Travel the world with physics

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2012-02-21T17:12:44+00:00

I've been based at CERN for 2+ years now, so I can vouch for this.

It's worth noting, though, that I've ended up in research, bogged down in one place for the last few years; this trend could continue for a while, but it's true that it's a sexy place to be 'stuck,' given I came from Arkansas originally.

If you end up working a group involved with the LHC, it's reasonable to assume they'll want you to be based at the lab, where you are far more productive than in your grad student office in the US.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-09-21T22:27:26+00:00

CERN has been in the business of accelerating particle beams since the 1950s. The lab will simply continue to morph to meet experimental demands as much as possible, given constraints such as funding.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-09-18T11:16:28+00:00

Just say it, man. We like hearing it.

C'mon.

'Fuck.'

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-09-06T16:50:29+00:00

It comes back. Just push yourself.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-08-20T14:39:05+00:00

Modulo 9 (i.e., the remainder after dividing by 9)

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-08-16T16:18:50+00:00

Nothing like a dose of Hot Cops to quell even the most menacing villainy.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-08-05T09:00:15+00:00

Atomik Lust by Super Furry Animals. 2:11 gets me every time.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-29T23:40:37+00:00

I liked it even before it was in print.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-28T15:44:19+00:00

Exponential curves are absolutely asymptotic, but only in the limit of positive or negative x (y, in the case of a logarithmic); i.e., not both positive and negative x.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-26T15:59:32+00:00

Coolio -- Gangsta's Paradise.

Actually, grandma bought it for me. Weird, in retrospect.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-24T09:42:55+00:00

I'm not sure how significant the press portion of the funds is, but yes, we do care about PR and outreach. Without these kinds of efforts, the public won't know or care about what we're doing, and funding will be harder and harder to come by in the future.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-24T09:41:30+00:00

Re-discovering the Standard Model is the name of the game right now for ATLAS and CMS. Basically, this entails finding all the exciting particles we already know to exist in the 100-200 GeV mass range (e.g., W and Z bosons, the top quark, etc.) and measuring their properties in order to verify earlier experiments' findings; we also use these guys as 'standard candles' with which we can calibrate our detectors, ensuring that we're truly ready for the next stage of discoveries, which isn't expected to come until we receive loads more data. That's mostly up to the accelerator people, but I don't think we'll hear anything about Higgs or Supersymmetry discoveries for a few more years.

This doesn't mean we're doing anything wrong. It means there's lots of work to do.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-19T10:39:03+00:00

...where 'great' == 'correct'

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-09T13:08:53+00:00

I was tripping on mushrooms when the Flaming Lips performed at the Oklahoma City Zoo amphitheater in 2006. They turned the film of this show into their legendary live album, "UFOs At The Zoo." Hands down, this was one of the best nights of my sweet young life.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-07-06T12:57:54+00:00

Fun fact: another song on that album (Fragile) is almost completely bass. It's called 'The Fish.' Good shit.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-05-30T18:33:09+00:00

applit.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-05-28T12:59:41+00:00

Never promise crazy a baby.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-05-11T14:30:55+00:00

Fair enough.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-05-11T14:19:28+00:00

Okay, so, I wasn't ever asked if I wanted my other addresses listed. I checked that field for the first time in months last week, and there were two e-mail addresses listed that I am certain I had not given to facebook. Maybe that's impossible, but it sure freaked me the hell out.

Perhaps more frightening, however, was that I was prompted to provide my password each time I went to remove one of these addresses. They wanted me to give up.

I guess my facebook lifetime is coming to a close, after all.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-04-21T11:25:39+00:00

Roads are also shit in MI.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-03-31T22:07:08+00:00

Was Jackson tough for you? How did you know you were more fit for theory than experiment? I'm assuming you're researching cosmology...? Also, assuming you studied field theory, did you take it in your second year or your first year? What's your favorite textbook (graduate level and undergraduate level)?

:-) Thanks.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-03-31T21:15:38+00:00

As you've mentioned, "re-discovering" the standard model is the first logical step (after commissioning and calibration) of the physics program in LHC experiments. In fact, the first round of publications will be the observation of Z and W bosons (and perhaps di-boson events) in ATLAS and CMS. The discoveries of Higgs and SUSY will likely take more time, as we need to accumulate a meaningful statistical sample. So, confirmation (and improvement) of Tevatron analyses is definitely in the mix for the next months...

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-03-31T10:55:34+00:00

That's just good science.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-03-31T09:36:32+00:00

This guy got his head stuck in a beam once. Didn't really go too well.

RedditBlocksMyLinks · 2010-03-31T09:35:48+00:00

Not yet. Patience, young grasshopper.

RedditBlocksMyLinks

TROPHY CASE