Scientists say they have smashed together proton beams for the first time in a bid to gather information on the origins of the universe.

Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located underground near the French-Swiss border say they are delighted with the quick progress since the world's biggest atom smasher restarted on Friday.

Proton beams started traveling at opposite directions around the 27-kilometer tunnel that is located 100 meters beneath the ground in Switzerland at the speed of light on Monday.

"It's a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time," said Rolf Heuer, director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research. "But we need to keep a sense of perspective, there's still much to do before we can start the LHC physics program."

Scientists hope the collider can create conditions that followed the "Big Bang" and help explain the origins of the universe.

The experiment can also open windows into new physics in order to shed light on what conditions existed in the universe less than a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.

NAT/MMA