Scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, in Switzerland, temporarily halted efforts to restart the problem-plagued Large Hadron Collider last week after they noticed a slight rise in the system’s temperature. The problem was traced to a piece of crusty bread that had paralyzed a power installation for the system’s cooling unit, The Times newspaper, of London, reported. How the bread got into the power installation, which is above ground and protected by high-security fences, is a mystery.
RSS
Follow The Ticker through your favorite RSS reader.
2 Responses to A Chunk of Baguette Is Latest Choke Point for Giant Particle Collider
zagros - November 9, 2009 at 7:05 am
But is it protected from above and was it found in a place where birds could have dropped it and/or where other “critters” could have moved it? It amazes me that we always worry about human intruders but do not realize that animals are resourceful and can always find a way around what we humans do to keep other humans out (even if unintentially)
r_didio - November 9, 2009 at 12:39 pm
This reminds me of a story I read years ago in the bio titled “Lawrence and Oppenheimer” by N.P. Davis. Apparently there was a problem in one of Lawrence’s cyclotrons with achieving a low enough pressure. Extensive searching for leaks turned up nothing, so some disassembly was required. Ultimately a left-over sandwich was discovered in one of the bending magnets where a worker had put it before welding. The leak was virtual, and due to the outgassing rate of bologna.