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Bad Math Causes Explosion at CERN Collider

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the allright-which-of-you-got-the-A dept.

javipas writes "The Large Hadron Collider at the CERN has suffered a big explosion deep inside that has caused a leak of hellium gas and the quick evacuation of everyone working there. The reason: a mathematical mistake that affected the design of the giant superconductive magnets made by Fermilab. Now the company will have to repair and upgrade the 24 magnets that are installed on the 27 km. circunference of one of the most important research centers on Earth." This story might seem strangely familiar to you.

38 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Forgetting... by mulvane · · Score: 5, Funny

    To carry the 1 can cost lives! I never believed it in elementary school when my teacher that math could affect my life, but damn, the stuff can kill you!!!! Treat math with respect!

    1. Re:Forgetting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      So THAT'S what happens when you divide by zero!

    2. Re:Forgetting... by tuba_ranger · · Score: 5, Funny

      Isn't this the plot behind Half-Life?

    3. Re:Forgetting... by AndersOSU · · Score: 1, Funny

      Ooh, so thats when you use lim(x->0).

    4. Re:Forgetting... by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, those guys need to be sure to have a crowbar handy at all times when working on the system. Those damn headcrabs can get the tiniest spaces...

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    5. Re:Forgetting... by rubberbandball · · Score: 3, Funny

      im in ur supercollider, making ur gas leak!

      --
      oh marmalade.
  2. Re:Obligatory... by Eudial · · Score: 4, Funny

    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...


    Don't you mean

    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    I for one, welcome our new accidental parallel universe overlords...
    --
    GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
  3. Almost success! by AaxelB · · Score: 5, Funny

    The machine, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), aims to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang, when the universe is thought to have exploded into existence about 14 billion years ago.

    "There was a hell of a bang, the tunnel housing the machine filled with helium and dust and we had to call in the fire brigade to evacuate the place"

    Eh, sounds partially successful.
    1. Re:Almost success! by cyphercell · · Score: 4, Funny

      hello operator?
      click!
      Operator, this is not a ...
      click!
      bob - Bill have you called the police?
      bill - Of course bob, they hanging up.
      bob - What? Call again.
      bill - Damnit bob I sound like a chipmunk, you call this time.

      --
      Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
  4. The real reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fermilab outsourced magnet design to Sony

  5. The Great Mistake of '08 was no accident by TheHornedOne · · Score: 4, Funny

    Haven't these guys read their Dan Simmons?

    1. Re:The Great Mistake of '08 was no accident by iggymanz · · Score: 3, Funny

      some of them did, but then the Shrike grabbed and impaled them.

  6. Well, there's your problem! by Mike+Hicks · · Score: 3, Funny

    What do you expect when using hellium?

  7. Helium leak? by PFI_Optix · · Score: 3, Funny

    What's so bad about that? Are they just afraid no one will take them seriously if they sound like the chipmunks when they report their findings? I mean, it's not like it's spraying O2 in the direction of the pilot light of their oven.

    --
    120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
  8. OOPS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    This story has been brought to you by erasers. Don't make a mistake without one.

  9. Re:Proton? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny
    Gaw-damn, what are we doin' paying those hare-brained scientists to look at pro-tons for?


    Just think how much money they'd be saving if they were looking at amateur-tons.

    (With my apologies to Piers Anthony)

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  10. Units? by Tx · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fermilab - USA. CERN - Europe. You guys did use metric units this time, right? ;)

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
  11. They should have listened by aalu.paneer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bush Finds Error In Fermilab Calculations

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    where did my sig go? where's my sig at?
    1. Re:They should have listened by captaincucumber · · Score: 3, Funny

      I hope Fermilab doesn't lose it's funding like the super monkey collider did: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30420

  12. Old story. Duplicate. Or was there a time slip? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1, Funny
    It is a duplicate, a week old accident/failure whatever. See slashdot story of last week and new scientist story last week

    Or it could be that the news that it failed on April 07 was sent back in time and appeared on April 02. They should not be messing with fundamental physics like this.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  13. Ah, it's All about the Higgs Boson by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 2, Funny

    So the Higgs Boson is a theoretical particle which both the LHC and the Tevatron are trying to prove the existance of and determine its mass. It is important because it could be an elementary particle that could explain the origin of mass of other elementary particles and differentiate between the massless proton and the heavy W and Z Bosons, indicating where the differentiation between electromagnetism and weak force arises. Better understanding these fundamental forces could affect better understanding aspects of microstructures and the univ... Ah hell, I have no idea what this is all about! This one's over my head, I think I'll go back to Soviet Russia jokes now.

