So I’ve told you most of the good news about things I’m working on right now, including Skeptologists and the CWA. But there’s a third thing that I’m also really excited about.
Regular readers know about Brian Cox, a British physicist/rock star who does lots of TV interviews and the like. He and I met a few years back when he was filming a documentary about NASA’s Deep Impact probe which smacked into a comet, and he interviewed me about the tie-in with the movie of the same name. Brian works for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research*. In France and Switzerland, CERN operates particle accelerators that have been used for decades to push our knowledge of subatomic physics forward (and more than one Nobel Prize has been given due to work done at CERN).
Currently, they are building the extremely amazing Large Hadron Collider, the beefiest and biggest particle accelerator ever built. The hope is that it will open up new doors into the quantum world, and help scientists understand just what the heck is going on in the Universe on the smallest scales we can understand. Even after decades of research, there are lots of questions still hanging around, like why is there gravity, why is it so weak compared to other forces, and why do particles have mass? LHC may very well answer these questions, or at least get us heading in the right direction… and for the record, it won’t destroy the planet, either.
Is that Brian himself immortalized in an XKCD comic? I think maybe. Edited to add: I freely admit I stole this joke from Dave Pearson.
Anyway, due to budget issues, CERN is going to decommission some of the older accelerators, and they will be shutting them down soon. As a final gesture, Brian and his wife Gia (who absolutely rocks and is also a science geek, TV host, blogger, and just all-around cool chick) want to make a video about the facility, and have invited me to come to England and film with them!
Yeehaw!
I’ve never been to England, and even if I ever had this would still be incredibly exciting. I’ve never seen an actual accelerator before; a few years ago I visited Fermilab in Illinois, but didn’t see the actual hardware. I’ve also never been to France of Switzerland either, so this trip will be amazing.
I’ll be heading over to Jolly Old England on April 16th, and it looks like I’ll have most of the 17th to fool around and look for David Tennant. 
But we’re thinking that on the evening of the 17th we’ll have a meetup of some kind, a skeptics-in-the-pub type party somewhere, maybe Soho. I’ll let Gia figure that out, since all I know about England is where London and Cardiff are (yes, I know, that’s Wales, but it’s also where The Rift is, which is why I know about it). I might even be able to round up a few other skeptics, too; more on that as it develops.
The next day we’ll fly over to CERN, film for a day or two, and then head back to the UK. I’ll stay one more day and then come home, so there might be another chance for a meetup of some sort.
I cannot say enough how chuffed I am about this. I can’t wait!
*It originally stood for for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire
March 28th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Ooo. No promises, but the BA in the UK (that sounds uncomfortably like I’m introducing a hip-hop act) might be enough to get me off my lazy ass and drag me into a pub to actually get to one of these skeptical meet-up doohickeys. Keep us posted!
March 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am
So that means your moon hoax-hoax talk is cancelled, huh? Bummer.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:12 am
France of Switzerland?
March 28th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Welcome to England.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:30 am
[...] A matter of conCERN [...]
March 28th, 2008 at 10:32 am
We will all be standing on the runway to welcome you! It would be SO COOL to get the chance to meet you AND Brian Cox. He is the reason I am studying for my degree!
March 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Being an astronomer, you absolutely must find the time to visit Stonehenge. You MUST!
March 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am
What a totally awesome trip. Be careful around the Brits – they can be very sneaky and have a very dry sense of humor . . .
.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Cool… Shame your not coming at the same time as George Hrab, now that would be a skeptic meet up to travel down from the Midlands to see.
Andy
March 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
and for the record, it won’t destroy the planet, either.
Pfft! Then why build it? *snore*
I’ve never been to England,
It’s really not all *that* different. The food is a little scarier, but the comedy is better.
And they drive on the ***WRONG*** side of the road. Yeah, you heard me, Brits.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Yay, that’s really awesome!
