Idiots in science: Hadron Collider to explore questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes

When it comes to shutting down the most powerful atom smasher ever built, it's not simply a question of pressing the off switch.

Idiots in science: Hadron Collider to explore questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes Afcern22013010212231078

In the French-Swiss countryside on the far side of Geneva, staff at the Cern particle physics laboratory are taking steps to wind down the Large Hadron Collider. After the latest run of experiments ends next month, the huge superconducting magnets that line the LHC's 27km-long tunnel must be warmed up, slowly and gently, from -271 Celsius to room temperature. Only then can engineers descend into the tunnel to begin their work.

The machine that last year helped scientists snare the elusive Higgs boson - or a convincing subatomic impostor - faces a two-year shutdown while engineers perform repairs that are needed for the collider to ramp up to its maximum energy in 2015 and beyond. The work will beef up electrical connections in the machine that were identified as weak spots after an incident four years ago that knocked the collider out for more than a year.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/supercharging-the-search-for-secrets-of-the-universe-20130102-2c4zh.html#ixzz2GrIhMLeQ

Idiots in science: Hadron Collider to explore questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes

Idiots in science: Hadron Collider to explore questions of dark matter, extra dimensions and other universes

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