CERN levels up with new superconducting karts (home.cern)

352 points by fnands 12 hours ago

NewLogic 5 hours ago

Takes me back to the week we all thought room temperature super conductors might be a solved problem.

Bratmon 4 hours ago

That served a useful purpose- it let you objectively identify how gullible everyone you know is.

chime 2 hours ago

There was more than enough skepticism and cautious optimism too. While it sounded too soon to be real, it wasn't unlike carbon nanotubes, graphene, or solid state batteries — previously unachievable material-tech getting validation in the lab, with a 20yr pipeline for global production. With even nuclear fusion being achieved in very specific / limited instances in the last decade, it's not inconceivable to hope that maybe RTSC are just around the corner.

fragmede 4 hours ago

It also served the purpose of finding out who the cynical Debbie Downers who have no hope are as well!

Bratmon 4 hours ago

Sharlin 3 hours ago

Akuehne 9 hours ago

This got me. Thought it was real, busted out laughing when I read the project leads name. It still didn't click.

throw101010 8 hours ago

Small clue here too, maybe more subtle:

> explained school director, Rosalina Pfirsich, looking up from her storybook

Pfirsich in German means Peach, as in Princess Peach :D

adrian_b 7 hours ago

Also "project leader Mario Idraulico" (i.e. "hydraulic" in Italian) or "Safety coordinator Luigi Fratello" ("Brother Luigi").

dasyatidprime an hour ago

TeMPOraL 4 hours ago

rmast 4 hours ago

They’ve also got:

> schoolteacher Yoshi Kyouryuu, mid-way through painting spots on eggs

darth_aardvark 3 hours ago

You somehow identified the last possible, most obscure clue. Mario, Luigi, Rosalina, and Yoshi show up before that.

hapidjus 7 hours ago

There is also ”project leader Mario Idraulico”

charltones 6 hours ago

Also the hat and mustache of the kart driver.

marricks 6 hours ago

Someone was saying "can we just not with April fools" this year because everything is so grim and dire in the world... but I think this is such a perfect level we need. I could go for more whimsy like this.

Pixelbrick 5 hours ago

I'd of said I had limited appetite for April fools gubbins this year too but this still made me smile :)

moron4hire 2 hours ago

This one was good. It was pretty low-stakes and not anything that would impact anyone. For a while there, companies like Google were announcing products that sounded like a good idea, but turned out were just them trolling everyone over things people had been requesting for a long time.

marricks 2 hours ago

shdudns 8 hours ago

Man I fell for it until I saw your post. In fact, I was just about to post what the man's name means in Italian.

I was even going to point out how ironic it is that the mans first name and last name fit together so well.

In my defense I only got as far as idraulico and missed the "Mamma mia, they're super!"

newsclues 7 hours ago

I read the title and thought CERN + Mario Kart and am giggling.

riffraff 8 hours ago

ah! got me too!

shevy-java 8 hours ago

For me it was easier. While I forgot it was first april, the image was too outrageous. Looked like AI-generated slop.

They may have had more success with another image. AI slop made us lazy.

riffraff 8 hours ago

IMO a made up "artist conception" picture on an article like this would have been perfectly appropriate, we've seen worse (think of the whole NEOM thingy).

PunchyHamster 10 hours ago

We need followup post exactly 365 days later describing first karting accident inside CERN

tom-blk 10 hours ago

Exactly

cern 10 hours ago

CERN Research Facility, Geneva. Subject: Gordon Freeman, Male, Age 27

fnands 8 hours ago

Gérard Hommelibre?

Bonjour, and bienvenue to the Black Mesa - pardon, la Mesa Noire - Établissement de Recherche. Please keep your hands inside le tramway at all times, and do try not to provoquer une cascade de résonance. Merci.

leoc 3 hours ago

Tired: particle accelerator which crosses the border between France and Switzerland.

Wired: particle accelerator which crosses the border between Quebec and Ontario.

fragmede 3 hours ago

pugworthy 2 hours ago

I'd be cautious of residual Higgs Booson particles in the tunnels. They can cause unexpected phase shifts if encountered, which may expose the driver to unexpected hazards.

lapetitejort 2 hours ago

The observer effect prevents Booson particles from traveling towards the observer

ourmandave 8 hours ago

I would pay stupid money for a CERN Tunnel Rainbow Road track DLC.

rmast 4 hours ago

How about for a real life Rainbow Road made by the Quantum Mushroom startup? I think that might be the aerospace applications reference in the article:

> CERN’s Knowledge Transfer Group has begun discussions with European startup company Quantum Mushroom to explore aerospace applications and powering for next-generation anti-gravity vehicles.

gnarlouse 12 hours ago

Happy April Fools Day!

pjmlp 11 hours ago

As Alumni, the tables outside R1 are prime for getting ideas, with some help from fermented barley, especially after work during Summertime.

fnands 11 hours ago

I always look forward to CERN's April fools jokes!

stego-tech 6 hours ago

Ah, the stages of a good April Fool's nerd joke:

1, Reading the Headline on HN) "Man, this is probably going to be something more practical, but I wish they were superconducting go-karts or golf-carts to get around the facility in."

