--- description: CERN particle collider shut down after a weasel or marten may have eaten an electrical circuit. title: Weasel-Like Animal Shuts Down World's Most Powerful Particle Accelerator image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe413a876df68f00/69889142428a9ec407cd2700/gettyimages-475181433.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Weasel-Like Animal Shuts Down World's Most Powerful Particle Accelerator  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 29, 2016 8:01 PM CUT  Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, France Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, FranceGetty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 29, 2016 8:01 PM CUT A weasel-like animal shut down the world’s largest and most powerful [particle accelerator](http://home.cern/about/how-accelerator-works "undefined") near Geneva, Switzerland, early Friday after weaseling into a transformer. [CERN’s Large Hadron Collider ](http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2118809,00.html "undefined")experienced a “severe electrical perturbation” that “damaged” transformer connections due to a “short circuit caused by fouine,” according to a [briefing](http://indico.cern.ch/event/506407/contributions/1184968/attachments/1265776/1873815/LHC%5F29042016.pdf "undefined") 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](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/29/476154494/weasel-shuts-down-world-s-most-powerful-particle-collider?utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fcampaign=npr&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fterm=nprnews "undefined") 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!”](http://indico.cern.ch/event/506407/contributions/1184968/attachments/1265776/1873815/LHC%5F29042016.pdf "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4312818/cern-weasel-marten-small-animal-particle-collider-cern-hadron/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4312818/cern-weasel-marten-small-animal-particle-collider-cern-hadron/"},"headline":"Weasel-Like Animal Shuts Down World's Most Powerful Particle Accelerator","datePublished":"2016-04-29T20:01:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:59.694Z","description":"CERN's Large Hadron Collider experienced a \"severe electrical perturbation,\" thanks to the animal","url":"https://time.com/4312818/cern-weasel-marten-small-animal-particle-collider-cern-hadron/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe413a876df68f00/69889142428a9ec407cd2700/gettyimages-475181433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe413a876df68f00/69889142428a9ec407cd2700/gettyimages-475181433.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, France","caption":"Stone Marten or Beech Marten (Martes foina), Normandy, France","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4312818/cern-weasel-marten-small-animal-particle-collider-cern-hadron/","name":"Weasel-Like Animal Shuts Down World's Most Powerful Particle Accelerator"}}]}] ```