The Large Hadron Collider Just Released 300 Terabytes of Data to the Public
It's a testament to CERN's commitment to making its research more transparent.
Aspiring scientists around the world now have access to a massive amount of data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
On Friday, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) released 300 terabytes of data to the general public. Scientists from the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) published the findings, detailing research on an estimated 250 trillion particle collisions.
Although 300 terabytes may sound overwhelming, CERN has taken steps to make it as accessible as possible. Users can find a smaller dataset, if they choose, that only highlights the major findings on particle behavior. There are also software tools that amateur physicists can use to analyze and visualize the data:
According to The Verge, this is not the first time the LHC has released so much of its research to the public. Making data available to the public is important to the scientists who work there.
"The benefits are numerous, from inspiring high-school students to the training of the particle physicists of tomorrow. And personally, as CMS's data-preservation co-ordinator, this is a crucial part of ensuring the long-term availability of our research data," CMS physicist Kati Lassila-Perini told The Verge.
Want to take a peak for yourself? Head over to CERN's Open Data portal to begin.
Top photo: The Large Hadron Collider (Luigi Selmi / Flickr).