2, Reading the article) "...okay, I was right? Kinda? Huh. Something feels off. Wait a-"

3, Remembering the Date) "FUCK. OK, CERN got me. Good one. Still want a superconducting kart though."

rbanffy 10 hours ago

I really miss Think Geek :-(

jansan 10 hours ago

When they later actually sold the t-shirt they had previously presented as an April Fools joke? That was pretty cool.

taneq 9 hours ago

I still had a Timmy the Monkey sticker on the lid of my kitchen bin up until a couple of years ago.

the_af 3 hours ago

Mario Idraulico and Luigi Fratello overseeing this project? I hope the karts don't run into any stray kooparticles.

gluten_guardian 3 hours ago

Ofcourse the guy explaining the carts is called "Mario".

rippeltippel 9 hours ago

Right on time! "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" released today.

thomasgeelens 10 hours ago

oh my, I should really visit one day, I'm not even that far from CERN

fnands 9 hours ago

They do some good tours. They are first come/first serve, so show up in the morning for the best chance to get a place.

koolala 11 hours ago

high temperature super conductors my beloved

Noe2097 12 hours ago

> Each kart is turbo-boosted by 64 superconducting engines,” explains project leader Mario Idraulico

I guess we can now call you Mario 'Kart' Idraulico.

Oh wait.

Thank you CERN, that was a smart one.

coldsmoke 9 hours ago

Since I didn't get the name reference either, here is a link for those who want a hint: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idraulico

fnands 9 hours ago

Nice, I didn't get it.

I just realized "Kyouryuu" is Japanese for dinosaur.

And Pfirsich is of course Peach.

moron4hire 2 hours ago

Really enjoyed the "karts and equipment will reach underground areas via giant green pipes" caption on the LHC tunnel diagram.

nicman23 8 hours ago

if you reached c with such a cart - nevermind the heat from air friction, would you be able to breath from a rebreather?

WhitneyLand 4 hours ago

Call me a killjoy I hate April fools jokes.

fnands an hour ago

Alright then: killjoy

nekusar 4 hours ago

They missed a perfect spot to mention something about "Gordon".

(Half-Life joke)

anthk 7 hours ago

As an homage, Supertuxkart might add a CERN-LHC inspired level with a wormhole as a secret path.

shevy-java 8 hours ago

It took me a while to notice the first april, but actually the image was too unbelievable. But if such karts were possible, I bet the guys at CERN would absolutely use it. And then post on youtube.

We know how things happen in "professional research".

groundzeros2015 9 hours ago

Please bro. Just one more particle collider. This one will solve science. The last one wasn’t big enough. Please keep it in desirable real estate though.

taneq 9 hours ago

Each bigger one has in fact solved more of physics, after being built precisely because there was a good theoretical case for a higher energy collider being helpful.

groundzeros2015 9 hours ago

I’m ignorant. It’s a meme about their optics being terrible after steam ran out for 90s science optimism.

ahartmetz 8 hours ago

rvnx 11 hours ago

Meh joke considering this was paid on public money.

Same as choosing to spend xxx,xxx USD to have .cern when using subdomains would have worked too (and caused less validation / compatibility issues).

fnands 10 hours ago

They got the intern to write a funny post. Probably took them an hour and it drums up a bit of good press for the Hi-Lumi LHC.

Money well spent if you ask me.

steve1977 10 hours ago

As a tax payer in one of the member states, I approve of this joke.

kryptiskt 9 hours ago

The Web is a side project of CERN, they should have gotten a comped top-level domain by rights.

mrguyorama 3 hours ago

This page cost taxpayers like 100 Euros maybe. How much money do you think scientists actually make? How much money and effort do you think it takes to post a blog article with a couple paragraphs of text and an image?

voidUpdate 12 hours ago

Is this an april fools joke? The title image looks so over-the-top that I really can't tell if it's a joke or not

kakacik 12 hours ago

No of course not, they have Mario guys running around in karts doing maintenance of hyper complex system with wrenches. No physics can resist Mario's wrench, thats how we move humanity forward

gostsamo 11 hours ago

There is a Luigi on the team as well. How it can't be true?

hawkjo 9 hours ago

edwcross 10 hours ago

tgsovlerkhgsel 12 hours ago

CTRL+F "safety and health"