The science project that some feared might end the world has encountered some problems.
This Is Really Huge
Of course, problems were to be expected. But this will only fuel the fire for those who continue to worry about the approach of an impending doomsday.
The Hadron Collider will be shut down for two months after just opening .
The giant Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most expensive scientific experiment, will be shut down for at least two months, scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva said today.
The shutdown casts into doubt the hopes of CERN physicists to achieve high-energy collisions of protons in the machine before the end of the year.
“It’s too early to say whether we’ll still be having collisions this year,” James Gillies, head of communications for CERN, said in an e-mail message. The laboratory shuts down to save money on electricity during the winter.
A gala inauguration party scheduled for Oct. 21 will still take place, Dr. Gillies said.
A series of mishaps, including the failure of a 30-ton electrical transformer, have slowed progress since then. In the worst incident yet, on Friday, one of the giant superconducting magnets that guide the protons failed during a test. A large amount of helium, which is used to cool the magnets to within 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit of absolute zero, leaked into the collider tunnel.
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