April 1, 2026
Blue shell meets black hole
CERN levels up with new superconducting karts
CERN’s “hover karts” spark Mario jokes, April Fools cries, and taxpayer side‑eye
TLDR: CERN teased levitating “super karts” for its tunnel as the collider heads into a big upgrade, and the internet yelled “Mario Kart” while many called April Fools. Fans loved the nerdy Easter eggs; skeptics questioned public spending—spotlighting the tension between playful outreach and accountability as the High‑Luminosity LHC ramps up.
Move over bicycles—CERN just teased “supercharged karts” to zip through the 27‑km Large Hadron Collider (the giant underground ring near Geneva) during Long Shutdown 3, the pause to upgrade it into the brighter High‑Luminosity LHC. But the internet grabbed pole position: the comments are pure chaos, comedy, and side‑eye.
The joke-patrol showed up fast. One fan crowned the project lead “Mario ‘Kart’ Idraulico,” while others asked, is this April Fools? With 64 “superconducting engines,” levitation talk, and safety gear nicknamed SHELLS—plus characters named Luigi, Yoshi, Rosalina, and “Luma”—the Mario‑verse breadcrumbs are impossible to miss. Even the safety coordinator nixed “bananas in the tunnel,” which the thread took as a giant wink. Still, a few science lovers couldn’t help swooning: “high temperature superconductors my beloved,” sighed one commenter.
Cue the drama: not everyone is laughing. A critical voice called it a “meh joke” on the public dime, reviving gripes about CERN’s custom .cern domain spend. Defenders argue playful outreach gets people curious about real science—and the real upgrade matters. Whether gag or not, the takeaway is clear: people are buzzing about the High‑Luminosity LHC and how CERN communicates it. Science, memes, and money talk—start your engines.
Key Points
- •CERN describes developing superconducting karts to replace bicycles for travel in the 27‑km LHC tunnel during Long Shutdown 3.
- •The article states each kart uses 64 superconducting engines and levitates via the Meissner effect when cooled below critical temperatures.
- •Initial tests are reported as promising, with an underground race planned to compare kart designs.
- •Safety provisions include issuing SHELLS protective equipment to drivers and setting tunnel rules.
- •CERN’s Knowledge Transfer Group is in talks with European startup Quantum Mushroom about aerospace and anti‑gravity applications; onsite nursery children inspired the designs.