I’ve been to England three times now, and I love it. Last time, I got to go to Stone Henge, Avebury, and Silbury Hill, which are all quite amazing. (Also Portchester castle, which is full of history, like everything else in that country.) Make sure to have some fish and chips – it’s not the good stuff if they don’t wrap it in paper. 
March 28th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Quiet Desperation:
I am a brit, and our food is lovely, why, just the other night I went out to a local Fish and Chip place here in Squamish, and was offered “Spotted Dick” for dessert!
*Spotted Dick: A type of English sponge cake dessert.*
Now, you must excuse me, I need a fag…
March 28th, 2008 at 11:10 am
You’ll have an awesome time in Blighty, Phil… and their water even spins the same direction down the plughole!
Bad Astronomer said: “Even after decades of research, there are lots of questions still hanging around, like why is there gravity, why is it so weak compared to other forces”
But surely gravity isn’t a force… it’s a side effect of the presence of matter in space.
Quiet Desperation said: “And they drive on the ***WRONG*** side of the road. Yeah, you heard me, Brits.”
Maybe so, but you colonials sit on the ***WRONG*** side of the car!!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:22 am
At the age of almost 15 I visited England for a week with my art class. One thing I can’t do without is ice-cold Coke. However, at least at that time (1974), it apparently wasn’t so common in England to chill soft drinks. At a restaurant one day I politely requested some ice in my cola; when it arrived, there was precisely one rapidly disappearing razor-thin sliver of ice afloat. So I asked the server again for some ice. She had a look in my glass, noted the sliver, and replied “There’s ice in there, Luv.”
But it was a superb trip, and I need to go back again. I’m interested in re-visiting the town of Bath, and Isaac Newton’s childhood home. I’d also care to see the town of Abingdon, where once lived a pen-pal of mine (now deceased).
March 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
The more I think about you and Brian in the same room and on MY SIDE of the ocean, the more excited I get. PLEASE have any meetings during the day, or at least early enough for me to travel down from York and get home again the same night! I would cut off my right AND left arms to meet up with you guys….so many questions…..brain going into overload……..Aaaaaagh!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am
“… I’ll have most of the 17th to fool around and look for David Tennant.”
Who?
March 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Now, you must excuse me, I need a fag…
A little baccy, eh? Will it be wacky?
Maybe so, but you colonials sit on the ***WRONG*** side of the car!!
Yes, but we are *definitively* wrong.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Brango said:
> But surely gravity isn’t a force… it’s a side effect of the presence of matter in space.
Whatever the ultimate cause of gravity, the effect is a force. The pull of gravity is weak compared to, say, the forces between atoms.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:44 am
The Bad Astronomer said:
> I cannot say enough how chuffed I am about this.
You might want to get that looked at.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Weeeeeeeee!!!! Phil’s coming over!!!!
Actually, the reason why that weekend is one of the very last times to go down into the tunnel is that they are starting the countdown to turning it on. They’ve been cooling the LHC for months now. It’s divided into 8 different sections and they are cooling it one section at a time down to -271K – yes, colder than the space between the Galaxies (how freakin’ cool is *that*?!). It takes a month to cool one section and, if when it’s cooled they find a little leak or a problem of any sort, it takes a month to warm it up again before they can fix it.
This is the main reason why they’ve been unable to say *exactly* when it’s going to be turned on…
But they’ve given us ‘the end of April’ as the final cut off for taking people down. After that it’ll be closed to members of the public for a decade or more.
It’s gonna be a good one!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Phil -
This will be my first post – but my gazillionth visit to your website.
Is your visit to the London open to anyone to attend?? Your coming to the UK will be SO cool…
And I so envy you going to cern in April…
March 28th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Oppps – please ignore the ‘the’ before London.
Tah!
March 28th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Welcome to England, and more importantly The Continent, where they have great food and drive on the right side of the road.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
BA will the pub thing be open for all?
Aaahh come on, don’t spoil the big English joke.
When you are having foreigners over for tea you casually announce that there is “Spotted Dick” for dessert and then you sit and watch them sweat through the whole meal.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
If you have any kind of decent layover in NY, I would be happy to come down and buy you your favourite cuppa
JC
March 28th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I was at CERN last year, and all I can say is that it’s mind boggling.
