Large Hadron Collider damaged and we have the photos to prove it

Is it possible that shoddy workmanship has once again saved the planet from an untimely demise? Not really, but this next tale should give our paranoiac readers plenty to mull over regardless. CERN has recently released pics of damage wrought when an electrical fault caused a liquid helium leak a mere nine days after the Large Hadron Collider started smashing atoms in September, wrecking interconnects between the magnets in sectors three and four. According to CNET, the doomsday machine will be out of commission until at least summer of 2009. So breathe a sigh of relief, little ones... and pray that the grey goo or the replicant hordes don't get us in the meantime. Hit the read link for all the pics.

[Alexei @ Dec 11th 2008 3:44AM]

Well, at least I know I'll continue breathing in peace until Summer 2009.

*brings out the Corona's.

[Colin Potter @ Dec 11th 2008 4:48AM]

Countdown to bent large hardon joke.... 3.... 2.....

[BradS @ Dec 11th 2008 9:06AM]

@Colin Potter:

He bent my wookie!

[Vander @ Dec 11th 2008 10:30AM]

It's Lindsay Lohan driven this?

[Seneca @ Dec 11th 2008 12:49PM]

For a moment I thought the title was we have the PHOTONS to prove it.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 11th 2008 10:05PM]

Dammit, who's the idiot that's responsible for this catastrophe by switching the d with the r?

[Garfield @ Dec 11th 2008 3:48AM]

There goes my chance to date little green alien midgets down the liquid helium drain

[KarlW @ Dec 11th 2008 7:02AM]

Or up the drain

Physics joke. If you don't get it, google 'superfluid'.

[Mo @ Dec 11th 2008 3:49AM]

Freeman strikes again!

[dale1v @ Dec 11th 2008 4:42AM]

Good thing that Resonance Cascade Scenarios are very rare.

[tomaskn @ Dec 11th 2008 3:53AM]

the shotgun is loaded, no zombie can harm me i'm safe

[Samboini @ Dec 11th 2008 4:54AM]

Unfortunately the same can't be said of your punctuation.

[thedesolate1 @ Dec 11th 2008 3:59AM]

I call sabotage.
The terrorists did it...

[MoJo @ Dec 11th 2008 6:53AM]

Oh plz!! That's ridiculous! Pakistan doesn't have the know-how!! Jeez!!

[Cargo Jack @ Dec 11th 2008 9:33AM]

By "terrorists" he meant PETA not Pakistan. He is afraid the super collider will be tested on bunnies. Now that the PETA has destroyed the collider, the bunnies are safe.

[BradS @ Dec 11th 2008 9:08AM]

I'm a member of PETA; no not that one, the other one, People Eating Tasty Animals.

[thedesolate1 @ Dec 11th 2008 12:27PM]

I was thinking more along the lines of religious nut jobs. But i guess PETA will do..

[Abuzar Baloach @ Dec 11th 2008 1:35PM]

lol If Pakistan can build atomic bombs they would also know how to use crowbars.

[Danny @ Dec 11th 2008 4:06AM]

Shame.

[Nienhan @ Dec 11th 2008 4:09AM]

What a pity, I was hoping to fight the horde!

[Jocopo Jenkins @ Dec 11th 2008 4:09AM]

Danger....Danger ..... Will Robinson !!!!

[BobTurbo @ Dec 11th 2008 4:10AM]

Oh yeah I see what has happened there... typical noob errors.

[Imran @ Dec 11th 2008 4:10AM]

Steve Jobs did it. Premature apocalypse was not part of his plans.

[Dave Chappelle @ Dec 11th 2008 4:13AM]

First he wanted to see the demise of his new USB combatant... I wish I remembered the name of that thingy, anyone? that thing he is giving free licensing out for?

[substance90 @ Dec 11th 2008 4:13AM]

It didn`t start smashing ANYTHING!!! Why don`t Engadget writers READ a bit before posting anything outside of the well.. gadget-area?!

[Dave Chappelle @ Dec 11th 2008 4:15AM]

in fact the only thing getting smashed in the past few months was anything coming out without the apple logo on it....

Oh ye Bitch, it's on after that bias 240Hz Sony TV report... (4/5 stars is 'not worth the money'?)

[Patriks7 @ Dec 11th 2008 4:15AM]

Yay! We get to live a couple more months! I bet Engadget is praying that they will put it back to use after the 3G iPhone is released, so they can spam the sites!

[jay.viz @ Dec 11th 2008 4:58AM]

Exactly how is this a life or death situation?

[kr @ Dec 11th 2008 5:11AM]

Where have you been?

