Did a Bird Really Shut Down
the Large Hadron Collider?
This is a press release I found on the CERN Web site. Days later it was not there anymore. The story was picked up by all sorts of news organizations worldwide. I think it's a hoax.
CERN press release
6 November 2009
On Tuesday 3 November, a bird carrying a baguette bread caused a short circuit in an electrical outdoor installation that serves sectors 7-8 and 8-1 of the LHC. The knock-on effects included an interruption to the operation of the LHC cryogenics system. The bird escaped unharmed but lost its bread.
The standard failsafe systems came into operation and after the cause was identified, re-cooling of the machine began and the sectors were back at operating temperature last night. The incident was similar in effect to a standard power cut, for which the machine protection systems are very well prepared.
Back to the Back of the Book program page for the November 16, 2009, program.
Back to the New Pacifica Page.
To my home page.