A mouse-sized robot has been developed, in part by UK scientists, to inspect the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on the Swiss-French border.
The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which is based in Oxfordshire, partnered with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research - known as Cern - to develop the robot.
A first-of-its-kind, the robot - which is 3.7cm (1.5in) wide - travels autonomously through the narrow pipes making up the 27km-long (17 miles) collider.
The invention, which has made it much easier to check areas which can be extremely tight and cold, was recently awarded with a prestigious engineering honour celebrating innovation.
Nick Sykes, director of the UKAEA's robotics centre, said he was "proud to apply" the organisation's expertise to support Cern's "world leading experiments".
