Website makes child's play of LHC science

Cute and cuddly. Not how you'd normally describe the biggest of big physics projects. But I've just spent a happy hour exploring and playing in CERNland, and I'm as smitten as a kitten.

CERNland is a new website aimed at 7 to 12-year-olds that aims to show kids what goes on at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva and teach them some physics at the same time. Think Mario Bros meets the Large Hadron Collider and you can begin to imagine what CERNland is like.

SuperBob (pictured belove), MicroBoy and a host of other characters show you around. Here you can learn about CERN's antimatter factory, what happens in the theory department and how much of the real work gets done in the cafeteria.

There are games that involve dodging monsters and collecting chocolate bars in the LHC tunnel, as you answer questions about accelerating particles. And you can fly through space collecting the electrons, protons and neutrons you need to build atoms.

To complete some of the games and quizzes, you'll need to click through the educational screens. Thankfully these have been developed by educational professionals and kids, rather than physicists. So it makes for a fun experience.

You can also watch videos of CERN, download wallpaper and even songs by CERN's houseband Les Horribles Cernettes.

I've often cringed at some of the well-meaning, yet misguided attempts to teach kids about particle physics. But CERNland has got it spot on.