The atoms in our bodies may have once burned in a star, long before the Earth even existed. The air we breathe contains particles that travelled through the lungs of dinosaurs. Our bodies and the entire world are made up of tiny, invisible building blocks that have been travelling through the universe for billions of years, combining, separating and reassembling.
These particles are unimaginably small. And yet they form everything: matter, energy, light. Anyone who understands their secrets begins to realise how the universe works. This is exactly where particle physics comes in. At CERN, the world’s largest research centre for high-energy physics, research is being carried out into what holds the world together at its core.
To ensure that this research does not just take place in laboratories and specialist articles, CERN opened the Science Gateway in 2023: a visitor centre in Geneva that is open to the public and brings science to life. It includes interactive exhibitions, hands-on stations, live laboratories and real experiments.
One of the highlight experiments is ELISA. The mini particle accelerator shows how proton beams can be used to analyse the chemical composition of objects. Visitors can see with their own eyes how a beam penetrates matter and generates X-ray signals that provide information about its origin. This method is used, for example, to examine ancient artefacts or old paintings.
The Science Gateway is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 am to 5 pm and admission is free of charge. Registration on site is required for guided tours or workshops in English or French. If you want to know what we are really made of, you will find the answers close enough to touch.
Photo: CERN Science Gateway; Credits: CERN Science Gateway media kit
