Science Still Rules.

Let me continue my backwards recollections (Belgium trip is coming soon I promise) by sharing information about my second trip to CERN last Tuesday. It was a field trip of sorts, my boss took Micheal and I to visit the CERN archive. The archives were neat with letters form Einstein and memorabilia form various Nobel Prize winners.

The archive was nice however the real treat was the "behind the scenes" tour we received of one of the engineering labs.  My friend Vera is working as a records manager for one of the engineers who works with magnets on a massive scale.  I'll try to give an amateur overview with out being completely wrong.

This cut away section of the ubiquitous CERN blue tubes, shows the two path ways that the neutrons are "fired" The rest of the space is taken up by magnets and complex cooling mechanism. The tubes need to stay constantly at minus 41 degrees. The LHC has a circumference of 27 kilometres which means CERN has plenty of pipes on hand in warehouses such as these. 

*Add me geeking out

Why magnets you ask? Well, particles would naturally travel in a straight line and the magnetism keeps them spinning in loops under then French/Swiss countryside. Next stop was the room were the magnets are tested. Much science was spoken and the three archivists nodded respectful.

I wish I would have written this fresh from the tour as I am now hazy about the actual science. I remember that out wonderful German tour guide mostly worked on the keeping the magnets cold and that the amount of energy needed to do so was so great that they often halted testing during the winter months so Geneva could turn on the heat.

The fibers shrink in the cold hence the astro-slinky part!

Well that's all for this episode of Consider the Following.