Large Hadron Collider Decommissioned Until Spring

As you most likely have already heard, the Large Hadron Collider was taken offline due to a problem with the device's magnets. But then, we found out a full-on helium leak caused even more concern. And now we won't see the good 'ol LHC up and running again until the spring of next year. 

The director of CERN, Robert Aymar, called the flub up a "psychological blow," however, I'd much rather they take the time now to get the collider working properly before it's up to full speed.

It seems the malfunction was a bit more serious than previously anticipated. The fire department was called when a ton of liquid helium leaked into the tunnel. This caused the magnets to overheat. Even though I don't think this is the doomsday device some people seem to think it is, I definitely don't want the largest particle collider ever to have any sort of quirks when it's cranked up to full capacity.

[via Gizmodo]