Filed under: Computers
Every now and then, something will randomly fall out of the sky into an extremely insular environment, and chaos and confusion will erupt. Those consequences, as Chicken Little will tell you, can be devastating.
Something along those lines recently happened at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) when a bird dropped a baguette on the giant particle accelerator as it was flying overhead, nearly shutting the whole thing down in the process. The Register reports that the LHC, located at CERN laboratories in Switzerland, saw temperatures in parts of its accelerator circuits rise rapidly as a result of this baguette-bombing bird. (We’re gonna go out on a limb and guess it was French.) Luckily, the LHC wasn’t in operation, because if it had been, the incident would’ve likely suspended all further activity. Dr. Mike Lamont, who works in the CERN control center, reassured everyone that the LHC’s safety net would have been strong enough to withstand the attack, especially in light of its significant upgrade in September.
Continue reading Large Hadron Collider Clogged by Bird’s Baguette Bomb
Large Hadron Collider Clogged by Bird’s Baguette Bomb originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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