Colchester: Big Bang site gives feel for creation- THE BIG BANG

The Big Bang Theory has really come to life for one Colchester teacher.

Andrew Kershaw, head of science at Holmwood House Preparatory School, is one of the last UK teachers to be allowed to visit the controversial £4.4 billion experiment that aims to recreate the conditions that existed moments after the birth of the universe.
Scientists at Cern – the European organisation for nuclear research – have spent 20 years building accelerator equipment that will send tiny particles, called protons, smashing into each other at nearly the speed of light.
Detectors then make the colliding particles visible.
The project, which began this week in a 27km-long ring-shaped tunnel 100 metres under the Franco-Swiss border, has led to fears that a black hole big enough to swallow Earth might be created.
However, Mr Kershaw, who travelled to Geneva with the Hertfordshire-based Science and Technologies Facilities Council, is certain nothing of the sort will happen.
"They have done their research into safety," he said.
"We spent four days on the site. The lectures were very good, and we went round and spoke to scientists from all over the world, who are collaborating on the project."
Mr Kershaw and his party were able to witness the build-up to the experiment, update their knowledge of particle physics and learn how Cern functions.
The highlight was undoubtedly a trip underground to see the particle accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and an Atlas detector, which is the biggest ever built.
"It is one of four particle detectors in the system, weighs 7,000 tonnes, is 25 metres high, 25 metres wide and 46 metres long," he said.
"It was constructed underground and is simply an amazing feat of engineering.
"It is incredible to think that such a large piece of equipment is needed to detect particles smaller than an atom."
Mr Kershaw, whose specialist subjects are biology and chemistry, found that the trip sparked an interest in physics – which he is now passing on, through an exhibition, to the 400 youngsters at Holmwood House, on Chitts Hill, Lexden.
"The children are seeing it on the news and in the papers, so we try to help them relate to it. Research is an process that is going on around them, and we still don’t know everything.
"They are quite excited about it. It is amazing how much they take in," he added.
"It was definitely an honour to be one of the last UK teachers to visit the site, and now it is all happening, it just feels more of an honour to have been there, seen it and touched it."