Particle Beams

Physicists at the Brookhaven National [Laboratory:science] have been able to send information ahead of particle beams racing at nearly the speed of light. And the message to the beams is: Get in line. This technique has been developed at other labs but never used before with particle beams traveling in discrete bunches. These bunches are important in recreating that [singular:special] moment, the Big Bang.In these experiments, there are two different sets of ions, electrically charged particles, zooming towards each other around a 2.4 mile track. They collide into one another to [recreate:monitor] conditions that provide info about the Big Bang. But the ions spread out as they move. And this means that there are fewer collisions.In a technique called stochastic cooling, scientists first measure fluctuations in the beams of ions. Then they send signals even faster than these [particles:atoms] to devices up ahead that can kick those particles back into shape. Researchers say this technique allows them to create these collisions much more [frequently:usually] and cheaply than other methods. And so they can get more and better data about what our universe might have been like just after it came into existence.