Photos: The super-brain behind the particle smasher

The LHC's grid network will use dedicated 10Gbps optical fibre links to connect 100,000 PCs around the globe - these computers are used to analyse the experimental data and compare it to theoretical simulations.

LHC's super-grid will use and support national and regional grid networks around the world - such as the GridPP project in the UK and a European project called Enabling Grids for E-Science in Europe (Egee).

Grey said: "It's not like the LCG [LHC Computing Project] has gone around digging holes and putting in cables but has piggy-backed on the huge advance in networking which makes it really possible to run a grid like this now."

Grey added the LCG has already started looking into using 40Gbps fibres but this will take a while to evolve.

Pictured is part of the third detector - called the Beauty experiment - which will search for particles that could explain why today's universe is mainly made up of matter and not anti-matter.

Photo credit: Cern