It’s a scene fit for a Hollywood thriller: a machine that resides deep below the earth’s surface has been crafted to recreate the Big Bang and provide researchers with the answers to all the mysteries of the universe.
Everything goes according to plan, except for one warning that scientists brush off as minor: bird-delivered breadcrumbs.
Ok so Dennis Quaid isn’t lining up to play the leading role just yet, but the story’s got potential!
A few days ago the Large Halidron Collider (LHC) outside Geneva faced a set-back of heated proportions when a bird lost hold of its lunch over top of the machinery. A security panel alerted technicians to the bread-crumb obstruction and three days later had regulated the temperature imbalance.
While some may wonder about where the bird found his next meal, others (myself included) were more concerned about the wider implications of this allegedly minor fritz.
To give some context, the LHC is a machine found 100 meters below the Earth’s surface, spanning 27 kilometres in circumference under the Swiss-French border. It was developed by physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern) who were eager to re-create the moment at which our universe was created.
An electrical malfunction delayed its launch in September of last year. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not the bird’s butterfingers will delay the project further.
For the (un-official, unscientifically-based, categorically speculative) record, I would suggest that if a breadcrumb can stop the LHC in its tracks, it’s not yet equipped enough to start tossing around the very particles that make up the life and blood of our planet.
Of course the whole incident could very well be exactly what Cern - get ready for it - tweeted in response to international media attention on the incident, stating that, what happened was “similar in effect to a standard power cut, for which the machine protection systems are very well prepared.” Sure, well prepared for everything except destruction by breadcrumbs!
Roland Emmerich take note: forget about 2012, the Mayan Calendar has nothing on Tweetie over here.
Tags: LHC, Life in Switzerland, research, science, Swiss
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