Physics enthusiasts will now have the chance to take a look at data from the Large Hadron Collider.

Cern has released 300TB of data from the collider for free, with around half of the data originating from tests conducted in 2011.


The data has been split into two categories – primary datasets used by the scientists working at the collider, and "derived datasets", which provide a more accessible and easy to understand look at the data for those without the same level of knowledge. These, Cern says, could be "readily analysed by university of high school students" who want to play with the data.

The data will also provide users with simulations, which it says play "a crucial role in particle physics research".

Cern say the release of the information is "in accordance" with its "commitment to long-term data preservation".

"Members of the CMS Collaboration put in lots of effort and thousands of person hours each of service work in order to collect these research data for the analysis," said Kati Lassila-Perini, who works on the data-preservation project. "However, once we've exhausted our exploration of the data, we see no reason not to make them available publicly." "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 from the project has already been used by universities across the world, including MIT. "We are very pleased that we can make all these data publicly available," said Lassila-Perini. "We look forward to how they are utilised outside our collaboration, for research as well as for building educational tools."