Cern lab set for beam milestone
A vast physics experiment - the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - reaches a key milestone this weekend ahead of an official start-up on 10 September.

Engineers had previously brought a beam of protons - tiny, sub-atomic particles - to the "doorstep" of the LHC.

On 9 August, protons will be piped through LHC magnets for the first time.

The most powerful physics experiment ever built, the LHC will re-create the conditions present in the Universe just after the Big Bang.

There are over 5,000 magnets arranged end-to-end in a ring that runs for 27km through a giant tunnel under the French Swiss border.

Once the LHC is fully operational, two proton beams will be fired down pipes running through these magnets. These beams will then be steered in opposite directions around the main ring at close to the speed of light.