Thanx for the update, Tullio.

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Updates:

Protons set to collide at 13 TeV to prepare for physics

Beams of protons should collide in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the record-breaking energy of 13 teraelectronvolts (TeV) for the first time. This is one of the many steps required to prepare the machine before the LHC's second physics run can begin. The LHC Operations team plans to declare "stable beams" in the coming weeks – the signal for the LHC experiments to start taking physics data at this new energy frontier.
"We begin by bringing the beams into collision at 13 TeV, and adjusting their orbits to collide them head-on," says Ronaldus SuykerBuyk of the Operations team.

First images of collisions at 13 TeV!

A key part of the process was the set-up of the collimators. These devices which absorb stray particles were adjusted in colliding-beam conditions. This set-up will give the accelerator team the data they need to ensure that the LHC magnets and detectors are fully protected.

Click link to view photographs.

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Don't miss CERN's "Ask Me Anything" session on the online forum reddit, tomorrow from 4pm CEST. 15:00 UTC.
http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2015/05/cern-takes-reddit-discuss-new-energy-frontier
Representatives from the LHC experiments ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb, as well as a CERN theorist and members of the LHC Operations team will be available live on the site’s /r/IAmA sub-forum(link is external), answering the community’s questions in real time in written form.

CERN takes to reddit to discuss new energy frontier

Researchers at CERN took to the online forum reddit to answer questions from the public (link is external) about what to expect from LHC physics at this new energy frontier. The discussion covered topics ranging from the technical aspects of the LHC and LHC@Home to data analysis and the birth of the World Wide Web.

Major work to ready the LHC experiments for Run 2

This week, the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be back in action, taking data for the accelerator's second run. The detectors were shut down two years ago for maintenance and refurbishment in preparation for collisions at the higher energy of 13 teraelectronvolts (TeV).

Smaller LHC collaborations to analyse collisions at 13 TeV

The TOTEM experiment takes precise measurements of protons as they emerge from collisions in the LHC at small angles to the beampipe. This region is known as the 'forward' direction. TOTEM detectors on both sides of the interaction point at CMS are spread across a total distance of almost half a kilometre. For the LHC's second run, the TOTEM and CMS collaborations plan to coordinate the use of their detectors to perform combined measurements with unprecedented accuracy.

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Large Hadron Collider to turn on 'data tap'


The Large Hadron Collider is about to pave the way to a new era in physics.

Scientists are waiting for the first new data to start flowing from the underground particle smasher, as the LHC begins its first "physics collisions" in two years.

The vast machine will clatter proton beams together at much higher energies than it achieved during its first operational period from 2010-2013.

This should allow physicists to hunt for signs of new scientific phenomena.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32976838

For BOINC users wishing to take part in the search: LHC@home and VirtualLHC@home are stable, ATLAS@home is still on Beta test, CMS-dev is in Alpha test stage and only by invitation. A Spring Challenge is due to come in a short time. Stay tuned.
Tullio

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Thanx for the updates guys.

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For interested dpeople, ATLAS@home is now simulating the decay of a Higgs Boson in W bosons, while up to now it was simulating the decay in top quarks, the heaviest quark. W bosons are lighter than top quarks, so the process is faster and gives less credits, making people to complain. This was explained by admins.
Tullio

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Thanks tullio for the updates so far so good lets hope she gets to full power without a hitch

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"There she blows!" (Herman Melville). I hope we won't drown in a sea of data.
Tullio

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I still wonder what practical applications will come directly from the research at CERN. I found this response and although several benefits are cited in general there still is no definitive answer other than that of satisfying the curiosity of the scientists involved.
http://www.quora.com/What-practical-use-and-benefit-will-we-get-out-of-the-results-of-the-experiments-dealing-with-the-Large-Hadron-Collider

I do hope some tangible breakthroughs come out of this program, otherwise it shows those who think so that you don't have to launch rockets into space to spend a lot of money.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

LHC costs less than a modern aircraft carrier or a wing of F35 stealth strikefighters. But nobody objects to states, including Italy, spending huge sums of money in useless armaments.
Tullio

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Cost of one Nimitz class carrier = $4.5 billion
Cost of CERN project to date = $13.25 billion
http://www.ibtimes.com/forbes-finding-higgs-boson-cost-1325-billion-721503

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimitz-class_aircraft_carrier

I'm not saying it wasn't worth it, yet.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

For BOINC users wishing to take part in the search: LHC@home and VirtualLHC@home are stable, ATLAS@home is still on Beta test, CMS-dev is in Alpha test stage and only by invitation. A Spring Challenge is due to come in a short time. Stay tuned.
Tullio

Tullio, does Atlas still require 64-bit virtualisation?

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Oh and no, the LHC won't produce anti-matter and blow up the world.

It will produce anti-matter, it already has. Just won't make enough of it to blow up anything.

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All I think that the LHC will find is more and more smaller particles as constituents of the collisions between particles that we already know about. It is unlikely to solve any riddle of the universe.

And the next Noble Prize laureate is...
There are lot of particles that we don't know about.
Supersymmetry...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersymmetry

Tullio, does Atlas still require 64-bit virtualisation?

Yes, but I am running vLHC@home also on two 32-bit Linux boxes vith 32-bit VirtualBox. I am not sure abount CMS-dev, I haven't tried it yet.
Tullio

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Thx Tullio! Maybe I check on CMS-Dev when it changes to beta, until then I stick with vLHC.

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LHC costs less than a modern aircraft carrier or a wing of F35 stealth strikefighters. But nobody objects to states, including Italy, spending huge sums of money in useless armaments.
Tullio

Well modern aircraft carriers do have their function...so would say they are useless!

But F35 certanly are! :D

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

I've read on theregister.co.uk that CERN is teaming with CISCO on networking. It certainly needs a lot of computing power on its Grid, which spans the whole world.
Tullio

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