Atom smasher plans for future discoveries

[Geee]

Fox News:

GENEVA – The world's largest and most powerful atom smasher goes into a 2-year hibernation in March, as engineers carry out a revamp to help it reach maximum energy levels that could lead to more stunning discoveries following the detection of the so-called "God particle."

With the reopening of its $10 billion proton collider in early 2015, the stage will be set for observing more rare phenomena -- and unlocking more mysteries, said James Gillies, chief spokesman for the European particle physics laboratory known as CERN.

'The Higgs particle was just one of many on the wish list that we'd like to find'

- James Gillies, chief spokesman for CERN

The Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border will operate for two more months then shut down through 2014, allowing engineers to lay thousands more superconducting cables aimed at bringing the machine up to "full design energy," Gillies told The Associated Press on Friday.