I’ve been to Gemini North up on Mauna Kea, visited the Neutral Buoyancy Lab and spent two weeks underground at LNGS in Italy, but ATLAS is absolutely the coolest piece of hardware I’ve ever seen.
Enjoy your trip. And visit the Globe if you get a chance. It’s right across the street from the main CERN offices. There wasn’t much in it, just a few museum type science demonstrations for school groups, but the architecture is interesting.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Fave pub in Covent garden
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/69/692/Lamb_and_Flag/Covent_Garden
fave pub in Soho
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/74/749/Ship/Soho
March 28th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
What’s so special about driving on the left? About a third of the world’s people live in countries which do. Britain is the fifth largest country, by population, to drive on the left.
What does confuse mericuns, though, is roundabouts (traffic circles). Just remember that the vehicles on the roundabout come from the right and have right of way (in Britain – the rules are bizarre in the rest of Europe (to do with having signs suspending the suspension of priority from the right, or something)).
Also, we’re still as backward as the USA in using miles and miles per hour.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
“and they are cooling it one section at a time down to -271K”
I assume you mean -271C? -271K would be -damn- impressive…
I’d certainly be interested in said meet-up, either before or after your trip to CERN.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Wasn’t Brian Cox the science-advisor for the movie Sunshine?
March 28th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Olaf
Well spotted
Damon
Yes he was…
March 28th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! (= I am so jealous.) Have fun. looking forward to the reports.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Quiet Desperation said:
“And they drive on the ***WRONG*** side of the road. Yeah, you heard me, Brits. ”
Oh, man, that’s fighting talk.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Michael Lonergan said:
“*Spotted Dick: A type of English sponge cake dessert.*”
Erm, not quite. It is a steamed suet pudding. With currants in it.
And, properly, it must be drowned in custard.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
You say you’ve “never seen an actual accelerator before?” You don’t have to go all the way to England just to see one, you know…. Just look down by the brake pedal.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Hmmm, let’s see…
I finish work at 5pm, and can get to Durham station by 6. The train takes about 3 hours to get to Kings Cross, then allow 45 minutes to get to Soho …. erm, hey Phil, I could join you for last orders! (But I would then have to walk home.)
Any chance your next visit to Blighty could coincide with a weekend?
Or – FSM forbid! – be somewhere slightly further north than London?
March 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Olaf- pffffft!! Yes, C! I first wrote 2K, then thought I should change it. That shows me that I need to concentrate more…
March 28th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Nigel, I was 8 when I moved to Canada, and this was the first time I had even heard of it. I was shocked when the pretty waitress told me that she had Spotted Dick. I wanted to ask her if there was a cure, or, more importantly, if I would catch it after she touched my food.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Marvellous stuff! Can’t wait for you to peg up in my home town.
Skeptics in the pub, eh? We’ve got something like that…
http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub/
March 28th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Fish & chips used to be our national dish but then we invented chicken tikka massala and we never looked back.
Real ale is our national drink of course. The pub links by Captain Swoop will sort you out for a decent pint or two, but The Ship doesn’t do food in the evening. The Dog & Duck in Soho is listed by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) as a pub of outstanding historic interest and Timothy Taylor Landlord is served there – voted Best Beer of Britain more than any other.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
“Damonon 28 Mar 2008 at 12:57 pm
Wasn’t Brian Cox the science-advisor for the movie Sunshine?”
I *thought* I recognised the name. So either
a) they ignored him, or (more likely, because I’ve seen his enthusiastic endorsement on the DVD)
b) he was willing to compromise his scientific principles to get the money/fame. Or
c) they ignored him and he didn’t care.
Not encouraging.
I mean, have you *seen* Sunshine?
“I know, we’ll nuke the sun and that’ll fix it…”
March 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Tim Taylors Landlord isn’t a typical beer though, It’s a Pale Ale not a Bitter, although it’s more bitter in taste than a bitter.
