Large Hadron Collider to come back online after break

The Compact Muon Solenoid is one of two multi-purpose detectors at the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be switched on again next week, according to the laboratory that operates it.

The particle accelerator was shut down for the Christmas period shortly after setting the record for the highest particle energies ever attained.

Over the coming months, scientists aim to smash that record again as the experiments aim for energies of some seven trillion electron volts (TeV).

However, 2010's start will be at much lower, so-called "injection energies".

In the ensuing weeks, the energies will be increased, past last year's record of 2.36 TeV and toward the 7 TeV goal.

"We went into a technical shutdown over Christmas and we're now ready to switch it back on again," a spokesperson for Cern, the Swiss laboratory that hosts the LHC, told BBC News.

She said that the switch-on would be "after Monday" but said a firm date had not yet been set.

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