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Proton Beams Sent Around the LHC

Posted by kdawson on from the going-in-circles dept.

feldhaus writes "The BBC reports that the first beams for over one year have been successfully sent around the complete circumference of the Large Hadron Collider. Engineers do not yet have a stable circulating beam but they hope to by 0600 GMT on Saturday."

3 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Remember, this is only ONE hurdle to clear... by jonbryce · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I prefer the hypothesis that some greater being is actively trying to sabotage the collider for our own protection. I know it is completely unscientific, and probably complete rubbish.

  2. Hopefully they're more careful by Nautical+Insanity · · Score: 4, Interesting

    this time around. I have a physics prof who's part of the project. Part of our lecture on superconductivity was dedicated to the catastrophic malfunction. There's nothing that conveys the epic nature of the failure like technical language.

    According to my professor, they were in too much of a rush to get the thing started they didn't fully test the whole thing. One of the superconducting junctions quenched (transitioned from superconductive to non-superconductive states due to the 7-8 Tesla magnetic field), necessitating the dispersal of IIRC 1500 A of current. This turned insulating copper into plasma which breached the chamber wall and caused the explosive vaporization of 2 tons of liquid helium into the accelerating chamber.

    Long story short, it's a very large, complicated, and expensive machine. They'd better sure everything works this time.

  3. Re:Remember, this is only ONE hurdle to clear... by zygotic+mitosis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong." - Albert Einstein