It’s my fave pint at the ‘Tap’ in Guisborough, it alternates with Durham Magus.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Large Hadron Collider Sparks ‘Doomsday’ Lawsuit
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/27/2033218
“In what can only be considered a bizarre court case, a former nuclear safety officer and others are suing the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermilab, the National Science Foundation and CERN to stop the use of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) until its safety is reassessed. The plaintiffs cite three possible ‘doomsday’ scenarios which might occur if the LHC becomes operational: the creation of microscopic black holes which would grow and swallow matter, the creation of strangelets which, if they touch other matter, would convert that matter into strangelets or the creation of magnetic monopoles which could start a chain reaction and convert atoms to other forms of matter.”
AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH
CIVILIZATION!! UR DOIN IT WRONG!!
March 28th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
17th – I’m in
March 28th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Is the LHC a collider for large hadrons, or a hadron collider that’s quite big? I think we should be told.
As for finding David Tennant, you’re excused for pretending Cardiff is in England, because that’s what the Doctor Who production team do. (Although Torchwood is very definitely set in Cardiff, underneath the Wales Millennium Centre.)
March 28th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
*is totally jealous*
Make sure you tell us where/when we can see that video!
March 28th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Gah! I’ll actually be in London on the 17th, but for a business meal, so I won’t be able to come
The LHC can’t destroy the planet, at least not until after your book comes out. There’s nothing worse than being out of date before you publish.
NB, a lot of what passes for Spotted Dick is indeed a sort of sponge cake and not worth bothering with, but the real thing is the suet pudding. As Thomas Siefert points out, it’s a dessert. When served to Americans, it usually follows a main course of faggots.
Have a good time!
March 28th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
That’s it! I’m starting a campaign to “Save the Hadrons”. I will not tolerate the abuse and wanton destruction of precious Hadrons! Put yourselves in their shows. How would humans feel if the Hadrons built a Large Human Collider? Would you stand for it while humans were sent running in circles at high speeds only to have a nasty end colliding into another human?
Save the Hadrons!
March 28th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
GregPC wrote:
The sneakiest blokes with the driest senses of humour are called “dodgy chaps.” >_>
This sounds like TeV of awesome. Have fun and don’t forget to write!
March 28th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Glad to hear you’re coming over here, but please bear in mind that London is absolutely NOT representative of England as a whole (which will probably come as much of a shock to Londoners as Americans!)
Try taking a trip up to the Malvern Hills for example. Elgar’s – and my – homeland. Or the Lake District. Or the Norfolk Broads. Some beautiful countryside to gaze upon, and all within a couple of hours’ drive from the good old Midlands, the land of the Chicken Balti!
Quick U.S. to U.K. translation:
Pants – trousers
Pocketbook – purse
Sidewalk – pavement (or footpath)
Jello – jelly
Jelly – jam
Big Mac – cardboard (!)
March 28th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
“…his wife Gia (who absolutely rocks and is also a science geek, TV host, blogger, and just all-around cool chick)”
..and she’s pretty hot too! I love how she has the come-hither “Spock” thing going on with her left eyebrow. Fascinating…
March 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
What exactly is Chicken Tikka anyway? I’ve heard of it but never had the pleasure…
March 28th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
“Tim Taylors Landlord isn’t a typical beer” says Captain Swoop.
Never a truer word said.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
England is nice, but look out for small hadron colliders in traffic.
March 28th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Wow, this thread became very British, but this was pretty funny:
Ah, well, your native food pretty much stinks. But at least you got the Olympics. (-;
Jealous about CERN…watched enough videos, darnit.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I’ve seen the big accelerator at Lawrence Berkeley Labs up close and personal. Huge blocks of concrete and a definite impression of chained lightening. And it wasn’t even running. Very impressive sight.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I’ve seen a bit of the hardware at Fermilab; the LINAC, the original main injector, and so on, plus the control room. It’s all extremely beautiful & impressive. (A single quadrupole magnet for the Tevatron costs more than a very nice house.) I haven’t been there in quite some time, but would like to see the MiniBooNE neutrino detector. Funding is getting rather tight. If I don’t go back soon, there may not be much of a lab left to see.
