Exploring the origins of the universe

"Exploring the Beginnings of the Universe" is an educational exhibition intended to provide an insight into particle physics and the origins of the universe for the general public, explaining the research experiments being undertaken at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research A reproduction in real time of the underground tunnel is one of the key elements of the exhibition, providing its central strand.

The presentation includes important historical exhibits that have formed a part of other experiments performed at CERN The exhibition has been staged thanks to consultancy from a multidisciplinary team of scientists working at CERN, along with researchers from other fields connected with the UB, UAB and UPC universities.

The exhibition forms a part of the programme "The MNACTEC as a Showcase for CERN Experiments", funded by the FECYT (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) under the Scientific Cultural Promotion funding rounds for 2007 and 2008.

Areas:

1. CERN, a particle physics laboratory. General description of CERN.
2. What is a particle? Basic explanation of the structure of particle.
3. What is happening now at CERN? To find out about the mysteries that the LHC aims to resolve.
4. The LHC and its ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and ALICE detectors. An explanation of the accelerator and the 4 detectors installed there.
5. The GRID: a global network to analyse the LHC data. Description of the global system to analyse the data generated by the detectors.
6. Thanks to CERN! Everyday applications of the discoveries that have been made at CERN