Capital Berg

Keeps People Up-To-Date

Sunday, January 24, 2021
Log in
  • United States
  • Business
  • Health
  • Science
  • Technology
  • About CapitalBerg
    • Analysts & Contributors
    • Advertising
    • Contact US
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
    • Terms of Use

Pages

  • About CapitalBerg
  • Advertising
  • Analysts & Contributors
  • Contact US
  • Investor Relations
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • SEC Disclosure
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Tennessee Rapist Breaks into Woman’s House Three Times the Same Night to Assault Her June 29, 2018
  • Mentally Ill Man Arrested After Breaking into Retirement Home to Grope a Woman’s Chest June 28, 2018
  • “Syndrome” Author Blake Leibel Sentenced to Life in Prison for the Murder and Torture of Girlfriend June 27, 2018
  • Michigan Dad to Be Sentenced in the Beating Death of 3-Year-Old Infant June 26, 2018
  • Ohio Patrolman Booted from Police After Pulling Over His Daughter and Boyfriend June 26, 2018
  • Utah Mayor Shares Heartwarming Letter of Man Apologizing for Stealing a Stop Sign 75 Years Ago June 25, 2018
  • Mississippi Man Beheaded Mother After A Spat over Credit Cards June 25, 2018

A Weasel Shut Down the Large Hadron Collider

April 30, 2016 By Carol Harper

"weasel"

Goodnight, sweet prince!

Way back in 2008, CERN got their Large Hadron Collider online, sparking fears of black holes and the end of the world in a large percentage of the population. The particle accelerator has been working fine ever since, and there’s no evidence of any black holes or even of people in the vicinity getting superpowers… but maybe that’s just because it never exploded.

Still, the CERN atom smasher has been in mostly a perfectly functional condition, with the exception of a few instances. The most recent of these instances involves a stray animal, as a weasel shut down the Large Hadron Collider on Thursday night by weaseling its way into it.

Weasels in atom smashers

The Large Hadron Collider shut down unexpectedly on Thursday night, to the confusion of the scientists and engineers working on it. While they had no reason to suspect foul play, they went out to investigate, expecting anything. Well, anything other than what they actually found.

As it turns out, a small weasel made its way into the particle accelerator late at night and entered the system’s transformer. This caused an electrical outage in the entire compound, but unfortunately, the little weasel didn’t survive the incident – allegedly. Alternate theories would be that a bolt of lightning struck it at that exact moment, giving birth to the fastest weasel alive.

Critters and baguettes

Strangely, this isn’t anywhere near the first incident of this type suffered by the Large Hadron Collider. Just over the past few days, the accelerator went through an unexpected vacuum leak, some electrical perturbations, and even through a “weird status” with some of the magnets.

Still, nothing tops the November 2009 incident, when an electrical short shut down the collider for a period of time. When they went to investigate, the engineers found a baguette had caused the whole thing. The accepted theory is that a bird accidentally, crossing the France-Switzerland border, dropped its lunch, as this is apparently a recurring situation in the area.

More about the LHC

The $7 billion piece of technology has yielded some very impressive results, including the confirmation of the Higgs boson particle. So it’s not that comforting to hear that this multi-billion dollar machine gets damaged by random animals so often. Although to be fair, it does take some very specific parameters to keep the enormous machine working.

Made up of a seventeen mile ring of superconductive magnets, the collider works by getting particles to travel close to the speed of light and then having them collide. These superconductive electromagnets are built from coils after coils of electric cables, and they must be chilled to a temperature colder than outer space (-456.34 degrees Fahrenheit) to keep them working properly.

Image source: Wikimedia

  • About the Author

About Carol Harper

Carol Harper began her career as a screenwriter before turning to journalism. Before earning her Bachelor of Arts with a major in Creative Writing, Carol travelled across Europe and Asia to find both herself and inspiration. She enjoys covering health & science topics.

Filed Under: Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 44 other subscribers

Recent Articles

sleep

Tennessee Rapist Breaks into Woman’s House Three Times the Same Night to Assault Her

June 29, 2018 By Denise Ehrlich Leave a Comment

police lights

Mentally Ill Man Arrested After Breaking into Retirement Home to Grope a Woman’s Chest

June 28, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

gavel

“Syndrome” Author Blake Leibel Sentenced to Life in Prison for the Murder and Torture of Girlfriend

June 27, 2018 By Andreas Petersen Leave a Comment

Woods

Michigan Dad to Be Sentenced in the Beating Death of 3-Year-Old Infant

June 26, 2018 By Marlene R. Litten Leave a Comment

patrol cruiser

Ohio Patrolman Booted from Police After Pulling Over His Daughter and Boyfriend

June 26, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

stop sign

Utah Mayor Shares Heartwarming Letter of Man Apologizing for Stealing a Stop Sign 75 Years Ago

June 25, 2018 By June Harris Leave a Comment

Butter knives

Mississippi Man Beheaded Mother After A Spat over Credit Cards

June 25, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

XXXTentacion mugshot

Florida Authorities Arrested Suspect in Connection with Shooting of XXXTentacion

June 22, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

sunset over beach

Dallas Mother Accused of Beating Four-Year-Old and Dumping Body Into the Water

June 21, 2018 By Denise Ehrlich Leave a Comment

chicken Alfredo

Ohio Man Sentenced for Trying to Seduce Teenage Boy with Naked Pictures and Chicken Alfredo

June 20, 2018 By Marlene R. Litten Leave a Comment

bedroom

South Carolina Teen and Mates End Up In Slammer for Raping a Teenage Girl

June 19, 2018 By Waleed Javed Leave a Comment

cyberstalkin

California Man Arrested for Stalking Ex-Girlfriend, Hacking Her Online Accounts

June 19, 2018 By June Harris Leave a Comment

hammer

Naked Patient Sneaks out of Emergency Room to Bash Homeowner’s Head with Hammer

June 18, 2018 By Carol Harper Leave a Comment

screwdriver

Middle School Student Attacks Teacher During Class with Screwdriver

June 18, 2018 By Andreas Petersen Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • Stephen Hawking watching a screen while sitting in his chair

    Stephen Hawking’s Family Sends His Final Message to Space

    Jun 15, 2018
  • super earth exoplanet half in shadow

    Is Gravity the Force Keeping Aliens from Visiting Earth? European Scientists Say So (Study)

    May 8, 2018
  • starbust stars and galaxies in the universe

    Thousands of Early Galaxies Revealed by Map of Old Universe (Study)

    Apr 10, 2018
  • statue of a neanderthal half shadowed

    Scientists Found a Possible Explanation for the Neanderthals’ Big Noses (Study)

    Apr 10, 2018
  • the planet venus

    Could the Clouds of Venus Be Holding Forms of Life?

    Apr 5, 2018
  • NASA and Parker Solar Probe Study

    NASA Ready to Send the Parker Solar Probe on its First Mission

    Mar 7, 2018
  • stars and galaxies in the universe

    Scientists Measure the Expansion Rate of the Universe, Challenge Physics?

    Feb 26, 2018
  • sunspots on the sun in close up

    Is the Sun Going to Get Dimmer and Cooler in the Next Decades? (Study)

    Feb 12, 2018
  • Two mummified brothers

    Egyptian Tale of Two Mummified Brothers Takes Unexpected Turn

    Jan 18, 2018
  • Futuristic robot holding its arms spread

    A New Type of Revolutionary Robotic Muscles Is Strong, Flexible, and Cheap (Study)

    Jan 7, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Deals
  • Health
  • Science
  • Technology
  • United States
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalberg.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.