Topic: One for Sam & Clive

[Rik]

The BBC reports that:

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) must close at the end of 2011 for up to a year to address design and safety issues, according to an LHC director.

Dr Steve Myers told BBC News the faults will delay the machine reaching its full potential for two years.

The atom smasher will reach world record collision energies later this month at 7 trillion electron volts.

But the tunnel must be made safe before proton collisions planned at twice that level can commence.

The Geneva-based machine only recently restarted after being out of action for 14 months following an accident in September 2008.

Dr Myers said: "It's something that, with a lot more resources and with a lot more manpower and quality control, possibly could have been avoided but I have difficulty in thinking that this is something that was a design error."

He said: "The standard phrase is that the LHC is its own prototype. We are pushing technologies towards their limits."

[Clive]

What a shame.  The LHC has been plagued with problems and countless careers will be jeopardised by this announcement.  Of course if it finds the elusive Higgs Boson before it takes a holiday then all will be forgiven.   

[Rik]

Is that a size 2 Higgs Boson, or the rarer size 4?

[Simon]

The LHC does seem to have been jinxed.  At least, one could say, it's not the end of the world. 

[Rik]

Yet... 

[Simon]

[Rik]

So long as I get through the DR stock first.

[sam]

The LHC does seem to have been jinxed.  At least, one could say, it's not the end of the world. 

its only particle physics... 

[Rik]

Which is, presumably, different to follicle physics. 

[Clive]

its only particle physics... 

Insignificant!