Hadron Collider breakthrough as beams collide

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider managed to make two proton beams collide at high energy Tuesday, marking a "new territory" in physics, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The $10 billion research tool has been accelerating the beams since November in the LHC's 17-mile tunnel on the border of Switzerland and France.

The beams have routinely been circulating at 3.5 TeV, or teraelectron volts, the highest energy achieved at the LHC so far, according to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

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Sutton compared the experiments to Christopher Columbus sailing for the New World in 1492, when he knew what he was looking for but didn't know what he might find.

"It's going into a new energy region," she said. "It's a new territory in particle physics, so we're really just standing on the threshold of that, which is exciting for everybody here, of course."