBC
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