Failure of magnet delays LHC, Fermilab to blame

Various : The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), based at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland has suffered a serious setback with the failure of a crucial 43-foot quadrupole, focussing magnet for the machine. The magnet broke during tests last week with a large bang. Reports are available from News@Nature , Courier News , ABC Australia , BBC The magnet, developed by Fermilab failed due to a design flaw says Fermilab’s director, Pier Oddone. We “took a pratfall on the world’s stage,” he says. No one was hurt during the test, but the launch date for LHC for mid-2008 is likely to be extended.