![Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, France Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, France](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/gettyimages-475181433.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
A weasel-like animal shut down the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator near Geneva, Switzerland, early Friday after weaseling into a transformer.
CERN’s Large Hadron Collider experienced a “severe electrical perturbation” that “damaged” transformer connections due to a “short circuit caused by fouine,” according to a briefing that the organization published. The French dictionary Larousse translates “fouine” as both a weasel and a beech marten.
A CERN spokesperson Arnaud Marsollier told NPR that such accidents can happen, given the facility is in the countryside.
As the organization’s own briefing joked, “Not the best week for LHC!”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com