THE ageing Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) at CERN, the particle
physics lab near Geneva, will be run for an extra month so that researchers can
continue hunting for the most sought-after particle in high-energy physics. CERN
officials said last week that they hoped a one-month extension would not delay
the construction of a more powerful accelerator.
The 11-year-old LEP—built inside a 27-kilometre circular tunnel
straddling the Swiss-French border—had been scheduled to shut down for
good at the end of September, but CERN director general Luciano Maiani has
decided to let it run until 2 November, at a…
