Janitor accidentally destroys decades of scientific research

The Times Union: US janitor destroyed decades of research by shutting down lab equipment

The Times Union newspaper reports that in the United States, a janitor accidentally turned off equipment in a laboratory where scientific research had been conducted for decades, as a result of which all their results were destroyed.

It is noted that the incident took place in September 2020 at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. According to the publication, cell structures, samples and other research results were stored in a chamber turned off by a cleaner for 25 years at a temperature of minus 44 degrees Celsius. The newspaper clarified that shortly before the incident, the camera malfunctioned, due to which it began to emit an audible signal about this, and the researchers asked the staff not to touch the equipment by posting a warning sign.

As noted in The Times Union, the cleaner who was in the laboratory a few days later did not pay attention to the warning and decided to deal with the alarm. According to the newspaper, he went to the electric switches, started to switch them, and after the sound disappeared, the cleaner thought he had managed to fix the situation, although in fact he turned off the freezer.

The publication pointed out that the next day, scientists found that the temperature in the freezer had risen to minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, and tried to save the materials, but most of them were destroyed beyond recovery. A lawsuit filed by the university against the firm that hired the janitor suggests that recreating the research that was essential to the creation of solar panels will cost one million dollars, or 84.5 million rubles.

The janitor explained his actions by saying that he thought he was turning on the switches, although in fact he turned them off, and at the end of the interrogation he still could not believe that he had done something wrong, claiming that he was only trying to help.