The Register reports that a Cigarette fire takes out Internet2.
A lit cigarette carelessly discarded on a mattress is blamed for starting a conflagration which knocked out services on Internet2 (Abilene Network) between Boston and New York after it burnt cables which run through the Longfellow Bridge, which connects Boston and Cambridge across the Charles River. The fire, which started around 8.20pm, also disrupted services on the Red Line of Boston’s subway.
I’m not saying shut down all experiments ever and save the homeless. But the story goes on to mention that this illustrates the lack of redundancy in the network. But then again, doesn’t it also show the lack of redundancy in social programs?