Faulty connection shuts collider

[Fleet Command CC]

Shame that the particle collider is going to be offline for a few months, all that money and time spent and it's only been running for a few days and its broke modern technology doesn't last today. :(:(

http://news.aol.co.uk/world-news/faulty-connection-shuts-collider/article/2008092007311872297547

[JMS]

Shame that the particle collider is going to be offline for a few months, all that money and time spent and it's only been running for a few days and its broke modern technology doesn't last today. :(:(

http://news.aol.co.uk/world-news/faulty-connection-shuts-collider/article/2008092007311872297547


This was expected, I read an interview the othe day in which one of the scientist involved mentioned they were going to turn it on to see what breaks and fix it. First collisions were going to be next year, but it seems things had gone better than expected.

[Mart]

What I found most amazing, was remembering one of the biggest triumphs of the Collider - apart from the size, measuring systems, imagination, and sheer brilliance of it all, that is.

Seems fixing the fault is the easy part. What takes the weeks and months is slowly getting this huge construction super-cooled again, once the fault has been repaired.

It just reminds me what an incredible feat of engineering this incredible device really is. I'm fully expecting that when they get the first really major collisions, a passing Vulcan space-ship will notice it and see we've progressed enough that they'll land and say hello! :D

Martin

[Ed Rotondaro]

What I found most amazing, was remembering one of the biggest triumphs of the Collider - apart from the size, measuring systems, imagination, and sheer brilliance of it all, that is.

Seems fixing the fault is the easy part. What takes the weeks and months is slowly getting this huge construction super-cooled again, once the fault has been repaired.

It just reminds me what an incredible feat of engineering this incredible device really is. I'm fully expecting that when they get the first really major collisions, a passing Vulcan space-ship will notice it and see we've progressed enough that they'll land and say hello! :D

Martin


Martin:

Better to fix it right than have it break down at a critical point. Amazin piece of technology. Who funded it?

[Mart]

Martin:

Better to fix it right than have it break down at a critical point. Amazin piece of technology. Who funded it?

Hi Ed

Yep. It's an amazing piece of kit. As I understand it, the funding was complex, but had two main phases. Initially, CERN was funded entirely by European governments. Meanwhile, the US had a project running of it's own, building a very similar kind of structure. For some reason, the US project wasn't working out, or progressing as well as the LHC at CERN. At some point, the US decided to scrap their own project, and come in with the European project, both in terms of funding, and staffing. So, I think CERN is basically a European venture, but with a significant North American contribution. As far as I can tell, the scientists consider it to simply be an international project.

The BBC had a LOT of coverage about it on day that the LHC went live and there is some great information which can be found here. It will be a lot more reliable than anything I say

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7543089.stm

and more on the BBC "Big Bang Day" web page

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/

You can still listen to some of the programmes

Hope you find them useful. I found the various features easy to understand.

Cheers

Martin :)

[Ed Rotondaro]

Hi Ed

Yep. It's an amazing piece of kit. As I understand it, the funding was complex, but had two main phases. Initially, CERN was funded entirely by European governments. Meanwhile, the US had a project running of it's own, building a very similar kind of structure. For some reason, the US project wasn't working out, or progressing as well as the LHC at CERN. At some point, the US decided to scrap their own project, and come in with the European project, both in terms of funding, and staffing. So, I think CERN is basically a European venture, but with a significant North American contribution. As far as I can tell, the scientists consider it to simply be an international project.

The BBC had a LOT of coverage about it on day that the LHC went live and there is some great information which can be found here. It will be a lot more reliable than anything I say

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7543089.stm

and more on the BBC "Big Bang Day" web page

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/bigbang/

You can still listen to some of the programmes

Hope you find them useful. I found the various features easy to understand.

Cheers

Martin :)


Martin:

Nice to see the world collaborate on something of use. God knows the US will be dealing with debt for the near future (thanks to the greedy fools that ran Lehman Brothers, etc.)