The world's biggest atom-smasher has set a world record by accelerating to energy levels that had never been previously reached, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said Monday.

"CERN’s Large Hadron Collider has today become the world’s highest energy particle accelerator, having accelerated its twin beams of protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV in the early hours of the morning," said the organisation.