Build your own Big Bang: CERN’s Large Hadron Collider turns on

**CHANGE OF VENUE to Footbridge Theatre (near Parramatta Road)**

At 5.30 pm AEST next Wednesday 10th September, scientists will hit the big green button on the world's largest experiment, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The huge energies given to tiny particles in this experiment will take us closer to the Big Bang than we have ever been before and propel us towards answering questions of Life, The Universe and Everything.

One of the thousands of scientists holding his breath is Dr Kevin Varvell from the School of Physics University of Sydney. "At last we can test some of our ideas about what we are made of!" he says. "Some ideas are very solid, some such as mini-black holes less so."

At a public talk next Wednesday evening Dr Kevin and Dr Karl Kruszelnicki will be giving the low down on the Large Hadron Collider, colder than deep space, and buried 100 m in the ground in a tunnel 27 km long under the French-Swiss border - as well as streaming live video from CERN.

And for something else to do beforehand, listen to Professor Rubenstein talking about Zebra Societies & Conservation: Different Types for Different Stripes.

The Science

For a more detailed explanation of the science behind this amazing experiment, visit this page from the School of Physics' high energy research group.

The Speakers

Dr Kevin Varvell is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Physics. After being fascinated by the subatomic world as an undergraduate in Perth, he obtained a DPhil in the subject in the UK and has since then been chasing the secrets of the fundamental building blocks of matter through experiments at CERN, Fermilab and KEK.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has degrees in Physics and Maths, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine and Surgery and has worked as a physicist, tutor, film-maker, car mechanic, labourer, and as a medical doctor at the Kids' Hospital in Sydney.

In 1995 he took up the position of the Julius Sumner Miller Fellow at Sydney University, spreading the good word about science and its benefits.

Details

Venue: Footbridge Theatre, Camperdown campus, University of Sydney

Time: 7pm onwards

Date: Wednesday 10th September

RSVP: Due to an overwhelming response, this talk is now booked out. Keep an eye out for future talks held by the School of Physics.