Large Hadron Collider getting ready to rumble
High science -- the LHC has cooled down and it will see first light September 10th.
From
Ars Technica:
LHC to run first particles in early September
Scientific research usually moves in fits and starts, as missed controls and technical glitches put discovery at the mercy of far too many variables. It's a relatively rare thing to be able to look at a calendar and figure out when progress is going to happen. Those of you interested in the fundamentals of physics, however, can circle a date: on September 10th, the first beams of particles will enter the Large Hadron Collider.
Although construction of the 27km structure was completed earlier this year, its superconducting magnets need to be chilled down near to absolute zero to function properly. CERN, which runs the LHC, has been hosting a web page that tracks the cooling progress. As of today, all but one segment is down in the area of its target temperature of 1.9K, and the one outlier is sitting at a chilly 4K, meaning it should be ready to go in the very near future.
Doing actual research is a long way off as there are always last-minute glitches to be worked out but still, a momentous day.
Posted by DaveH at August 7, 2008 3:56 PM