Recently one of my posts received the following comment and I thought it merited a more thorough explanation.
I heard a magnet broke. When will it be fixed? Why is this information not easier for the public to access – am I just an idiot? – Tony
First about the magnet tests. There are four major ‘parts’ to ATLAS magnet system; the solenoid magnet, the barrel toroid magnet and two end-cap toroid magnets. In the past few weeks, extensive tests on all of these systems have been ongoing. During the tests, a leak in one of the end-cap toriod Helium cooling pipes was discovered. As a result the tests on this magnet stopped so that the leak could be fixed. But the repair is already completed and there was not a large impact on ATLAS’ schedule.
But in regards to the second question, ‘No Tony, you are not an idiot!’ Even within ATLAS, it is very difficult to get the latest news. To keep up-to-date on recent ATLAS activities, I highly recommend the ATLAS e-news. The ATLAS e-news is a weekly publication highlighting the latest issues within ATLAS. It is aimed for ATLAS collaborators. But as the e-news is written by three professional science writers, the technical jargon is kept to a minimum. There is also a version of the e-news aimed for the general public but this is not updated as frequently.
So check out the ATLAS e-news. It has not only all the interesting news but also profiles of people on ATLAS as well as cool pictures.
