To start the day, I woke up early to get to CERN early to try to get a space on a tour. But I couldn't find my main set of keys. I had my backup keyring, but my main one was AWOL. After checking my bike without results, one of the girls at the front desk intercepted me and told me I dropped my keys in the parking lot yesterday. Someone found them and give them to the front desk. I think I dodged another bullet!
Anyway. (Always an anyway.)
I couldn't get an advanced reservation on a tour, but they suggested I get there by 09:00 and they'd try to fit me in. I did, and they did, for the 13:00 tour.
They can't take people into the tunnels on this tour as experiments are running. They said that they may be shutting down the LHC in 2013 for upgrades, which might open up the tunnel for tours. I'm already planning ahead for that! (Anyone want to do a CERN+Oktoberfest week in 2013?)
They started the tour in CERN building 33 with a movie going over the first 50 years. Saying it was inspiring to me is an understatement. If I had seen it 20 years ago, I know I'd be living over here, working at CERN now. The importance this project has played in science is breathtaking.
After the tour, they took us to the ATLAS building. They showed us a 3d video from the making of the ATLAS collector, then took us to see the ATLAS command centre.
I met a Danish rider at the tour. He mentioned the costs of owning a vehicle is absurd in Denmark. Like, the plate itself costs 125% of the sales tax, which is 25% on top of the cost of the vehicle. Buying a car can easily cost half a year's salary, if not well over.
Posted with Blogsy
An interesting article on IT at the LHC:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.itnews.com.au/News/310769,computing-for-the-large-hadron-collider.aspx
1TB/sec. Mmmmm.