TRIPS&VISITS COLLIDER-SCOPE Arriving in the historic city of Geneva we were immediately astonished by the magnificent view of Mont Blanc’s snowy white peaks in the distance. We headed through the main town, taking time to enjoy the much purer Genevan air, and were given time to wind down in our rooms before heading out to eat and then relax at a nearby pool hall. We were blessed with some beautiful weather across all three days and spent the morning exploring some of the city’s landmarks, including the famous ‘Jet d’Eau’ Water Fountain, and we also climbed the many steps of St Peter’s Cathedral for a wonderful 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding lakes and mountains. The main purpose of the trip was next on our list . . . our visit to CERN, home of the World’s most powerful particle accelerator – the Large Hadron Collider – and all things physics! There were explanations of breakthroughs in physics, including a short film about the discovery of the Higgs Boson, and exhibits about the current mysteries within particle physics. We listened to talks about the structure of CERN and were shown some of the components that make up the particle accelerators. We were informed of some jaw-dropping facts about the particle accelerator; some of the electromagnets have currents of 1800A flowing through them! As an amazing coincidence a former pupil of HGS was also part of our tour group. On the final day we visited the History of Science Museum and saw how scientific instruments have changed over time. We then visited the Museum of Art and History which has exhibits dedicated to the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans and the Middle Ages. The exhibit that stood out the most was the medieval showcase. This comprised of weapons and armour ranging from leather to iron. We were surprised to see that there were broadswords at least a metre in length as well as a vast collection of rifles. After this final visit we had to say goodbye to Geneva and head back home. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all! Ibrahim Qayyum and Sharujan Kunaruban LET ME ATOM! Under the French-Swiss border some of the largest and most expensive scientific experiments in history are taking place. The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) involves thousands of scientists from all over the world in trying to answer questions about our universe at the very smallest scales. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the most powerful particle collider at CERN. It was finished in 2008 at a cost of $4.75 billion, is 175 metres underground and has a circumference of around 17 miles! The LHC is an amazing feat of engineering, especially given the scale and complexity of the components. There are currently seven experiments set up around the collider, the most famous of which is ATLAS; the largest particle detector in the world. It has a mass of 7000 tonnes! This detector was largely involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson, the last particle to be discovered predicted by the standard model of particle physics. Whilst the standard model helps scientists to understand a huge amount about the fundamental make-up of the universe it does not explain everything. Future investigations at the LHC aim at investigating physics beyond the standard model. The team involved with the ATLAS detector are hoping to detect collisions between particles at higher energies to discover when the predictions of the standard model break down. They are also attempting to detect dark matter and dark energy, which is theorised to make up a large proportion of the matter in our universe. If dark matter were detected, it would help us explain the observations astronomers make of our galaxy and the universe. Observations of unimaginably tiny particles helping us explain enormous ideas!  Mr Bennett (AKA Sherlock Ohms) More information can be found at: http://atlas.cern https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson https://home.cern/science/physics/dark-matter Fun Physics FACTS! The World Wide Web was founded at CERN. The large hadron collider is the largest machine in the world. CERN generates heat that is hotter than the sun. 17