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LHC Repair Update: Temperature Must Be Raised so Repairmen Don't Die
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 6:00 AM on September 21, 2008
In case you were still worried about the LHC bringing on the biblical apocalypse, you can calm down, because it turns out the Collider is going to be out of commission for a lot longer than previously thought. The "electrical transformer" problem wasn't the cause of the shutdown at all, and the real problem means the LHC won't be back up and running for at least two months.
CERN spokesman James Gillies explained, ""It's too early to say precisely what happened, but it seems to be a faulty electrical connection between two magnets that stopped superconducting, melted and led to a mechanical failure and let the helium out." The specific section will have to have its temperature raised significantly above its usual absolute zero so engineers can go in and repair it without dying, which is apparently a very time-consuming process. This kind of failure isn't unusual for particle accelerators, but the LHC's internal temperature makes the whole ordeal much more difficult. Each warm-up or cool-down takes a minimum of several weeks, so the total repair will last more than two months. I suppose we've waited a long time already to unlock the secrets of the universe, so a couple more months can't hurt, right? [CNN]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Pyta
Posted September 22, 2008 9:38 AM
The temperature inside the LHC can't be absolute zero as no one has been able to achieve such a low temperature. They have managed to get it to just above, something like 1 millionth of a degree above 0 Kelvin but not all the way there.
cardboredbox
Posted 6:59 AM 21/9/08
I was so looking forward to this. All the hype and build up and then this! Nothing! Hum bug!
cardboredbox
RainyDayInterns
Posted 6:58 AM 21/9/08
@jayV702
...a sign from whom? The cosmic chicken-sh*t?
RainyDayInterns
DustyButt
Posted 6:57 AM 21/9/08
@DeadWriter: [www.hulu.com]
DustyButt
JayV702
Posted 6:51 AM 21/9/08
Maybe its a sign that they shouldnt do it.
JayV702
koolatron
Posted 6:45 AM 21/9/08
It's impossible to reach absolute zero, the temperature at which all molecular motion stops. The LHC's superconducting electromagnets operate close - cooled by liquid helium, they reach 1.9K, or -271.1C. Make no mistake, it's cold.
I love you, Giz, but this info is easy wikipedia junk.
koolatron
Notch Johnson
Posted 6:28 AM 21/9/08
Just the schwarts.
Notch Johnson
DeadWriter
Posted 6:14 AM 21/9/08
A watchdog group had a debriefing about the problem the other day, ..."It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system."....
DeadWriter
Pwnage
Posted 6:08 AM 21/9/08
Two more months to live!!!!!!
Pwnage
BiZarRroBALlmeR
Posted 6:08 AM 21/9/08
So what if it's 2 degrees above absolute 0 Kelvin, just layer your clothing.
BiZarRroBALlmeR
SgtToastie
Posted 6:07 AM 21/9/08
*I have*
SgtToastie
mruler360
Posted 6:07 AM 21/9/08
Thanks faulty cooling! You just gave humanity an extra few months of existence.
mruler360
Xenocide
Posted 6:07 AM 21/9/08
They most likely mean near absolute zero since true absolute zero has not yet been reached. Even the failures with the LHC sound awesome though.
Xenocide
SgtToastie
Posted 6:06 AM 21/9/08
This is one of the coolest repair jobs I ever heard of. I mean, besides fixing the Death Star.
SgtToastie
Overheal
Posted 6:05 AM 21/9/08
So by the time they actually run the head-on collision experiment it will be 2012.... Damn Mayan Calendar.
Overheal
JuiceDaddy
Posted 6:03 AM 21/9/08
aww... :'(
JuiceDaddy
frigg
Posted 7:34 AM 21/9/08
Whatev, I just wanna say that the job the conductors have been doing has been super! Those conductors have just been... super, thanks for asking!
frigg
duckballs
Posted 7:25 AM 21/9/08
Dammit. Now I'm gonna have to write my mid-terms.
duckballs
hindsight2020
Posted 7:21 AM 21/9/08
good thing no one was around all of that helium when it was let out. they would have had a "Joker" face for sure!
hindsight2020
20GB
Posted 7:01 AM 21/9/08
Aww. I was looking forward to some real particle-on-particle mayhem this month.
20GB
Rodime
Posted 8:31 AM 21/9/08
@SgtToastie: eh, not sure I'd classify that as cool. It gets blow up, several times if I remember correctly.
Rodime
PocketLint
Posted 8:16 AM 21/9/08
I'll donate my old CPU fan if that helps any. That sucker kept my cpu near absolute zero, well around 50 degrees above that but still closer than the surface of the sun or the AMD cpu chip.
PocketLint
Kakkoister
Posted 8:12 AM 21/9/08
Awww... I really had my hopes up for the world ending in October....
