• Question: What would happen if something when wrong with the LHC?

    Asked by anon-201342 to Sophia, Sarah, Andy on 13 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-201681.
    • Photo: Andy Buckley

      Andy Buckley answered on 13 Mar 2019:

      We’d probably damage bits of the LHC. Actually, this happened already when we first switched it on in 2008: it took a year to put it back together again. But there’s no bigger risk: the LHC is very powerful for a particle accelerator (and more generally for a human construction), but compared to e.g. the earth’s geology, or astrophysics stuff like the sun, it’s peanuts.

    • Photo: Sarah O'Sullivan

      Sarah O'Sullivan answered on 14 Mar 2019:

      I’d hope the people involved would be able to fix it!

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