.Black hole scientist at 'Big Bang' Hadron Collider lab held as suspected Al Qaeda terrorist
A physicist at the lab that houses the Swiss Large Hadron Collider, built to replicate the conditions of the 'Big Bang', has been arrested on suspicion of terror links.
The European Nuclear Physics Organization (Cern) says the man, whom it did not identify, was arrested yesterday by French police.
The lab says the man was working under contract with an outside institute. It said today the man had no contact with anything that could have been used for terrorism.
The 32-year-old man was the elder of two brothers arrested in the French town of Vienne yesterday.
The arrested man had been working on an experiment in particle physics as a contractor since 2003, Cern said.
It described the experiment as exploring what happened after the Big Bang that allowed matter to survive. Cern said the experiment had attracted more than 300 physicists from research centres in 13 countries.
Le Figaro newspaper reported earlier that the man had been in contact with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and had suggested several French targets for militant attacks.
A judicial source confirmed that one of the brothers had been in contact with people close to the organisation but said there was no indication of a clearly established plot at this stage.
AQIM, al Qaeda's north African wing, has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the French embassy in Mauritania that wounded three people in August.
The prosecutor's office in the Isere region said the case has been transferred to the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Paris prosecutor's office or the French Interior Minister.
Many of the scientists at the laboratory, whether or not they are employees of the organization or of other institutes around the world, live in France, and about half the operation is on French territory.
'None of our research has potential for military application, and all our results are published openly in the public domain,' the organization said in a statement.
The laboratory said it is providing the support requested by the French police in the inquiry.
The European laboratory specializes in high-energy particle physics and has been working for years to build the world's biggest atom smasher.
Cern hopes to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang with the LHC, which was restarted in October.
Scientists believe they now know how to prevent a repeat of the problems that caused the giant sub-atomic particle collider to shut down just nine days after it was switched on last September, CERN expert Steve Myers said.
The £5.5billion machine - the largest and most complex ever made - overheated because of a faulty splice in the super-conducting cable connecting two cooling magnets, according to Mr Myers.
There are 10,000 splices around the underground collider's 27-km (17-mile) ring, which will smash particles together at a temperature of just above absolute zero. Scientists hope this will recreate the conditions believed to have been present at the beginning of the universe 13.7billion years ago.
The LHC straddles the borders of France and Switzerland. The experiment ran into controversy after some scientists claimed it could cause the end of the world by creating tiny black holes of intense gravity that would swell and swallow the planet whole, a theory dismissed by CERN.
Scientists hope the machine will help them find the answers to big questions, such as what causes mass and whether hidden dimensions exist in space.
CERN has put back the start date several times, and most recently said the collider would restart in September.
'Many new tests have been developed,' Mr Myers said.
'That has given us a wealth of information about the LHC splices, and confidence that we will be in good shape for running this year.'
Among the repairs and modifications made to the collider - which are thought to cost up to £18million - are a system to respond to any heating up of its core, several added pressure relief valves, improved vacuum technology, and stronger anchors connecting its magnets to the floor.
'All of this contributes to preparing the machine for a long and safe operational lifetime,' CERN said.
DailyMail
The European Nuclear Physics Organization (Cern) says the man, whom it did not identify, was arrested yesterday by French police.
The lab says the man was working under contract with an outside institute. It said today the man had no contact with anything that could have been used for terrorism.
The 32-year-old man was the elder of two brothers arrested in the French town of Vienne yesterday.
The arrested man had been working on an experiment in particle physics as a contractor since 2003, Cern said.
It described the experiment as exploring what happened after the Big Bang that allowed matter to survive. Cern said the experiment had attracted more than 300 physicists from research centres in 13 countries.
Le Figaro newspaper reported earlier that the man had been in contact with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and had suggested several French targets for militant attacks.
A judicial source confirmed that one of the brothers had been in contact with people close to the organisation but said there was no indication of a clearly established plot at this stage.
AQIM, al Qaeda's north African wing, has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the French embassy in Mauritania that wounded three people in August.
The prosecutor's office in the Isere region said the case has been transferred to the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Paris prosecutor's office or the French Interior Minister.
Many of the scientists at the laboratory, whether or not they are employees of the organization or of other institutes around the world, live in France, and about half the operation is on French territory.
'None of our research has potential for military application, and all our results are published openly in the public domain,' the organization said in a statement.
The laboratory said it is providing the support requested by the French police in the inquiry.
The European laboratory specializes in high-energy particle physics and has been working for years to build the world's biggest atom smasher.
Cern hopes to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang with the LHC, which was restarted in October.
Scientists believe they now know how to prevent a repeat of the problems that caused the giant sub-atomic particle collider to shut down just nine days after it was switched on last September, CERN expert Steve Myers said.
The £5.5billion machine - the largest and most complex ever made - overheated because of a faulty splice in the super-conducting cable connecting two cooling magnets, according to Mr Myers.
There are 10,000 splices around the underground collider's 27-km (17-mile) ring, which will smash particles together at a temperature of just above absolute zero. Scientists hope this will recreate the conditions believed to have been present at the beginning of the universe 13.7billion years ago.
The LHC straddles the borders of France and Switzerland. The experiment ran into controversy after some scientists claimed it could cause the end of the world by creating tiny black holes of intense gravity that would swell and swallow the planet whole, a theory dismissed by CERN.
Scientists hope the machine will help them find the answers to big questions, such as what causes mass and whether hidden dimensions exist in space.
CERN has put back the start date several times, and most recently said the collider would restart in September.
'Many new tests have been developed,' Mr Myers said.
'That has given us a wealth of information about the LHC splices, and confidence that we will be in good shape for running this year.'
Among the repairs and modifications made to the collider - which are thought to cost up to £18million - are a system to respond to any heating up of its core, several added pressure relief valves, improved vacuum technology, and stronger anchors connecting its magnets to the floor.
'All of this contributes to preparing the machine for a long and safe operational lifetime,' CERN said.
DailyMail
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