Bird Causes CERN Atom Smasher Shutdown

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on an incident where a bird, potentially carrying a piece of bread, caused a shutdown of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) due to interference with external electronic equipment. Participants express surprise that such sensitive electronics were left exposed to wildlife. The conversation highlights the historical context of unexpected malfunctions in experimental physics, referencing past incidents involving animals and debris affecting scientific equipment. The importance of anticipating unforeseen issues in experimental setups is emphasized, drawing parallels to the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by Penzias and Wilson.

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From the CNN:
http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/06/baguette-toting-bird-stalls-atom-smasher/

I hadn't heard about this except from here. Story: A piece of bread got into some external electronic equipment and caused a problem. It is thought a bird did it.

I find it odd that the LHC designers would leave sensitive electronics open to bird ejecta.
Anyone else hear about this - is it factual?
 
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Believe it or not, but the history of experiments and accelerators are replete with stories like these.
Rats have caused malfunctions, stray beer bottles, cigarrete butts and so on..

In fact, to expect the unexpected is one of the trade marks of a good experimentalist and can sometimes even be taken to far. For instance, Penzias and Wilson nearly missed out on the discovery of the CMB, b/c they believe the signal they had received was due to bird droppings (they meticulously cleaned the dish b/c they were convinced there was an error).
 
Also, one normally sees electrical transformers outside. Since the power lines are outside anyway, it's not like you are ever going to have a fully indoors system.