Oops! Giant Particle Collider Magnet Self-Destructs

[Remus]

Remember the Giant Particle Collider that was under construction near the Swiss/French border nicknamed "the black hole factory"? Well... the end of the world is gonna have to wait...

http://www.livescience.com/technology/070403_cern_prob.html

GENEVA (AP)?A 43-foot-long magnet for the world's largest particle collider broke "with a loud bang and a cloud of dust'' during a high-pressure test, and officials said Tuesday they are working to find a replacement part.

"It's impossible really to say whether that (schedule) can be maintained at this stage,'' said James Gillies, spokesman for the European group, known by the French initials CERN. But, he added, "everything else is going as if we're still heading for the schedule of this year.''

Fermilab said it hoped that the redesign and repair can be completed without delaying the startup of the Large Hadron Collider, which has been under construction for years and is being eagerly awaited by scientists around the world.

"We took a pratfall on the world stage,'' said Pier Oddone, director of the lab, which has its own, smaller collider at Batavia, Ill. "We are dumbfounded that we missed some very simple balance of forces.''

The $1.8 billion collider is replacing a less-powerful model that was removed from the tunnel in 2000.

Despite rumours, Black Hole Factory will not destroy the Earth

 

[Pauly]

Bummer...

 

[CrazyHarij]

great start.

 

[Darkside55]

And this thing is supposed to make black holes? Well, this will certainly end on a positive note.

 

[clarky003]

I think this is great and funny at the same time. The fact that they need to build this hudge expensive thing which breaks first go to verify the existance of certain exotic particles that are strongly suspected to cause things like the casimir effect to take place. The effect is self evident, so they must be there, yet we can't believe it till we actually physically see parts of these particles splattered on a spectrometers detector.

 

[99.vikram]

Just goes to show that Murphy's Law rules all laws.

 

[Murray_H]

The effect is self evident, so they must be there, yet we can't believe it till we actually physically see parts of these particles splattered on a spectrometers detector.

That's a main point of science though...providing evidence to support theories.

Anyway, building massive things is cool.

 

[lePobz]

Well, it beats a resonance cascade.

 

[MiccyNarc]

Good?

 

[Geogaddi]

I would hvae liked to see their faces when the thing blew up.

 

[Muffin Man]

I bet they could build a quirky sitcom around the building of it.

Jim: "Hey, Tom, want to go grab a bite?"

Tom: "In a second. I just have to test this magnet. It's a rather delicate procedure. Wait a second, Jim! Don't lean against that switch!" BOOM!

BOSS: Pokes his head out of office door. "Do I hear my magnets crackin'? Why do I hear my magnets crackin'?!"

*Canned laughs*

Tom: "Oh Jim, when will you ever learn?"

*Canned laughs, and cut to commercial*

 

[Sulkdodds]

[Obligatory Black Mesa incident joke]

I find this fairly amusing. Those kerr-azy scientists.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

[Black Mesa Scientist] Shutting down...It's not shutting down! AH AH ARAGHHH! *BOOM*

 

[MiccyNarc]

This whole project sounds like a very bad idea to me. >.<

 

[NeptuneUK]

I still want to see if they find anything!

I want someone to build a giant gravitationalificationafieratoration machine to prove what gravity is.

 

[TheDan]

That's what this machine is supposed to do - try and discover another boson to find out how particles aquire mass, hence gravity!

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I almost want to think that all this stuff is just for our entertainment.
"For one thing, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking calculated all black holes should emit radiation, and that tiny black holes should lose more mass than they absorb, evaporating within a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, "before they could gobble up any significant amount of matter,"".
hah.

 

[Baal]

So these guys took this list a little too seriously?

 

[Kula Meenur]

haha yup!

 

[Septih]

Well that sucks, I know it pisses me off when it happens to me!

 

[Jintor]

I saw this on Slashdot days ago. The whole thread was just Black Mesa Joke after Black Mesa Joke after Black Mesa Joke...

 

[Sulkdodds]

Which is why I took steps to make such things uncool very early in this thread.

Now nobody can do one without it looking lame and tired.

 

[CyberPitz]

I can't wait to see the final outcome of this all, end of the world or not! Would be great strides in Human Science.

 

[Remus]

Would be great strides in Human Science.

Hahaha Yeah... with real Striders LOL.

But despite the risks it would be so cool if they found a way to open a gateway into another dimension