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Published online 29 October 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1194

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How to repair the biggest science experiment in the world

Physicists get CSI on the LHC.

Physicists are close to finalizing a repair plan for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator located at CERN, near Geneva in Switzerland.

The LHC has been out of commission since mid-September after an electrical fault destroyed part of the machine and caused several tonnes of liquid helium to leak into the tunnel (see 'Eight month delay for LHC.

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  • It's a sad incident, but at least it was an interesting and simple one. No points by LHC for high-end science yet, but a (potential) nice score for basic science and engineering teaching.

    • 29 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Nicolau Werneck
    • 29 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Nicolau Werneck
  • It's a sad incident, but at least it was an interesting and simple one. No points by LHC for high-end science yet, but a (potential) nice score for basic science and engineering teaching.

    • 29 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Nicolau Werneck
  • Sad Event indeed! As an avid reader of science literature, it was with great excitement that I awaited the opening of CERN, and anticipated the publication of what I expected would be, (and will, no doubt, still be) some outstanding, mind-blowing results. May/June 2009 can not cvome soon enough!!

    • 29 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Carlos Ponte
  • Do you remember the Tower of Babel?

    • 30 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Ars Ilia
  • As a science discovery avid fun, the incident would just be a great beginning for more efficient and great scientific discovery in the future.I extremely believe that the LHC would provide a eye-shocking discovery that would mark a history in the world.

    • 30 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Gregor Burdeos
  • Um, isn't the biggest science experiment in the world the one that involves pumping 7 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year? As far as I can tell, that ones going along without a hitch...

    • 31 Oct, 2008
    • Posted by: Hugh Powell
  • Ah the tower of babel, exciting work of engineering. It's only a pity it felt victim of a terrorist attack of a famous religious fanatic. But it was not so bad, because afterwards it became, like the CERN, a place where people from all different cultures and languages could meet and talk about high-end science and technology. /// For the carbon-pumping, like with everything else in the world, what we need are two things: 1_ make it more efficient, of course (e.g. using superconductors... oops, they already do it!) and 2_ to invest in bio-fuels (i.e., give money to Brazil), or alternate forms of energy, like wind, solar, hidro, sea, squirrels, fusion, and the best of all, the one that doesn't pump carbon and is the most powerful, well-known and safe of all modern power sources: nuclear energy.

    • 04 Nov, 2008
    • Posted by: Nicolau Werneck
  • please do not play with nature. You can set up a small experiemnt before doing so much huge experiment. But it is also necessary for benefit of human beings.

    • 13 Nov, 2008
    • Posted by: Anoop Kumar