Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “Ready for collision” said the screen at Cern (European Nuclear Research Organization) shortly after 08:30. The first attempt at 7 TeV collisions of two 3.5 TeV beams, about three to four times the collisions currently done at the Fermilab in the US, is expected to occur around 10:30 this morning.
A beam was lost around 06:00 this morning, but was recovered fairly quickly. The beams are now circulating in their pipes but a collision in advance of the planned schedule is avoided by keeping them magnetically separated. The mood in the control centre is upbeat and excited although given the complexity of the task, it could be hours before a collision occurs.
- Watch the webcast live.
- Background, GenevaLunch
- Cern LHC pages
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cern, the European Nuclear Research Organization, has scheduled its first collisions at 7 TeV, a record if it is achieved, for 30 March. Or, more precisely, it is scheduling the completion of the alignment process that it hopes will lead quickly to collisions, which are in part designed to find Higgs boson. The process popularly dubbed the hunt for the ”God particle” is expected to push the frontiers of our understanding of physics.
The speed at which Cern’s scientists will be able to create a collision is unknown.
SCNF has special site, phone line for French trains affected
Bern, Switzerland and Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - Rail traffic between France and Belgium has stopped and rail authorities say the interruption could last all day Monday 15 February, following a violent head-on collision of two trains south of Brussels. The Eurostar and Thalys are particularly affected.
The accident killed more than 20 people and there appear to be many serious injuries, but authorities have not yet provided official figures. The crash occurred around 08:30 Monday morning during rush hour, with the two trains were filled with commuters.
Details are still coming in of a rush-hour commuter train crash outside Brussels Monday morning 15 February: at least 20 people have died, according to the mayor of Halle, 15 km southwest of Brussels. A large number of cars are over-turned and spilling off the tracks, TV footage shows. One witness said one of the trains did not brake at all, but the cause of the crash is not yet known. Service in and out of Brussels by rail is seriously disrupted, with power lines reportedly affected by the collision.
Links to other sites: AFP, France2 (Fre) TV, La Libre Belgique (Fre) with live coverage, NPR
Duebendorf, canton Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A snowplow and regional train collided about 08:45 Wednesday morning near the train station in Duebendorf, briefly slowing train traffic in the area. Officials told ats news agency that damage was limited and there appear to have been no injuries. Police and rail officials have not yet provided an explanation for how the snowplow came to be on the tracks.
Col de Bernina, Graubuenden, Switzerland (20 Minutes/ATS) – A chain reaction crash involving seven motorcycles has put seven people in hospital, some in critical condition.
The accident was provoked by one bike going up the pass road, which was in the wrong lane, colliding head-on with another one coming down. Other bikes were unable to stop on time. One of the bikes caught a piece of clothing in the wheel, causing the biker to fall.
The British government has confirmed that there were no injuries but that two submarines were badly damaged when they collided in heavy seas in the Atlantic in early February. The British and French submarines were carrying missiles but both governments insist “nuclear security was not compromised,” the BBC reports.
