NEWS

The NA64 experiment at CERN has searched for dark matter since 2016 by looking for energy that goes missing when particles strike its detectorIn particle physics, energy is never lost. When particles collide or decay, all the initial energy they carry must be conserved in the resulting products, and a shortfall signals that something has escaped unseen. It was the energy missing from radioactive d

Researchers set new constraints on the production rate of double-Higgs bosons, providing insight into how the Higgs boson interacts with itselfFinding one Higgs boson was hard enough, but physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are hunting for something even more elusive: pairs of Higgs bosons. At the recent International Conference on High Energy Physics 2026, the ATLAS and CMS Collaboratio

An experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland used novel technologies to demonstrate the feasibility of the positron-source concept for the proposed Future Circular Collider at CERNAn experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland has successfully produced, captured and transported positrons using a novel system developed for CERN’s proposed Future Circular Collider (

A new layer of silicon sensors is being tested at CERN before being sent to the International Space StationSuspended in the path of a proton beam from CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) was an unusual target: a large silicon tracker destined for space. Known as “Layer-0”, this new layer of silicon sensors will be mounted on top of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS)  while it orbits Earth on

The first experimental determination of the neutron capture of niobium-94 by n_TOF researchers marks a milestone in efforts to understand the composition of ancient stardust Niobium-94, an isotope of niobium with 41 protons and 53 neutrons, is a critical crossroads in the complex nuclear processes that forge heavy elements under the intense pressures and temperatures of dying stars. Writing in Phy

All four main LHC experiments have found new signs that oxygen and neon collisions may create the extreme state of matter that existed during the first microseconds after the Big BangOne year on from the first-ever collisions of oxygen at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the main LHC Collaborations – ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb – have each reported signs of the state of matter known as quark–gluon

The new generation of quadrupole magnets at the IT String test facility has reached its nominal current, validating key technologies for the High-Luminosity LHCThe test bench for the High-Luminosity LHC, the IT (Inner Triplet) String facility, has reached a major milestone. On 8 July, its new quadrupole magnets – known as the inner triplet magnets – successfully reached their nominal operating cur

Theorised in 1930 and discovered in 1956, the elusive neutrino still keeps many of its secrets, inspiring research efforts at CERN and around the worldSeventy years ago today, Clyde Cowan, Frederick Reines and their colleagues closed a quarter-century hunt with a paper in Science, having caught neutrinos streaming out of a nuclear reactor in South Carolina. The search had begun in December 1930, w

The CMS experiment uses its largest sample of beauty mesons to date to perform a high-precision test of subtle differences between matter and antimatterOne of the greatest mysteries in physics is why our Universe is made almost entirely of the normal matter that forms us and everything we touch. Every matter particle has a corresponding antiparticle with the same mass but the opposite charge and,

The LHCb Collaboration has found a new particle consisting of one strange quark and two charm quarks. With this finding, the Collaboration has discovered the final member of a family of doubly charmed baryons – particles made up of two charm quarks and one other quark – and closes a chapter of a story that stretches back more than sixty years. Quarks are basic building blocks of matter. There are

Swiss-based artist Marie Matusz and Indian artist Moonis Ahmad Shah have been selected for the latest edition of the Connect India dual residencyLaunched in 2021 by Arts at CERN and the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Connect has established itself as a key platform for artistic experimentation in connection with fundamental science. The programme continues its mission of fostering meaningful dia

After 12 years in operation, a record amount of data and thousands of scientific results, the LHC is taking a break. It will be transformed into the HiLumi LHC, a better-performing machineWritten by Corinne Pralavorio In the early hours of Sunday, 14 June, the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had their last hurrah. In the control rooms of ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb – the four major e

At the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), protons travel around the ring at almost the speed of light before colliding to release energy that transforms into many particles, including those containing beauty quarks. As reported in a recent paper,  the ALICE Collaboration has made a new measurement of the production of neutral beauty mesons, particles made of a beauty antiquark and a down quark. For the

The winners of the 13th edition of the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition have been selected. BL4S is a physics competition that was initiated by CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, and is open to secondary school pupils from all around the world. Participants are invited to submit a proposal for a physics experiment to be undertaken at the beamline of a particle accelerator,

In a particle accelerator, radiofrequency (RF) systems are among the crucial components that make beam production possible. While magnets guide the particles around the ring, RF systems provide the beam with its longitudinal structure: they accelerate it, keep it captured in bunches, shape it, split it, rotate it and ensure synchronisation for transfer to the next machine.On 21 May, an eight-hour

While the heavy-ion run season is in full swing at the LHC, let’s look back at the low-energy run that took place on 29 and 30 April. In yet another demonstration of the versatility of CERN’s accelerator complex, the LHC briefly departed from its standard high-energy operation to perform a special low-energy run dedicated primarily to the needs of the LHCb experiment. Conducted at a beam energy of

Researchers at the AEgIS experiment have piloted a new method to delve into the heart of atoms. This proof-of-principle study, recently reported in Physical Review Research, shows how antiprotons – the antimatter counterparts of protons – could be used to probe the outer edges of a wider range of atomic nuclei. And with CERN’s recent world-first demonstration of antiproton transportation, this tec

Today, following more than two years of intense work of the European particle physics community under the auspices of the European Strategy Group, the CERN Council updated the European Strategy for Particle Physics [link to Resolution], which sets out an ambitious scientific vision for the field. The 2026 Strategy update offers a clear path to maintain European leadership in high-energy physics wh

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the first observation of the Bc*+ meson, an excited counterpart of a particle made up of a charm quark and a bottom antiquarkAt the Large Hadron Collider Physics conference this week, physicists from the ATLAS Collaboration reported the first observation of a new particle with properties consistent with the Bc*+ meson. This particle is an excited version of the Bc+

Alumni of the 1976 Summer Student Programme took a tour of the place where they first met 50 years agoOn 8 May 2026 a group of alumni of CERN’s Summer Student Programme reunited at the place where they first met 50 years ago.The group of four (left to right: Dave Eyre, Christian Gerke, Theo Oyevar and Claus Gössling) first came to CERN in 1976, when the Super Proton Synchrotron had just begun oper