The LHC is dead, long live the HiLumi LHC!
CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
61–70 of 112 posts
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#62I was visiting CERN on one of their Open Days during the previous shutdown. This is one of the rare occasion where visitors can enter the LHC. I walked for about 500m along the beam which is remarkably small despite all its protection. Standing inside LHCb (one of the experiments where they track collisions) was one of my most awe-inspiring moments about science and technology. Photos don’t do it justice. It’s a mult…
Same here, beautiful experience and I am not hardcore phsysics/cabling/engineering nerd. The cleanness, the precision of lay of every single little cable, the sheer size of the detector when opened (was there... 2012ish, one of maintenance times).
This is spending that makes me proud to be a human and gives me hope for mankind, in similar vein as ie JWST telescope.
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm a former LHCb physicist and I worked for years in the cavern, fixing the cables you saw :) Thanks for your enthusiasm. Obviously, things seen from the inside aren't as ideal as a non-physicist person might think. There are the usual power dynamics you find in academia: PhD students and postdocs exploited to do service and technical work instead of independent research, careerism, researchers who have to worry mor…
I am in the industry too and I wish to get back to the academia sometimes. Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians no matter what are their political convictions (I am pro-Ukraine, of course). But yes, as a Geneva resident, I was at the tunnels too (Alice), and I am always in awe every time I see this wonder of the modern world. Sometimes I wonder how actual humans could build this, much like people did for the pyramids.
>Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians
Is that even legal under Swiss discrimination laws?
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#64I was visiting CERN on one of their Open Days during the previous shutdown. This is one of the rare occasion where visitors can enter the LHC. I walked for about 500m along the beam which is remarkably small despite all its protection. Standing inside LHCb (one of the experiments where they track collisions) was one of my most awe-inspiring moments about science and technology. Photos don’t do it justice. It’s a mult…
I spent a week there between the LEP going offline and the LHC going online on a school trip - the scale of it is just unreal - as you say, photos are one thing, but as you stand there in a vast subterranean cathedral looking up at the frantically complex detectors (we hung out with ATLAS a fair bit) it’s… awesome. In the very literal sense of the word. Don’t know if you visited the antiproton decelerator/LEAR but th…
Sounds like it probably inspired the underground part of Aperture Science
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#65Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in the industry too and I wish to get back to the academia sometimes. Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians no matter what are their political convictions (I am pro-Ukraine, of course). But yes, as a Geneva resident, I was at the tunnels too (Alice), and I am always in awe every time I see this wonder of the modern world. Sometimes I wonder how actual humans could build this, much like people did for the pyramids.
>Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians Is that even legal under Swiss discrimination laws?
Try proving they're rejected because of their nationality. That said, CERN itself does have some official statements on the matter:
- The International Cooperation Agreement has been terminated in 2023, following the invasion of Ukraine (https://international-relations.web.cern.ch/stakeholder-rela...)
- Their recruitment policy states they source among their member states except when they really really can't find someone to fill a position from there (https://careers.cern/recruitment-policy/).
I'm not sure if / how that works together with discrimination laws, however, discrimination is a different subject than nationality I think. I can't just work in the US, not because I'm Dutch but because of visum / labor / market protection / etc laws. And with CERN, added factors to consider are international funding, espionage, sabotage, etc. Some countries may decide to pull funding if CERN were to, for example, continue working with Russia or hire Russians.
tl;dr it's a lot more complicated than discrimination.
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a high school kid taking physics, we got to tour the Superconducting Super Collider campus. Obviously, this was nothing compared to being next to something that was actually built and did science, but they had a the various instruments and segments the beam tube with the magnets on display. Some students would intern there during the summer. The plug was pulled by Congress before I could apply. That was my introdu…
You can still tour the SSC. Just requires wire cutters and a bit more spelunking.
Damn that sounds fun! How big a risk of being shot would I be running if I tried this?
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can still tour the SSC. Just requires wire cutters and a bit more spelunking.
Damn that sounds fun! How big a risk of being shot would I be running if I tried this?
A non-negligible risk. More likely to get lost and drown. I wouldn't do it. But you can read about it:
https://medium.com/@liboski/the-superconducting-super-collid...
https://weburbanist.com/2014/09/11/the-desertron-worlds-larg...
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am in the industry too and I wish to get back to the academia sometimes. Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians no matter what are their political convictions (I am pro-Ukraine, of course). But yes, as a Geneva resident, I was at the tunnels too (Alice), and I am always in awe every time I see this wonder of the modern world. Sometimes I wonder how actual humans could build this, much like people did for the pyramids.
>Sadly, CERN is not hiring Russians Is that even legal under Swiss discrimination laws?
I don't think CERN is bound by Swiss laws. It's an intergovernmental organization with sovereign immunities.
Re: CERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3
#70I was visiting CERN on one of their Open Days during the previous shutdown. This is one of the rare occasion where visitors can enter the LHC. I walked for about 500m along the beam which is remarkably small despite all its protection. Standing inside LHCb (one of the experiments where they track collisions) was one of my most awe-inspiring moments about science and technology. Photos don’t do it justice. It’s a mult…
I'm a former LHCb physicist and I worked for years in the cavern, fixing the cables you saw :) Thanks for your enthusiasm. Obviously, things seen from the inside aren't as ideal as a non-physicist person might think. There are the usual power dynamics you find in academia: PhD students and postdocs exploited to do service and technical work instead of independent research, careerism, researchers who have to worry mor…
> felt a strong sense of frustration at how modern research in particle physics is producing papers that are all identical to each other and have no true scientific impact
Your comment above makes me think of Sabine Hossenfelder[1]. I'm sure you must've heard of her. I know she's somewhat of a "polarizing" figure. As a former "insider", do you think her core point stands? (Which is, the particle physics field has largely nothing to show for after spending billions of public money. Some particle physicists have even predicted so-called "unparticles", which almost sounds like trolling!)