CERN’s HiRadMat facility is helping scientists to understand how asteroid materials behave under extreme conditions

Got any blocks of cast iron lying around in a corner of your office? They might be useful for the future Beam Dump Facility (BDF) for the SPS

So far the summer run has seen solid progress in luminosity production, but also some unexpected beam and machine behaviour. Careful monitoring revealed a hardware issue, now being closely watched as the LHC continues to perform at full capacity.

The proton physics run has now been paused for the first block of machine development studies, a technical stop and short oxygen- and neon-ion physics runs. Protons will be back in the machines on 12 July

Following the achievement of 2460-bunch stable beams on 24 May, the accelerator complex experienced an SPS magnet failure, a central timing glitch and a complex-wide power disruption. Yet the LHC remains on track to achieve its 2025 luminosity goal

The first beam-based physics of 2025 has started and more will follow soon. However, some unexpected challenges will cause a small delay in the restart of the LHC

Although the much-appreciated winter break is well behind us and most of us are back at work, the accelerator complex is still in hibernation – but not for much longer

Soon, CERN personnel will take a well-deserved winter break, just like the accelerator complex. Following a successful year, the remainder of the accelerator complex was stopped on 2 December, marking the official start of the year-end technical stop

Lead-ion physics at the LHC and the SPS North Area is already under way and progressing well. The final lead-ion user in the PS East Area started its physics run on 13 November

As the LHC and SPS wrap up their 2024 proton run, teams are making final preparations for the lead-ion physics run starting on 4 November

CERN’s accelerators show very good availability rates: beams are in place

Ted Wilson was involved in the design of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and played a leading role in its commissioning