Anyone got 50p?

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Blasphemous

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GENEVA (AFP) - The world's largest particle collider was stopped on Wednesday, a week after its startup, as a result of an electrical fault, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Thursday.

The problem affected a cooling system for high-powered magnets designed to steer beams of particles around the Large Hadron Collider's 27-kilometre (16.9-mile) circular tunnel, CERN said.

The LHC "is still in commissioning phase, it's a very complex tool and it's normal for there to be stoppages," a CERN spokeswoman told AFP.

Commissioning work stopped on Wednesday, but was likely to resume later Thursday, she said.

The LHC took nearly 20 years to complete and at six billion Swiss francs (3.76 billion euros, 5.46 billion dollars) is one of the costliest and most complex scientific experiments ever attempted.

It aims to resolve some of the greatest questions surrounding fundamental matter, such as how particles acquire mass and how they were forged in the "Big Bang" that created the Universe some 13.7 billion years ago.

Counter-rotating beams, comprising strings of protons, are whizzed around the tunnel and then are smashed together in four huge laboratories.

Arrays of detectors swathing the walls of these chambers will trace the sub-atomic rubble spewed out from the collision, looking for signatures of novel particles.

The September 10 switch-on saw the testing of a clockwise beam, and then an anticlockwise beam. The first collisions are not expected for a number of weeks, given the long process of testing the LHC's equipment.

The steering magnets in the LHC tunnel are chilled to as low as -271 degrees Celsius (-456.25 degrees Fahrenheit), which is close to absolute zero and colder than deep outer space.

At this extreme temperature, electrical currents overcome resistance, thus making it easier and cheaper to power electro-magnets.
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:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
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You wouldn't use a car or TV that was 20 years old. I bet it runs on Windows 3.1. Even windows 95 wasn't around when they started building this thing. Mind you when they want the particles to collide I'd recommend Windows 95. Boy could that proggie crash.
 
Have they posted for advice from the Diynot Electrics forum?
 
Don't recall reading that God had these problems when he created the heaven and earth.
 
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tim west said:
r.bartlett said:
tim west said:
Have they posted for advice from the Diynot Electrics forum?
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It's a fridge problem -sparks know F all about fridges apart from how to wire the plug

Cheers

Richard
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Sounds more like a freezer problem but what do we sparks know eh? ;)
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Another glorious chance to educate :LOL:

"A fridge problem" is a general term within our industry. It's short for refrigeration not as you assumed refrigerator.

Of course those deemed worthy of entry into our industry are so highly developed ( member of Mensa is an absolute minimum ) that we too will often say "Is it a fridge or a freezer?" but as all are blessed with an almost spooky telepathic superpower we can quickly differentiate this subtle nuance

Therefore this particular quip "It's a fridge problem" should be interpreted as "It's a refrigeration problem"This has been a salutary lesson that I humbly learn when conversing with the great unwashed

That said, my comment stands (esp the bit about electricians -although I could have added "who need the cables colour coded so they don't get it wrong" but that -I felt- was 'A' too cheeky and 'B' far too presumptive ;) )

Cheers

Richard
 
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