    --
    Demented But Determined.
    1. Re:Ah, it's All about the Higgs Boson by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 3, Funny

      The universe, being rather on the largish-side, probably already contains at least two of everything possible within it, formed naturally through one way or another (such as the evolution of a species which is obsessed with lunch, and so designs and constructs the Free Sandwich button).

      However, of the many infinite realities which do not exist, those in which Free Sandwich buttons were possible became filled with sandwiches soon after their initial springing-forth, nilling the potential for all other life, and so clearly the Anthropic principle takes over.

      Of course, this is a flawed argument anyway, since as far as we know, and free sandwich button could probably not produce sandwiches at a rate which would cause a sandwich queue to expand at faster than the speed of light, and would probably collapse into a delicious but deadly black hole before expanding to reality-threatening magnitudes. I think the argument's concept is clear and reasonable, however.

      --
      -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
    2. Re:Ah, it's All about the Higgs Boson by hey! · · Score: 2, Funny

      What if we allow for the existence of imaginary sandwiches? Or at least sandwiches of imaginary mass?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  14. summary: this story is a dupe by yoyoq · · Score: 1, Funny

    why is it still posted if the summary itself acknoledges this story is a dupe?

  15. Gadzooks! by Control+Group · · Score: 3, Funny

    We've lost containment of the hellium! Quick, we need a goateed doctor and a musclebound space marine from Phobos!

    --

    Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
  16. measure twice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...supercollide once.

  17. Re:Not a Dupe by fontkick · · Score: 2, Funny

    It wasn't that we didn't understand some physics, it wasn't the gods being mad, it was just plan old avoidable bad math.

    In theory, all mistakes are avoidable. The problem is avoiding them.,

  18. Hellium? No wonder there was an explosion! by dummkopf · · Score: 1, Funny

    If it were Helium, then, since Helium is an inert gas, things would have been less dangerous. But Hellium, let me tell you, that is another baby. It's the gas straight from Hell, you know? Basically a satanic fart. Oh wait, I guess that could be a typo. Anyhow. I hope things get better at CERN...

  19. Re:John Titor delayed by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

    As a result of the creation of microsingularities, the explosion has been delayed about a week while it time travels...which explains why the original article failed to mention an explosion.

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    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  20. What kind of leak? by ewhenn · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...a leak of hellium gas and....

    Jesus christ! ... oh wait.....

  21. Time to get the eyes checked by jalefkowit · · Score: 4, Funny

    On my first scan of the /. home page this morning, I read this headline as "Bad Meth Causes Explosion at CERN Collider". Needless to say, the actual story turned out to be a lot less interesting than I thought it would be :-D

    --

    Read my blog.

  22. Bad Math Causes Explosion at CERN Collider by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 2, Funny

    A bunch of Mathheads cook up a bad batch in their laboratory and it explodes. I think we've seen this story on the news before.

  23. Re:DUPE by Walt+Dismal · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, a week ago the accident propelled the collider into the future, and that's why it's being reported today. Sheesh, do we have to explain **everything ** to ya?

  24. Obligatory Office Space by Critical+Facilities · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I must've....put a decimal in the wrong place. DAMMIT! I always do that!"

  25. Re:Some real information by photomic · · Score: 3, Funny

    "On Tuesday, March 27, there was a serious failure in a high-pressure test at CERN of a Fermilab-built "inner-triplet" series of three quadrupole magnets in the tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider. The magnets focus the particle beams prior to collision at each of four interaction points around the accelerator. Safety precautions were followed during the test, and no one was injured."


    May I pass along my congratulations for your great interdimensional breakthrough. I am sure, in the miserable annals of the Earth, you will be duly enshrined.
  26. CERN Collider explosion pros and cons by robson · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pros: Finally get to field-test that cool Tau Cannon.

    Cons: Headcrabs everywhere.

  27. Re:It's Sabotage! by Verte · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is why you never let Physicists do mathematics.

    --
    We at slashdot are scientists, specialists and kernel hackers. Your FUD will be found out.
  28. Re:NPR Story missed this one by SnowZero · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, is the Higgs boson going to become the "OMG LOL" particle? I hope not...