One of the costliest and most complex scientific experiments ever attempted by humans has failed, sort of.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ran into some problems this week when one of the transformers, which is necessary for keeping the machine at a very cold temperature, broke down. The collider ring has to be cooled to a temperature of minus 271.3 Celsius so the protons can travel round the accelerator at more than 99.99 per cent of the speed of light. Problems with the massive magnets in the collider caused temperatures to rise, delaying the first trial collisions next week. This little hiccup has halted the experiment for now. Read more here.
A full assesmnent of the damage must be done before the experiment can go on. The scientists at CERN are hoping to have the machine up and running by the middle of October. Until then, Doomsday has been postponed.