Another great spectacle is the intense pulsed neutron source at Argonne. It has a lump of uranium as a spallation target, and the story told is that the uranium was delivered by an armed military detachment. The building had to be cordoned off until the uranium was securely buried within the bowels of the machine.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Does “large” modify the hadrons or the collider?
Is a small hadron collider possible?
March 29th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Great news. Be good to get together for a beer or two. Just let us know where and when!?
March 29th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Many years ago some guy (an American? yes, must have been
) proposed his theory (that’s the creo’s interpretation of the word) that the British, amongst others, were assisting the Earth’s spin by countering the effects of all the countries that drive on the right! This really happened but it’s so long ago that I can’t recall if it was on April 1st. I think not because I was always ready for the BBC’s April Fool’s stunt.
If you can find any reference to it BA you can put it in an updated edition of your book.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Quiet Desperation said:
“And they drive on the ***WRONG*** side of the road. Yeah, you heard me, Brits. ”
But QD – if we change it, it won’t be funny any more.
March 29th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Great news, Phil!
You should visit Westminster Abbey, if only to stand where so many greats of the human intellect have either been buried, or commemorated. They include:
Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Paul Dirac, Robert Hooke, John Milton, Ernest Rutherford, William Shakespeare, Robert Stephenson, Lord Kelvin, and many, many others.
I realize that people weren’t necessarily being serious, but it does irk somewhat to hear people trot out that tired old stereotype about Britain being a country of bad food. Not only is London now considered to be the food capital of the world, employing most of the worlds best chefs (including all of the best French chefs, ironically), but British produce – and a food culture based on that produce – has made a major comeback in the last 20 years. The US is renowned for stealing the best ideas from around the world and giving it their own flavor, as it were, and that is largely what has happened here, as well.
Make sure you bring lots of money. You will need it, that’s for sure!
March 29th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Spotted Dick, eh? I had a bit of that once, but a shot of penicillin cleared it right up.
March 29th, 2008 at 6:55 am
You must’ve heward of Garret Lisi’s revolutionary unification theories using the E* symmetery group.
He predicts the existence of several new particles. I wonder if they’ll show up at the LHC. Not what Brian thinks of Lisi’s work, being a string theorist.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:12 am
I’ve got to admit I’m uneasy about those very remote apocalyptic possibilities with CERN & suchlike supercolliders.
I saw a very interesting segment on ‘Catalyst’ an Aussie Science show (ABC TV Australia.) which was great but ..
..Well nobody seems to know exactly what it’ll do or find.
If we really don’t know for sure (& if we did then what’d be the point of doing it ..?) then it seems we can’t absolutely rule out the remote chance that, yes, we’ll split the neutrino liek we split the atom or generate a quark strangelet (& I vaguely recall hearing / reading somewhere that some neutronstars *may* in fact be quark stars..) or super-strong super-quick -growing mini-black hole ..
Given what’s at stake
(ie. the possible destruction of the planet with us on it!)
I’d far, far rather this sort of resarch was conducted on a distant asteroid rather than on this planet.
(Besides, conducting this sort of research on a main-belt asteroid would be really x lots awesome! & we’d have toget tehtechnology togo out teher and get enough peopelgear etc .. makingit allworthwhile & then some – plus so much safer!
)
I’m probably being silly & overly cautious but “better safe than sorry” should be the rule where these things are concerned I reckon.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Said # Quiet Desperationon 28 Mar 2008 at 10:51 am :
“It’s [England's] really not all *that* different. The food is a little scarier, but the comedy is better. And they drive on the ***WRONG*** side of the road. Yeah, you heard me, Brits.”
Us Aussies like the English drive on the proper side of the road!
The rule is always :
England = the inventor & the correct. (They were there first & got it right!)
