Large Hadron Collider delayed again by vacuum leaks
Summary
The restart of the Large Hadron Collider has been pushed back further, following the discovery of vacuum leaks in two sectors of the experiment.
Topics
An engineer works on closing up LHC sectors
The restart of the Large Hadron Collider has been pushed back further, following the discovery of vacuum leaks in two sectors of the experiment.
The world's largest particle collider is now unlikely to restart before mid-November, according to a Cern press statement. The project had been expected to start again in October.To repair the leaks, which are from the helium circuit into the insulating vacuum, sectors 8-1 and 2-3 will have to be warmed from 80K to room temperature. Adjacent sub-sectors will act as 'floats', while the remainder of the surrounding sectors will be kept at 80K, Cern said in the statement. The repair work will not have an impact on the vacuum in the beam pipe.The LHC experiment, which is designed to answer fundamental questions about the nature of matter, had to be halted nine days after it became fully operational last September, due to a leak of liquid helium. To be super-conductive, the experiment is cooled using liquid helium.Cern has pushed back the restart a number of times, as repair work has continued. To begin with, scientists said the LHC experiment would restart in April 2009.In May, Cern told ZDNet UK that the restarted experiment could run through the winter to make up some of the lost time. Normally, running the experiments through the alpine winter is prohibitively expensive, due to high electricity costs. However, as the experiment has not been running since last September, Cern would have the budget to cover energy costs over the winter. This article was originally posted on ZDNet UK.Talkback Most Recent of 12 Talkback(s)
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No_Ax_to_Grind21st Jul 2009 -
I love those arguments
I need to find the link again, but someone did the calculations, "what if a black hole was created and ended up in the middle of the earth?"
It took several billion years before it became dangerous. IIRC, the time for the earth's destruction was longer than it would take for the sun to become a red giant, engulfing earth.
rpmyers121st Jul 2009 -
Been_Done_Before21st Jul 2009 -
I know
Hence the "I love these arguments" rather than "you're an idiot"
rpmyers121st Jul 2009 -
Well, thats one concept, there are others.
Like, once the black hole begins to gain mass its all over.
Naw, just pulling your leg. I am beginning to think they will never get it fully operational.No_Ax_to_Grind21st Jul 2009 -
I guess the 2012 end date for the earth will be when this thing starts..
working. LOL
I plan to keep maxing out my credit cards and living the high life. I think i can stretch it for another 2 years.
LOLBeen_Done_Before21st Jul 2009 -
beat me to it
I thought the same thing when I read it. They won't get it started till then and then boom.
Nah really though, this isn't the way we are going to go, people. My money is on the West US Supervolcano blotting out the sun for 2 years and killing most plant life on the planet.
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
gnesterenko21st Jul 2009 -
It's weird how the dates are coming together.
Not that I put much stock in it but...No_Ax_to_Grind21st Jul 2009 -
I bet this thing was built by the lowest bidder...
The idea of the experiment is interesting, but if it keeps breaking, they will have paid for two of them before it is working right.
xXSpeedzXx21st Jul 2009 -
Talked with gawd and he said...
It's none of your danged businees how I created matter. Keep mucking about and, 2012 is right around the corner...No_Ax_to_Grind21st Jul 2009 -
RE: Large Hadron Collider delayed again by vacuum leaks
Reminds me of armageddon... "We are sitting on a rocket with 1 million moving parts....built by the lowest bidder..."
My guess is it will never work..... by the time they get the other parts working... other sections will have falling apart for not being used ... and the cycle will repeat
dave@...21st Jul 2009 -
Good thing the Europions paid for it
Our own supercollider is now home to mushroom farmers . . .
Roger Ramjet22nd Jul 2009
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