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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Thai scientists help tap secrets of universe

An experiment to detect particles, which will help explain the origin of mass in the universe, will wrap up in the middle of next year, said a scientist from the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

Albert De Roeck

"We are now hunting for the Higgs boson, or God particle. Our experiment will prove whether the Higgs exists or not. If it does, it will help us explain the origin of mass in the universe," Albert De Roeck, deputy spokesman for CERN's Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment (CMS), said on Thursday.

Mr de Roeck was in Bangkok to teach particle physics to students taking part in the CERN School Thailand 2010, held between Oct 4-13 at Chulalongkorn University.

CERN recently created the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, used by physicists to study the smallest known particles _ the fundamental building blocks of all things.

The LHC is located about 100 metres underground in Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France.

"We are on the verge of understanding the universe. Scientists from Thailand can play a visible role in this programme," said Mr de Roeck.

Thailand and CERN have worked together since 2002, when CERN established contact with the National Science and Technology Development Agency to encourage Thailand's high-energy particle physics community to join the CMS project.

HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who has expressed concern about the state of physics development here, encouraged the bilateral effort.

The princess made her third visit to CERN headquarters in April when she signed an agreement to send Thai students, teachers and scientists to be trained with CERN. The 1st CERN School Thailand is one result of that cooperation.

Around 3,000 scientists and engineers, including one from Thailand, are working at CERN, together with 700 doctorate students from 39 countries.

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