Colliders, Sundials and Wonder: When CERN and Science Is Your Destination

nytimes.com

18 points·jseliger··4 comments

> Particle physics is so complicated that it was like trying to understand a foreign language, particularly since high school physics was 25 years in the rearview mirror.

I recently visited CERN with a group and had a different experience. From watching the Higgs announcement, I expected to understand very little about the physics involved. But our tour guide (he was probably around 30 years old) was really great in explaining how the colliders and detectors work, so I felt that I could follow almost all explanations.

A visit to CERN is highly recommended if you have some interest in science :)

Any HNers want to share their favorite examples of science tourism?

The Stanford Linear Accelerator does tours from time to time, if you're interested in that sort of thing but don't want to fly out to Switzerland.

From a previous post:

Only somewhat related-- you can drive up to the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. You need an offroad vehicle, and you have to stop at least once to adjust to the pressure.

I did it once. Driving to an elevation of two miles is terrifying-- and it is cold (I didn't pack a heavy jacket to go to Hawaii), but the view was unbelievable, and it was great to visit the site of so many PBS specials.

The telescope is operated from the University at the base of the mountain so when you arrive there are a reception area and a sort of a cage in the telescope apparatus you can view the telescope from.

I could dig up pictures if anyone is interested but there are more professional ones online I'm sure.

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