Huge Fridge Colder Than Outer Space

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Credit: CERN (Image credit: CERN)

Construction on a cooling system for the world's biggest science experiment that produces temperatures colder than outer space was completed today.

The mammoth chill factory can generate temperatures as low as 1.9 degrees above absolute zero (-456 degrees Fahrenheit) for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a circular particle smasher 17 miles (27 kilometers) wide that is being built at the CERN physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.

"This is a huge accomplishment," says LHC project leader Lyn Evans. "Now that it is done, we can concentrate on getting the machine cold and ready for physics."

The LHC is slated to begin operation in May 2008.

Live Science Staff
Live Science Staff
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