theregistry.com reported on a failure at the LHC which occurred at 1:23 a.m. Geneva time at the Meyrin site and caused a power cut across the site, shutting down the main computer center among other things and causing an abrupt cessation of operations. The good news is that -1.8 degrees above absolute zero temperature of the magnets was maintained. This means CERN scientists don’t have to engage the time-consuming process of re-chilling the equipment.

According to theregister the exact cause of the fault remains to be established, though in a machine so complex a lot of routine teething troubles are to be expected. However, with interest in the LHC so intense, colourful speculation is to be anticipated.

Chris Stephens of the LHC Portal joked that “Maybe it was a birdy bread-bomber from the future”.  This malfunction is not expected to cause any delay in future scheduled experiments.