Several UB physicists arrived at their North Campus offices during the pre-dawn hours to watch the start-up of what's known as the Large Hadron Collider. Two beams of protons were fired in opposite directions around a 17-mile underground ring. The goal is to smash them together and recreate conditions that were in place a split second after the big bang, which scientists theorize is the massive explosion that created the universe.

Doreen Wackeroth, an associate professor of Physics at UB, says the experiments could yield clues to unravel some of the deepest mysteries of the universe.

Several UB physicists were involved in the planning and design of experiments that will be conducted at the collider. Wackeroth says this is one of the most exciting moments in her career as a physicist. But she says this is something that should excite everyone.

Wackeroth and her colleagues say out of these collisions, they expect to see brand new physics.

Click the "listen" icon above to hear Mark Scott's story now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod. © Copyright 2009, WBFO