Hobbled LHC shuttered for repairs; 'No big deal' say scientists

It's times like this that I'm really glad they opted for the warranty and replacement plan.

It's no big deal
It's no big deal
1 comment

clipped from www.sciam.com
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) says that it will take at least two months to fix a "large helium leak" into the Large Hadron Collider's 17-mile tunnel. The likely cause of the drip: a faulty electrical connection between two magnets that are supposed to guide the protons in planned particle-collision experiments.
The mishap occurred Friday, a day after CERN admitted that a transformer had broken just hours after the LHC's Sept. 10 launch. The transformer malfunction caused the tunnel to heat up from minus 455.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees on the Kelvin scale) to minus 451.57 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Kelvin). Once scientists replaced the transformer, the cryogenic fluids that keep the tunnel cold brought temperatures down to around minus 459.4 degrees Fahrenheit (zero degrees Kelvin), the optimal temperature for particle collisions, within a week. 
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mad-tante
Damn. This means I have to keep plodding along for 2 more months before it's all over? Shhht.
java janie
Ok, am I the only one that is imagining that they discovered the "large helium leak" when everyone started talking in funny little voices? Yeah, I probably am.
dewitte
It was either that or when the whole device floated up to about 200'...
Steve Betz
Physicists..... pfffft.

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dewitte

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dewitte
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Everyday is a great day. If you don't think so, just try missing one.

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