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To further the advancement of fusion energy, national security, and a leadership in basic science and technology, the National Ignition Facility is attempting to create thermonuclear reactions by producing their own man-made star.
CERN's photos of the LHC's multi-million-dollar ouchies aren't as dramatic as the Earth being swallowed by the Singularity, but they show the results of a single solder joint's failure on the world's most complex machine.
When the LHC first went down, it was believed that repairs could get the system up and running by April 2009. Then we saw repairs pushing the timeline back to summer 2009. But now, CERN has arrived at a fork in the road regarding LHC repairs.
Do you remember that photo of the Large Hadron Collider that showed an employee looking suspiciously like Half Life's Gordon Freeman? The clowns over at Reddit sent him a crowbar, a headcrab and a book, allowing him to go to town on the alien infestation. The very happy alien infestation, by the looks of that photo. See him in action after the jump. [Reddit via Kotaku]
The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most complicated machine that was felled by a single faulty solder joint last month, won't be back until summer 2009 now, at the earliest--a few months later than CERN last speculated. And at what cost? $US21 million in repairs. A drop in the bucket when the full $US10 billion budget is considered, yes, but let's hope some of this dough is spent on a bit more magnet-meltdown-preventing solder redundancy. [AP]
I don't watch The Hills, but that doesn't mean I'm not entertained when I see Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt prancing around and pretending they aren't posing for the cameras: in this clip, Audrina attempts to get scientific with the Big Bang theory and the Large Hadron Collider. Her friend explains that the Large Hadron Collider is used for colliding subatomic particles together—but maybe it can be used to see if there are any particles in that organ that lies between Audrina's ears. [GeekSugar]
Well, the LHC may be out of commission until April, but the LHC Computing Grid, otherwise known as the world's largest computing grid, was just switched on. The system is comprised of combined computing power from 33 countries. That's 140 computer centres crunching 15 million gigabytes of LHC data per year (or roughly six CDs/second at its peak).
The Large Hadron Collider, which has been delayed due to some problems with a helium link, now has a date for when it'll go back online: early April. It's going to be so long not just because of the problem, but because there was already a scheduled maintenance from November 15th through April anyways, as there will be every year. This reduces the strain on the French power grid during the winter months and gives them a chance to make sure the collider is always running in top shape. [CNET]
If the fantastic Large Hadron Collider rap was too esoteric for your tastes, Oort Kuiper's Astrobiology rap, commissioned by a European astronomy magazine, probably won't find its way onto your prestigious and exclusive "muzic 4 drivin' 'n' shit" playlist. But, in the spirit of science, consider the facts:
It looks as thought the magnet situation that shut down the LHC last week is going to take even more time to correct than previously feared. In order to fully investigate the problem, researchers have decided to hold off a restart until sometime in the spring of 2009. Robert Aymar, director-general of CERN called the situation "a psychological blow," but getting this beast is in good working order must be the top priority. Apparently, the fire department rushed to the scene after a little over a ton of liquid helium leaked into LHCs super-long tunnel, causing around 100 of the magnets to overheat. Take your time guys—we don't need any more drama with a device that could bring down the world. [BBC]
