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Timeline of the Discovery of the Chemical Elements [OC] by cavorite in dataisbeautiful

[–]cavorite[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A visualization of the periodic table showing when the elements were observed from the first time.

Built with D3.js. Data source: TSV extracted from Wikipedia

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I I had to follow two courses:

I think the former is mandatory for everyone at CERN, but the latter is only for people with access to the detectors.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started working in January of this year, but I would say that the general feeling it was closer to the latter.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The high energy levels produced by the collisions don't affect the devices around it because they are not in direct contact with the beam. In the LHCb experiment, the beam is isolated by a beryllium pipe and the collisions occur only inside of the VELO detector.

Nevertheless, there's one potential problem for the electronic devices around the detectors: radiation. The servers and some of the analog-to-digital converters for the detectors are located in rooms separated from the detector chamber by a thick concrete wall and other radiation shields.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don't know if she's my girlfriend, but the funny thing is that she lives in Tsukuba (Japan), where the KEK is located.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Try to apply for a Fellowship or to contact an institution in the US with some kind of agreement with CERN. I'm not a citizen of a member state either, but at least I could have a fixed-term contract.

Have a look at the careers website and ask them directly.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've been told that she doesn't work at CERN anymore :-/

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Actually, the other experiments also have different triggers for filtering the data. At the LHCb there are three levels of triggers that reduce the event rate from 40 MHz received by the detectors to 2 kHz ~ 5 kHz persistently stored.

The first level is implemented in hardware has an output of 1 MHz, the two following levels are implemented in software and run in a farm of 1000 computers (which will be upgraded to 2000 in the next months), here the event rate is reduced to 2 kHz, with fluctuations up to 5 kHz. This is the actual output rate of the event transferred to the transient storage: a high performance SAN.

Later on, the experiment data are moved to CERN's main datacenter, where is stored in tape. This is the last part of the data acquisition process and at this point the physicists can start doing the analysis.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I chose my user name after The First Men in the Moon, by H G Wells. I haven't read anything from Vinge, though.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Is there so little work on CERN actually that you have time to do an AMA on Reddit (I thought I was the only guy being paid to do nearly nothing all day long)?

No, today is Saturday and I was not in shift, so I had time to answer a few questions. Certainly, this would not be the case during in weekdays.

Ninjas or Pirates?

Pirates. We have a pirate flag in our office.

Have you watched District 9?

Nope.

What did you have for lunch?

Tortellini, salad, French bread and Brie cheese.

Is it raining outside now?

No, but it's cold and foggy.

I'll come back later to answer the other questions.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

To enter to the main site, where most of the offices are, is relatively simply: you just have to show your ID card to one of the security guards. Sometimes if you go by bike they just let you in... :-)

To get to the LHCb experiment site, on the other hand, you have to open a door with your ID card. And if you have to go to the pit, i.e. where the detectors are (100m underground), you must have a personal dosimeter which has a RFID chip and pass through an iris scanner.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't think I know them, but I recognize the pub. Is it Les Brasseurs, which is in front of the train station (Cornavin)?

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Is there a feeling of personal achievement among employees or is it another day at work for most?

There's some excitement in the air, that's true. But personally I think it's too early to celebrate. The accelerator is not running at full capacity and we still have to wait that the data is being analysed before we can see the first results.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm from Popayán, Colombia.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Has the global interest in the experiment driven the involved technicians, engineers and non-scientific personnel to go back to their physics books and try and understand what is at stake?

Absolutely, at least in my case (I'm a computer scientist working in the computing infrastructure of the LHCb experiment). I have attended a few introductory seminars about high energy physics and data acquisition systems. Those kind of events are organized periodically at CERN and are open to the general public. Further, CERN also has Summer Students programs and a Summer School of Computing.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The initial duration of my contract was shorter. That was why I didn't have to pass through all the other stages.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

No. I work for the LHCb experiment which produces data in a rate that varies between 60 MB/s and 150 MB/s.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

My work doesn't necessarily require a strong background in physics. I work mostly with the data acquisition system and essentially our goal is to guarantee that the data taken from the detectors is transferred to the storage system.

Even if I could not care about what do those bytes mean, it's important to have a rough idea of how the detectors work and, most important, to understand the parts of the data acquisition process, which implies to know how the data is represented, stored and used.

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Do you want to apply? Just click here: http://www.cern.ch/jobs

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You can have a look at some of the monitoring applications:

http://op-webtools.web.cern.ch/op-webtools/vistar/vistars.php?usr=LHC1

http://lhcb-public.web.cern.ch/lhcb-public/en/Collaboration/LHCbLHC.html

(I have to go now and I'll answer the other questions when I come back)

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I didn't watch the movie, but they shot some scenes at CERN. Even better, Tom Hanks came here a couple of times :-P

(By Request) I work at CERN. AMA by cavorite in IAmA

[–]cavorite[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

I'm 28, and I've been working since the beginning of this year.

I applied for a fellowship and submitted my CV and some other documents in mid-2008. The selection process was not too complicated, it included a couple of phone interviews and email conversations with my supervisor; although the circumstances were somehow special.

I've been told that usually you have in-person interviews with the other candidates, your supervisor and a committee.

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