mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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 Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 3:17 am Post subject: Fermilab botches it big time |
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Fermilab makes some magnets for CERN. CERN turns them on and BOOM.
http://www.photonics.com/content/news/2007/April/4/87089.aspx
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"Last Tuesday we took a pratfall on the world stage," said Fermilab Director Pier Oddone in a message posted yesterday on the lab's Web site. "What the analysis shows so far is that something extraordinarily simple was missed in the design. We do many very complex engineering projects successfully that require sophisticated engineering skills and advanced computing tools. We test the complex features we design thoroughly. In this case we are dumbfounded that we missed some very simple balance of forces.
"Not only was it missed in the engineering design but also in the four engineering reviews carried out between 1998 and 2002 before launching the construction of the magnets. Furthermore, even though every magnet was thoroughly tested individually, they were never tested with the exact configuration that they would have when installed at CERN -- thus missing the opportunity to discover the problem sooner," he said. |
Fermilab was making some magnets for CERN's particle accelerator. It basically missed some simple engineering and has caused massive delays in CERN's quest to find the secrets to life, the universe, and everything. Oddly, both Fermilab and CERN are trying to find the Higgs Boson. It's the theoretical particle that gives things mass.
Whoever finds it will surely win a Nobel prize. So if Fermiland "accidentally" sabotages CERN and Fermilab wins the race to find Higgs Boson... it will be a bit of a tainted victory. |
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