Protons, antiprotons, electrons, positrons, oxygen and lead ions… the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) has been juggling particles with ease for the past 50 years. By turns an accelerator, a collider and an injector, this versatile machine has seen generations of scientists pass through its doors, supplied dozens of experiments and given rise to groundbreaking technologies such as the touch screen. Its most celebrated success is still without a doubt the discovery of the W and Z bosons in 1983, which earned the scientists behind it the Nobel Prize in Physics the following year.

A new video about the history of CERN’s second-largest accelerator was shown at today’s symposium celebrating its golden jubilee: