Just a quicky-the CMS magnet ramps have started in the last few days – this is critical for us, since the last time we really turned on this magnet it was on the surface, about 2 years ago (nearly to the day!). Here’s the plot of the current (in Amps) versus time for the last few days – last night they reached 10 kA, about half of what they eventually plan to get to, but one does these sorts of things pedantically and carefully. Keep in mind your house probably has 100 A service – so 10 kA is 100 Houses! That’s a lot, but that’s the beauty of superconductivity.
I believe the plan is to go to 3/4 of full field this evening. Soon all those event display pictures with tracks will be curving!
Magnet’s? surely should be Magnets
Hey, you’re cookin’ with gas now.
Can’t believe folks are still trying to get an emergency injunction to stop progress. My BOINC account is all hooked up and ready for real data. 
David – Sticklers Unite!. In this case I was aiming for an apostrophe of omission, as in “[The] Magnet i[s] Ramping” but I guess you could read it either as the possessive – “the ramping of the magnet” or one might think assume there is more than one magnet, but in this case I was just talking about the CMS magnet, and there is only one (ATLAS has two, and of course the LHC beam apparatus has thousands).
I am tempted to say that “[Dammit Jim] I’m a Physicist, not a Grammatician”, but that would be hypocritical – everyone should get these things straight!
Jeff – the data processing business is not my focus, I’d have to ask Ken about it, but I hope we use all the flops you can spare!
ok, so that’s why my computer goes bonkers every now and then. it’s you guys & gals fiddlin with your magnets! if the mag is cooled with liquid helium, what sort of temperatures does it get to to require that level of cooling ?