What’s the over/under on how long the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) stays running? We don’t know the answer, but we’d be inclined to take the ‘under’ bet every time. In the latest bit of bad news, the atom smashing machine will have to be shut down at the end of 2011 for up to year in order to address design issues.
“It’s something that, with a lot more resources and with a lot more manpower and quality control, possibly could have been avoided but I have difficulty in thinking that this is something that was a design error,” said Dr. Steve Myers, a director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
“The standard phrase is that the LHC is its own prototype. We are pushing technologies towards their limits.
“You don’t hear about the thousands or hundreds of thousands of other areas that have gone incredibly well. With a machine like LHC, you only build one and you only build it once.”
Point well taken, but no less disappointing. Following 14-months of inaction, the machine was only recently restarted, but issues remain. Joints between the machine’s magnets need to be strengthened before higher-energy collisions can take place. In the meantime, the decision has been made to run the LHC for 18 to 24 months at half power before pulling the plug for a year to make the necessary improvements. Bummer.
via:
More Problems Plague Large Hadron Collider, Will Shut Down for a Year
Related posts:
