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10th September 2008


When Skies Are Grey

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Quote from ITPRO News:

 

 

By Janae Olinger, 22 Sep 2008

 

'A helium leak inside the 17 mile long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has caused the machine to be shut down.

 

A faulty electrical connection between two of the machine’s 30-ton super-conducting magnets was the cause of the problem, according to CERN. The two magnets are believed to have melted, which led to the mechanical failure.

 

"Because the LHC is a superconducting machine that works at very low temperatures, in order to get in and fix it we've got to warm it up, then we go and fix it, and then we cool it down again, and that's a process that's likely to take two months," CERN spokesman James Gillies said.

 

The machine operates at a temperature of minus 271.3 degrees Celsius (minus 456.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

 

If the problem is not fixed by the winter, there may not be any collision of particles until 2009 as the LHC facility shuts down during the winter to save on energy costs.

 

The LHC had a successful start earlier this month after almost two decades of construction under the French-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. CERN officials said that minor glitches were to be expected in the start-up phase of the machine.

 

"It's a very complicated machine, we've always known that there's the possibility of this sort of incident in the start-up phase and if it happens, then it's a two-month off time," said Gillies'. End quote.

 

Is it not these 'magnets' which allow for controlled collisions. What happens if this failure occurs again once the collisions have begun in ernest?

 

So many unknowns. Is this pursuit of knowledge worth a possible global risk?

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So many unknowns. Is this pursuit of knowledge worth a possible global risk?

 

What unknowns? Unknown to you? Are you a particle physicist?

 

"Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat."

.

 

What a contribution to an open question - keep taking the pills.

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It seems there might really be casualties if it fires up, albeit for less scientific reasons

 

Scientists get death threats from idiots over possible apocalypse

 

"Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat."

 

That's got to be the scientific quote of the year!

 

Perhaps, if you'd read the entire thread before replying, you might have spotted this earlier post and the linked article it quotes.

 

Then again, perhaps if you'd have spotted the thread first (or bothered to do a quick search) your thread wouldn't have had to be merged into this one...

 

:)

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Is it not these 'magnets' which allow for controlled collisions. What happens if this failure occurs again once the collisions have begun in ernest?

 

Then the collisions won't happen - the magnets focus and aim the beams. If the magnets don't work the beams will not be aligned correctly and will be absorbed by the Beam Dump.

 

People who know a lot more about physics than you or I created the LHC - do you honestly think that they don't consider things like this when drawing up the design?

 

Wikipedia - Safety of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

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  • 1 year later...

The world ends tomorrow, 7:45am:

 

The wait is over. Eighteen months after Cern's £6bn collider exploded, the machine is ready for action again. Starting tomorrow morning, the hunt is on for new particles, forces and dimensions.

 

The Large Hadron Collider will attempt its first high energy collisions at Cern tomorrow morning. We are expecting things to move at a pace from 7.45am BST.

 

Experience the end of the world live

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