Thursday 12 November 2009

CERN's Large Haldron Collider being fired up again for full run in early 2010


The Times online last month reported that:
"After starting it with a bang, which promptly turned into a whimper, scientists have quietly powered up the Large Hadron Collider for a second time.
The preliminary run was low key compared with the ill-fated switch-on in September last year, but CERN scientists said the first beams suggested that the £3.6 billion experiment in Switzerland was finally under way again. “It’s the beginning of a very well-planned and cautious switch-on,” Brian Foster, a particle physicist from the University of Oxford, said.......

The accelerator is being ramped up to full energy gradually to minimise the chances of a repeat of the failure that led to a year of repairs. The first particles to be sent around the whole ring are scheduled for mid-November and the first collisions in the new year."
Unfortunately in its related article link the newspaper also displayed the 13th October 2009 headline:
Haldron Collider physist Adlene Hicheur charged with terrorism.
More fuel to the fire for those with a penchant for mini-black hole end of the world predictions.
Perhaps that intrepid Oz pollie, Steve Fielding, needs to rush to the nearest telephone box and change......

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