A weasel has shut down the world's largest and most expensive scientific experiment by munching through a cable.
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva has gone offline after an animal, believed to be a weasel, started eating one of its transformers, New Scientist reported.
A spokesman for CERN told the website: “I can confirm that we had some issues overnight with electrical trouble.
“We suspect it might be due to a small animal.”
CERN said the machine might take a few days to be back up and running, but the equipment had not been badly damaged.
The massive superconducter, which runs for 17 miles and cost £3.74 billion to put together, is being used to uncover the secrets of dark matter.
A technical hitch had delayed the restart of the LHC in 2015 after a two year re-fit and upgrade almost doubling its power.
MORE ABOUT