{"id":595946,"date":"2024-01-19T13:40:33","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T19:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/?p=595946"},"modified":"2026-02-13T12:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:31:37","slug":"the-man-who-put-his-head-inside-a-particle-accelerator-while-it-was-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/the-man-who-put-his-head-inside-a-particle-accelerator-while-it-was-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The man who put his head inside a particle accelerator while it was on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Among the least advisable places to put one\u2019s head, a particle accelerator undoubtedly ranks near the top. Yet on July 13, 1978, Anatoli Bugorski, a 36\u2011year\u2011old Russian scientist, did exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino, near Serpukhov, Russia, Bugorski was working on the Synchrotron U\u201170 when he encountered a technical problem. In an attempt to identify the issue, he leaned into the accelerator, unaware that it was still active and that the warning lights had been switched off during a previous experiment. At that moment, his head intercepted a proton beam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particle accelerators, such as the U\u201170, are extremely powerful devices used in physics to accelerate subatomic particles, like protons, to very high speeds, nearly reaching the speed of light. These particles are then collided with others or directed at targets to study the fundamental laws of nature and the structure of matter.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This beam, moving at nearly the speed of light, passed through his skull. Bugorski felt no pain but saw a flash \u201cbrighter than a thousand suns,\u201d a clear sign that something extraordinary and potentially catastrophic had occurred. As if nothing had happened, he finished his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"-\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
That night, the left side of his face began to swell alarmingly. After a sleepless and uncomfortable night, Bugorski decided to seek medical help. He was rushed to Moscow and admitted to a clinic specializing in radiation poisoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dose of radiation Bugorski had absorbed was phenomenal, estimated between 200,000 and 300,000 rads. To put this into perspective, a dose of 400 to 1,000 rads would generally be fatal. However, through some combination of scientific factors and perhaps sheer luck, Bugorski survived. Unlike victims of nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl, who received high\u2011energy gamma radiation throughout their bodies, Bugorski was struck in a concentrated, small area. Although the beam burned a hole through his brain, tissues, and nerves\u2014leaving one side of his face paralyzed and causing hearing loss in his left ear\u2014his vital organs, such as bone marrow and the gastrointestinal tract, were spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"-\"
Anatoli Bugorski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Despite suffering frequent seizures, Bugorski retained his intellectual sharpness. He returned to work 18 months later, continued his scientific career, completed his doctorate, and maintained his position at the U\u201170, where the incident had occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the severe physical aftereffects, such as partial facial paralysis and hearing loss, Bugorski preserved his intellectual acuity. A remarkable side effect was the uneven aging of his face: while one side showed the typical wrinkles of age, the other, affected by the proton beam, remained unaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bugorski\u2019s accident remained secret for more than a decade due to the Soviet Union\u2019s policy of keeping nuclear\u2011related matters classified. Only after the Chernobyl disaster did his story come to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anatoli Bugorski not only survived this unprecedented event; he outlived the very accelerator that had injured him. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the country\u2019s economic changes, government funding for the project ceased, and the project was eventually abandoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"-\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
As of today, Bugorski is still alive, a living testament to human resilience and a fascinating chapter in the history of particle physics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Among the least advisable places to put one\u2019s head, a particle accelerator undoubtedly ranks near the top. Yet on July […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2284,"featured_media":595950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"two_page_speed":[],"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[],"tags":[110013,108403],"class_list":["post-595946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-radiacion-en","tag-sobreviviente-en"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdR79Q-2v22","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3563,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/pesando-la-particula-subatomica-mas-ligera\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":0},"title":"Pesando la part\u00edcula subat\u00f3mica m\u00e1s ligera","author":"Kort Beck","date":"February 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In October 2015, the duo of scientists Takaaki Kajita (leader of the Super-Kamiokande experiment) and Arthur B. McDonald (leader of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory - SNO experiment) \u00a0 received the Nobel Prize in Physics for proving that neutrinos have mass through the oscillation of neutrinos , which implies the non-conservation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "F\u00edsica"","block_context":{"text":"F\u00edsica","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/category\/ciencia\/fisica\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Katrin_2-768x432-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Katrin_2-768x432-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Katrin_2-768x432-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Katrin_2-768x432-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":542304,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/scientists-at-fermilab-close-in-on-fifth-force-of-nature-eacr\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":1},"title":"Scientists