Oh well :(
Kakkoister
ab3
Posted 8:57 AM 21/9/08
@PocketLint: ehhh um either you are unaware of what absolute zero is or you have one hell of a cpu cooling fan. Absolute zero is -273 degrees C and I doubt your cpu cooling fan gets ur processor to -223 degrees C.
ab3
donjumpsuit
Posted 8:51 AM 21/9/08
so when can i expect my headaches to return?
donjumpsuit
godwhacker
Posted 8:46 AM 21/9/08
i was kinda hoping that yet another disappointing vikings season would be sucked into the oncoming black hole. dammit!!!!
godwhacker
WilCon
Posted 9:27 AM 21/9/08
So umm yeah there's nothing to see here, that part that dropped into the black hole ....errr yeah it's a cooling issue.
WilCon
mkant
Posted 10:17 AM 21/9/08
Why no robots to do the repairs? Materials may have different properties near absolute zero, but surely there are alternatives that would work just as well.
mkant
logikgr
Posted 10:04 AM 21/9/08
Oh my! All of those people who committed suicide on the day the LHC was fired up, must be rolling in their graves.
logikgr
Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->
Posted 10:32 AM 21/9/08
@Xenocide: According to the Science show MST3K, if you hit absolute zero, all molecular motion ceases and causes a chain reaction which will destroy the world. Luckily Crow shattered before Tom got him down to Absolute zero.
Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->
zanella
Posted 11:28 AM 21/9/08
So the LHC staff gets to take vacation early this year except for the QA team, who get to donn their arctic suits to check up on the hardware.
{must restrain self rom sending Tahiti photos saying "wish you were here..."}
zanella
mitchhellman
Posted 11:26 AM 21/9/08
They shoulda bought a Maytag.
mitchhellman
PastorDoodah
Posted 12:06 PM 21/9/08
'Use the real, official Hasbro Transformers' I said, but nooooooo, you had to save forty bucks on Chinese knock-offs. I hope you're satisfied.
PastorDoodah
smartboydan hates college
Posted 11:40 AM 21/9/08
Absolute zero would mean that we've moved past liquid helium and on to solid helium. In fact, solid anything whatsoever.
smartboydan hates college
Firesoul1
Posted 12:37 PM 21/9/08
the LHC has emotion!?
Firesoul1
p.fortin
Posted 12:26 PM 21/9/08
@PocketLint: I think he is talking about what they measure CPU temp in, Celsius. Where his CPU idled at 50 C, which is far from ABSOLUTE ZERO. zero celsius is 273.15 kelvin where as zero kelvin or absolute zero is -273.15 degrees Celsius
p.fortin
Blinklink11
Posted 1:30 PM 21/9/08
Light's Hope Chapel. lolz.
Blinklink11
turboke
Posted 3:01 PM 21/9/08
@Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->: The thing is, you can't cool anything to absolute zero, since you need something even colder to remove the heat from the thing you wanted to cool.
turboke
Pope John Peeps II
Posted 4:03 PM 21/9/08
dying, which is apparently a very time-consuming process
really? seems to me dying happens quite quickly, actually.
Pope John Peeps II
bandit
Posted 4:16 PM 21/9/08
I'm amazed they can get so close to absolute zero. Imagine how cold that is and what kind of insulation is necessary to stop virtually all heat energy from entering the system.
bandit
kangaroo
Posted 5:23 PM 21/9/08
If the LHC team needs help keeping the temperature low around there, they should use my ex-ex-girlfriend. Her name is K*r*t* F*o*d. She is from Scotland, she is covered in homemade tattoos, and damn she turned out cold.
kangaroo
magiceraserss
Posted 6:11 PM 21/9/08
@ ab3: Dude why be the wet blanket? Pocketlint was just being light hearted, like this entire website is meant to be.
@ p.fortin: ditto.
I for one would not be at all surprised if this thing doesn't get really humming till 2012.....seems like so many important things have already been planned for 2012....damn, hope the Mayans know what they stirred up.
magiceraserss
chamychan
Posted 8:46 PM 21/9/08
i have more faith in the subprime mortgage crisis that it will destroy the world...
we deserve a long painful death, not one that sucks and stretches me without first telling me.
chamychan
bookmark
Posted 11:01 PM 21/9/08
and they said it's safe..
bookmark
smeee
Posted 1:15 AM 22/9/08
I need to get my standard issue crowbar...
smeee
Eminy
Posted 1:34 AM 22/9/08
Do we get to blame this on Bush too?
Eminy
Auld_Lang_Ziety
Posted 2:50 AM 22/9/08
I've actually managed to pinpoint the exact date of the first actual release of the god Particle using an ancient Mayan calculator:
12:12:12 PM on 12/12/12
Auld_Lang_Ziety