American = the inferior copy & the incorrect.
That applies to everything from English language (american english -> no such thing, its simply wrong english!) sport (cricket vs baseball, soccer vs gridiron, F1 versus Indycars) &, yes, the driving side of the road.
Left is right! Right is wrong!
Yes, Yanks you heard me! This Aussie is, for once, in agreeance with the Poms!
***********************
BTW. Phil any chance that you might meet Patrick Moore of Sky at Night TV & magazine fame?
March 29th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Cool, Phil — really cool! I think cyclotrons and particle accelerators of any kind are just about the coolest tools for exploring the microverse… so, do us all proud, yheah!!?
Sorry I missed this earlier — yesterday was crazy with stuff for this writer to do…
Um… you DO have your taxes done, right?
March 29th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Phil
You’ll lift the average IQ of the country while you’re over here. Hope you have a great trip, and we don’t embarrass ourselves too much.
I’d hate to see you blogging that we’re divots.
March 29th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
@Barton,
That was going to be my first comment to the rather lovely waitress, “Ohhh, is there a cure? Can I catch it now you’ve handled my plate?” My 83 year old mother was with me, so I kept my mouth shut.
March 30th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Michael Lonergan said:
“Nigel, I was 8 when I moved to Canada, and this was the first time I had even heard of it. I was shocked when the pretty waitress told me that she had Spotted Dick. I wanted to ask her if there was a cure, or, more importantly, if I would catch it after she touched my food.”
LOL!
My word, you had a deprived childhood!
March 30th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Elwood Herring said:
“Quick U.S. to U.K. translation:
Pants – trousers
Pocketbook – purse
Sidewalk – pavement (or footpath)
Jello – jelly
Jelly – jam
Big Mac – cardboard (!)”
I think this list could be extended…
Vest – waistcoat
Fries – chips (and they are certainly not French, although some places sell them as such to keep the American tourists happy)
Chips – crisps
March 30th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Dessert = Pudding
Pudding = Custard
Pint = 20 fl oz
Welcome Phil! I look forward to meeting you after all these years.
(sandra)
March 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Damon and AJ,
There was a pretty good article about Brian Cox and Sunshine in Discover magazine. Apparently Danny Boyle wanted to make the movie (relatively) scientifically accurate, so he had Brian Cox come up with a feasible way for the sun to suddenly start dying, as well as a feasible way for it to be reignited. According to Brian, the background theories were always intended to remain in the background, and Danny Boyle made it clear from the beginning that in certain scientific aspects (like sound in outer space) would be ignored for the sake of drama.
Personally, I like the movie to a certain extent. I was very displeased that it devolved into a bad slasher flick, and I never one bought the personality conflicts that drove parts of the plot (what agency in its right mind would trust the future of mankind with such a group of bungholes?), but the excellent effects drove it. I mean, the Mercury sequence was utterly amazing.
March 30th, 2008 at 10:54 am
By the way, Phil, I am so jealous…! England AND CERN! I think I hate you!
I took my son (my TLA) to Fermilab on their open house day in February, and we went on a tour of the LHC/CERN communication room (he was too young to go on the actual collider tour) and when it was over he said he wanted to go to CERN.
*Sigh*
I’d love nothing more than to take him, but feeding and clothing him on a daily basis takes precedence. I leave it up to you to blog on your trip daily so that we may live vicariously through you!
March 30th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
17 April, you say? Nature Networks have organised a pub meet that evening: http://network.nature.com/london/events/2008/04/17/5555
You could totally turn it into a BA/bloggers meet.
March 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I wonder what happens if you put a human body (or any other animal) in one of those accelerators…
Will it be divided into the particles of which it consists of, or what?
March 30th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Very good call Joe. I’ve copied the link into a threat on the forum about it :
http://www.bautforum.com/off-topic-babbling/72182-ba-uk-london-meet-up-thur-april-17th.html#post1206677
Doug
April 5th, 2008 at 8:47 am
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