On the 19th of September, the temperature of about 100 of LHC's magnets that are intentionally kept very cool, rose to well over 200 degrees Fahrenheit, about 656 degrees in excess of the normal operating temperature. Firefighters had to show up when over 2000 pounds of helium leaked out and into the LHC tunnel.

As a result, the Large Hadron Collider will be shut down for at least two months, because it has to be warmed up from its normal operating temperature of -456 Fahrenheit so that it can be repaired. It is possible that the experiment planned for October 21st won't take place until 2009. The LHC experiment has a much smaller window in which to test the particle collision after it is fixed until the end of the winter, during which the LHC will be shut down to save money on electricity. If the window is not met, the experiment might not take place until spring 2009.

The magnets have to be cooled to 456 Fahrenheit, a temperature point at which helium gas turns into liquid, so that they can conduct electrical current without resistance. According to scientists, a faulty connection in the bus bar (a cable that carries electric current between magnets) caused a melt, that in turn caused the helium to leak.