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As the LHC – the world’s largest and most complex scientific experiment - restarts this month, the science and vast machinery of this massive international project at CERN are brought to life in the pages of a new pop-up book - Voyage to the Heart of Matter. The book is published today (9th November).

Once first physics gets underway early next year, protons travelling at nearly the speed of light will collide 40 million times a second within the heart of the LHC’s particle detectors, sending out showers of debris, to recreate the conditions that existed millionths of a second after the Big Bang - the event that set our Universe in motion. Now readers of all ages can join the ATLAS Experiment on this fascinating journey to the beginnings of the Universe.

In this unique collaboration between ATLAS and renowned paper engineer Anton Radevsky, 7000 tonnes of metal, glass, plastic, cables and computer chips leap from the page in miniature pop-up, to tell the story of CERN’s quest to understand the birth of the universe.

Emma Sanders, a UK scientist now at CERN and co-author of the book, said, "We’re all very excited about the LHC restart and the first high energy collisions and we'd like to communicate some of that excitement to those who aren’t here to experience it first hand. We hope this amazing experiment will start a new age in our understanding of the Universe."

When LHC physics starts early next year, scientists from all over the world, including many UK scientists, will be studying the huge amounts of data collected. The UK plays a leading role in the experiment with the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) supporting the UK researchers and groups involved in the project and paying the UK subscription to CERN and the LHC.

The LHC has also been advantageous for UK industry with £270 million worth of contracts from CERN. CERN pushes technologies in engineering, science and computing to their limits, often leading to new developments. The need for easy communication among the worldwide community involved in the previous major experiment at CERN, called LEP, stimulated the creation of the World Wide Web.

The preparation for the LHC also led to a number of spin-off technologies in health care, but its greatest potential technology benefit is the Grid – a whole new way of computing invented as a successor to the Web.

More information about the LHC restart and first science can be found below in the notes for editors

Notes for editors

The book:
280 x 220mm (portrait) in full colour
Hardback (8 pages)
ISBN 9781906506063
Papadakis Publisher, London
£20.00

The book is available for purchase from end November. Review copies are available from 9 November. Journalists unable to attend the launch to pick up their review copy should contact Papadakis.

Photos of the book may be downloaded from: http://atlas.ch/popupbook/

About the authors:

Anton Radevsky is a pop-up engineer and illustrator and lives in Sofia, Bulgaria. His previous books include The Modern Architecture Pop-Up Book, The Pop-Up Book Of Space Craft and The Wild West Pop-Up Book.

Emma Sanders is a member of CERN’s education and outreach team, and developer of the Laboratory’s Microcosm exhibition centre.

Images

Images are available from the STFC Press Office
Contacts
Julia Short
Press Officer
STFC
Tel: +44 (0)1793 442 012
Email: Julia.short@stfc.ac.uk
CERN Press office +41 (0)22 76 721 41 or +41 (0)22 76 734 32 press.office@cern.ch 
http://www.cern.ch; http://www.atlas.ch; http://www.papadakis.net 
Papadakis Publisher: Sarah Roberts
Tel. +44 (0) 16 35 24 88 33
sarah.roberts@papadakis.net 

LHC

The LHC is an international project in which the UK has a leading role.

The LHC, 100m below ground, is the most powerful particle accelerator ever built by man and will seek answers to some of the most fundamental mysteries of our Universe, from anti-matter to dark matter and the existence of extra dimensions. Whether the LHC confirms or denies leading theories, its results will start a new age in our understanding of physics and the entire Universe.

LHC restart and first science

CERN is preparing the Large Hadron Collider for a restart in 2009. The first beam of the year is likely to be injected in mid-November. This will be followed by a short period of collisions at the injection energy of 450GeV per beam and a ramp in energy to 3.5TeV per beam. Following this, LHC physics will begin with collisions at this energy. The first high energy collisions will most likely occur in the new year.

CERN's twitter feed - http:/twitter.com/cern 

Science and Technology Facilities Council The Science and Technology Facilities Council ensures the UK retains its leading place on the world stage by delivering world-class science; accessing and hosting international facilities; developing innovative technologies; and increasing the socio-economic impact of its research through effective knowledge exchange partnerships.

The Council has a broad science portfolio including Astronomy, Particle Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Space Science, Synchrotron Radiation, Neutron Sources and High Power Lasers. In addition the Council manages and operates three internationally renowned laboratories:

§ The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire

§ The Daresbury Laboratory, Cheshire

§ The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh

The Council gives researchers access to world-class facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the Institute Laue Langevin (ILL), European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), the European organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA). It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii, Australia and in Chile, and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.