[Baby-G @ Dec 11th 2008 6:40PM]

LOL wow this is funny. Not the joke itself, but the inside joke on how hes sooo clueless.

[rommel @ Dec 11th 2008 4:26AM]

and now they are telling us..

they expected us to find it out by ourselves didn't they.

[Vianon @ Dec 11th 2008 4:27AM]

Man Chuck Norris really smashed that thing... Once again the roundhouse kick saved the world!

[jabba777 @ Dec 11th 2008 11:43AM]

I thought the Hadron Collider was Chuck Norris.

[michas_pi @ Dec 11th 2008 4:33AM]

Looks like the crowbar that was sent there has been put to misuse.

[BradS @ Dec 11th 2008 9:10AM]

Good job, Gordon Freeman!

[TareX @ Dec 11th 2008 4:54AM]

You'd think the "brightest minds on the planet" that made this machine would have predicted this. I mean, there's really very little room for error in an experiment of this magnitude.

[Samboini @ Dec 11th 2008 4:57AM]

Well you'd like to think when you employ a specialist contractor to fabricate and install such a device, they'd be competent enough to do so without error. Needless to say, I bet there is a monster of a contract behind this project, and someone somehwere, is about to get their ass destroyed for such errors.

Sue in contract or sue in tort? Ooo, choices.

[B3astofthe3ast @ Dec 11th 2008 4:59AM]

Even the brightest minds on the planet are capable of making mistakes, like we all do. Unless, you've lived a perfect life which you haven't cuz you posted that comment.

[TareX @ Dec 11th 2008 5:03AM]

@B3astofthe3ast

We're not exactly talking about a "mistake" cooking a recipe. Or a mistake choosing a VP nominee. In some "grown-up" experiments, sometimes mistakes cannot be afforded.

punk.

[Tom @ Dec 11th 2008 5:41AM]

Cost of mistake: ~$25m
Is it going to be paid? Yes.

Can the mistake be afforded? Um... Yes.

[giuliop @ Dec 11th 2008 5:43AM]

"Even the brightest minds on the planet are capable of making mistakes, like we all do."

So the LHC is ultra-safe, unless the brightest minds on the planet have made a mistake like we all do, which is pretty probable to begin with, and given it's worked for a week or so, we already have proof that can happen.
Uhm, that doesn't make it sound *that* safe, does it?

[giuliop @ Dec 11th 2008 5:47AM]

@Samboini

Well you'd like to think when you are building a potential doomsday device, you'd check what your specialist contractor did to make sure it's done properly, and then check, and check, and check, and check again.
A thing these "brightest minds of the planet" evidently didn't do.

[giuliop @ Dec 11th 2008 5:51AM]

@Tom

I suggest you get a dictionary and look "(cannot) afford" up before posting crap.

[EricC @ Dec 11th 2008 6:41AM]

@guiliop

I suggest you look "real life" up before posting crap.

[KarlW @ Dec 11th 2008 7:18AM]

Actually, it wasn't as simple as ordering parts from a catalogue. Lots of the things they needed here didn't exist.

Also, the cooling system uses liquid helium, which is a superfluid. That means it creeps up the container and spreads itself around. As a result, any microscopic pores or loose connections will cause the helium to leak out. It's an incredibly difficult thing to get right. One microscopic mistake and you're haemorrhaging helium.

[giuliop @ Dec 11th 2008 7:20AM]

@EricC

Well, "erriCc", in real life, I do really hope your copy & paste powers stay as far as possible from the LHC.

[EricC @ Dec 11th 2008 7:33AM]

You DO realize that copy & paste makes a copy of something (hence COPY & paste), right? No? Guess that was a bit too much to hope for.

I'll give you this one, though, since I know you have no real defense for such asinine behavior. Carry on with picking apart my typos in lieu of any semblance of a real argument.

[giuliop @ Dec 11th 2008 12:39PM]

So your "real argument" was "look up real life"? And I'm supposed to counter-argument such and idiotic remark?

And you really didn't understand the copy & paste thing, did you? So here it is:

1. You *could have used* copy & paste, but
2. As your copy & paste skills are nil, you couldn't, and
3. You had to retype my nick thus showing your inability to type a 7-letter string correctly.

Simple enough for you?

[absinthe party @ Dec 11th 2008 1:02PM]

@ giuliop and EricC

Knock it off, you two. Don't make me turn this car around.

[EricC @ Dec 12th 2008 7:36PM]

@ giuliop: Rest assured that you will never have to worry about simplifying anything for me, or talking over my head.