To save electricity, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) stopped the Large Hadron Collider.
This is reported by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The worldʼs largest particle accelerator was shut down two weeks ahead of schedule. Next year, it is also planned to reduce its working hours by 20%.
This reduction was requested by the French electricity supplier EDF. This should significantly relieve the system: during a full year of operation, the collider consumes as much electricity as the households of a city with a population of 300 000 people.
Research manager Joachim Mnich said that compared to the acceleratorʼs current four-year operating period, 20% fewer collisions this year and next are acceptable. According to him, "if electricity prices remain high in the long term, it may mean that we have to cut the physics program or stretch it."