A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication
Illustration of an anthropomorphized proton making a surprised face
Farrin Abbott, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

LHC Noir

12/04/18
By Farrin Abbott, Sarah Charley, Justin May

A proton describes its final moments in the Large Hadron Collider.

During its second run, between 2015 and 2018, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN collided about 16 million billion particle pairs. This is the story of one of them.

LHC Noir

Quirky & crafty

Interactive, DIY and other offerings from Symmetry's zany side.

The Neutrino Painter
09/15/20

The neutrino painter

In this stop-motion video, Symmetry writer Zack Savitsky imagines an artist whose supplies have taken on some of the properties of neutrinos.

The Large Kitchen Collider video still
04/14/20

The Large Kitchen Collider

In an imaginative short film, Symmetry writer Sarah Charley investigates the physics of vegetables.

Wreath made of computer cables and post it note reading "Gone for Vacay"
12/17/19

New physics, naughty and nice

Grab your cocoa or pumpkin spice—as today we examine what’s naughty and nice.

The Smiley Microscope by Sam Tse
12/20/18

Lab Libs

Fill in the blanks for some physics fun.

Illustration of an anthropomorphized proton making a surprised face
12/04/18

LHC Noir

A proton describes its final moments in the Large Hadron Collider.

Proton Smash
10/30/18

They did the smash – they did the Proton Smash

Add some science to your Halloween!

view full collection
Popular on symmetry
A technician inspect part of a particle detector
03/24/23

LHC experiments see four top quarks

The ATLAS and CMS experiments have observed a process 4,000 times rarer than the production of Higgs bosons.

Coffee mug with equations on it
07/28/16

The deconstructed Standard Model equation

The Standard Model is far more than elementary particles arranged in a table.

Illustration demonstrating various stages of shipping: rail, container ships and trucks
03/14/23

How to put together an international physics experiment

To build the DUNE neutrino experiment and its associated accelerator upgrade, experts invent customized ways to transport fragile, expensive and highly specialized components.

Illustration of Antimatter Things
04/28/15

Ten things you might not know about antimatter

Antimatter has fueled many a supernatural tale. It's also fascinating all by itself.

More on Accelerators
03/30/20

10 years of LHC physics, in numbers

How do you measure a decade of LHC research?

02/25/20

Seven views of work at the LHC

Symmetry chats with scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider to hear about differences between seven different rungs on the academic career ladder.

06/18/19

A day in the life of an accelerator designer

Physicist Tor Raubenheimer explores the world by climbing rocks and designing particle accelerators.

03/14/19

The potential of plasma wakefield acceleration

Scientists around the world are testing ways to further boost the power of particle accelerators while drastically shrinking their size.

03/07/19

Japan defers ILC decision

In their latest meeting with scientists, the Japanese government declined to stake a claim to hosting the ILC.

12/03/18

LHC ends second season of data-taking

During the last four years, LHC scientists have filled in gaps in our knowledge and tested the boundaries of the Standard Model.

09/27/18

Life as an accelerator operator

Behind some of the world’s biggest scientific instruments are teams with a set of skills you can’t find anywhere else. 

08/28/18

New accelerator research program at Fermilab sees first beam

IOTA, the new test accelerator, gives researchers rich and varied opportunities to dive deep into the physics of particle beams.

View full archive