LHC Offline Until 2009
The loved and hated Large Hadron Collider is going offline until next year. After a series of setbacks that has plagued the particle accelerator, CERN has announced that it will be keeping it idle to make room for repairs, among other things.
The LHC went offline due to a suspected failure in a superconducting connection, which overheated and caused around 100 of the LHC’s super-cooled magnets to heat up by as much as 100 degrees. This resulted in the accidental release of a ton of liquid helium. The process required to repair the failed superconducting connection involves weeks of warming up the affected area from -456 degrees Fahrenheit to room temperature, and then several more weeks to cool it back down after the repair is made.
The LHC is loved because it is expected to answer a lot of physics-related questions, ones that are as old as the universe itself. It is hated because it is seen as a doomsday device, one that can trigger the end of the world should it suffer a catastrophic failure. I’ll leave it up to you to find out if that’s even possible, but that’s what the ever-reliable grapevine is saying. Regardless, we won’t be answering any age-old questions or ending the world until next year. Till then, sleep well.
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