at Fermilab close in on fifth force of nature","author":"Andrey Robles","date":"August 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists near Chicago say they may be getting closer to discovering the existence of a new force of nature. They have found more evidence that sub-atomic particles, called muons, are not behaving in the way predicted by the current theory of sub-atomic physics. Scientists believe that an unknown force could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ciencia"","block_context":{"text":"Ciencia","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/category\/news-en\/ciencia-noticias-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/laboratorio_fermilab_jhg-bicubic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/laboratorio_fermilab_jhg-bicubic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/laboratorio_fermilab_jhg-bicubic.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/laboratorio_fermilab_jhg-bicubic.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/laboratorio_fermilab_jhg-bicubic.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":538603,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/this-is-the-first-ever-x-ray-of-a-single-atom-eacr\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":2},"title":"This is the first-ever X-ray of a single atom","author":"Andrey Robles","date":"June 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists have finally glimpsed chemistry at its smallest level after capturing the first-ever X-ray of a single atom. Atoms are the tiniest particles in our universe, and they\u2019re the basic foundation of everything that normal matter is built upon. As such, understanding them better will help us understand the larger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Physics"","block_context":{"text":"Physics","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/category\/science\/physics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/imagen_portada_radiografia_de_un_atomo_kjhg-bell.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/imagen_portada_radiografia_de_un_atomo_kjhg-bell.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/imagen_portada_radiografia_de_un_atomo_kjhg-bell.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/imagen_portada_radiografia_de_un_atomo_kjhg-bell.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/imagen_portada_radiografia_de_un_atomo_kjhg-bell.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":533515,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/doctors-extract-1-2-meter-snake-from-a-womans-throat-in-a-shocking-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":3},"title":"Doctors extract 1.2 meter snake from a woman’s throat in a shocking video","author":"Alejandra Galaz","date":"March 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"New fear unlocked...a video from Russia shows a woman lying on an operating table as doctors work to remove a snake from her throat. https:\/\/twitter.com\/digitalcerebro\/status\/1632773620488437760 In 2020, the incident was first reported. According to a British media outlet, a Russian woman in the Republic of Dagestan started feeling unwell, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/category\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-6-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-6-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-6-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-6-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-6-1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":533490,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/the-story-behind-the-blue-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":4},"title":"The story behind the blue man","author":"Alejandra Galaz","date":"March 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul Karason was an American man who gained media attention for his blue skin, which he attributed to his excessive consumption of colloidal silver. He was born in 1950 in California and had a normal skin color until he began consuming colloidal silver in the late 1990s. Colloidal silver is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-5-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-5-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-5-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-5-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Untitled-design-5-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":544819,"url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/for-the-first-time-nasa-spacecraft-goes-through-a-violent-solar-explosion-and-survives-unscathed-eacr\/","url_meta":{"origin":595946,"position":5},"title":"For the first time, NASA spacecraft goes through a violent solar explosion and survives unscathed","author":"Andrey Robles","date":"September 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA's Parker Solar Probe achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first spacecraft to fly through a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun and capturing the event on camera. This remarkable video footage shows the probe navigating through the massive solar eruption on September 5, 2022. The spacecraft traveled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tecnolog\u00eda"","block_context":{"text":"Tecnolog\u00eda","link":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/category\/news-en\/noticias-tecnologia-en-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/parker_solar_prove_kjhg-triangle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/parker_solar_prove_kjhg-triangle.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/parker_solar_prove_kjhg-triangle.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/parker_solar_prove_kjhg-triangle.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/parker_solar_prove_kjhg-triangle.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/5665.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":595952,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595946\/revisions\/595952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerebrodigital.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}