BUT WE KNOW WHO WAS *REALLY* BEHIND THIS

The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator at Cern is offline after a short circuit - caused by a weasel.

(Thanks to The Amazing Steve, Jeff in Pittsburgh, Dave Emery, Horace LaBadie, The Perts, Ron W, John Mayson, Fred Rsoenberge, Scott MGS, Sean in Akron, Ralph, Bill Hudgins and Gordon Anderson, who says "When I saw the headline, I assumed it was about a politician.")

Comments

[C. O. Jones]

POP went the weasel.

[C. O. Jones]

too easy?

[David Emery]

"Cord Munching Weasels" would be a great name......

[C. O. Jones]

All around the LHC
The muon chased the weasel
Who jumped up on the transformer
POP went the weasel.

[Meanie the Blue]

The resulting shower of weaselons was detected for only one three-billionth of a nanosecond, but decayed into a long-lasting aromatic stew.

[Head_Smashed_In]

"Weasel" makes everything funnier.

[Jeff in Pittsburgh]

"severe electrical perturbation" would be a great name for a band...

[poker]

It's amazing what they can train animals to do.

[Jeff Meyerson]

I bet it was President Weasel.

[RegularGuy55]

I thought they tried to accelerate a weasel to the speed of light. That would be silly.

[Horace LaBadie]

NPR had this version of the story:
"These sorts of mishaps are not unheard of, says Marsollier. The LHC is located outside of Geneva. "We are in the countryside, and of course we have wild animals everywhere." There have been previous incidents, including one in 2009, when a bird is believed to have dropped a baguette onto critical electrical systems.

Nor are the problems exclusive to the LHC: In 2006, raccoons conducted a "coordinated" attack on a particle accelerator in Illinois.

It is unclear whether the animals are trying to stop humanity from unlocking the secrets of the universe.

Of course, small mammals cause problems in all sorts of organizations. Yesterday, a group of children took National Public Radio off the air for over a minute before engineers could restore the broadcast."

A coordinated attack by raccoons is Homeland Security material.

[ligirl]

a "severe electrical perturbation" occurred

must've happened when they called it a 'hardon collider'

[Maj. Frank Burns, retired]

I CATAGORICALLY deny having anything to do with the LHC!

[Le Petomane]

ligirl; if the "severe electrical perturbation" lasts longer than four hours in a "hardon collider" does it require medical attention?

[coscolo]

It's the squirrels again. Weasels are carnivores and not known to have a taste for cable coatings. Rodents are the culprits, encouraged by the squirrels. We had to have coaxial cable encased in metal conduit to stop rodents from knocking out the satellite dish.

[ligirl]

hey, le petomane - if you can't pull the plug: socket to me!

[Clankie]

Weasel blame is science speak for " We don't know what happened . "

[Ralph]

For a scientific organization, this report lacks detail. Was the perpetrator Mustela erminea or Mustela nivalis? Of possible Swiss mammals, the latter is the lesser of two weasels.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Frank Burns eats worms.

[Not My Usual Alias]

Fermi Lab outside Chicago has a bison infestation problem.

My sister told me the story of a high tech facility in Ireland that went entirely offline. Standard pings weren't working. Finally someone reached a personal cell phone.

As it turns out, the facility rented sheep to mow the grass. The shepherd would move them around in a rotation. One rotation was near the electrical and telecom cabinet for the building. Apparently sheep urine, electricity, telecom and computers is not a good combination. Although no sheep were harmed, a lot of people were pissed off.

So in true Irish style, the event became a local after work holiday at a local pub where one sheep is allowed inside to join in the annual commemoration.

[padraig]

If you look real close at the picture of the weasel, you can see the zipper on the squirrel's weasel suit. Seriously, it's worse than those old Bigfoot videos.

[oneblankspace]

that's Large Hadron Collider. Had-ron.

[John Papa]

Great post.

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