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- Accelerator Report: Technical stops always hold a few surprisesAccelerator Report: Technical stops always hold a few surprises The LHC technical stop started on 10 June, and the injector complex’s technical stop two days later. These stops were scheduled to align with planned work on the Swiss electrical network. The planned work by Swissgrid, the Swiss electricity transmission grid operator, could have caused fluctuations on the network, potentially disrupting or damaging the accelerator subsystems. Swissgrid scheduled their work from Wednesday, 12 June to Friday, 14 June (Saturday being reserved as a back-up day in case additional time was needed). CERN's technical teams worked hard to complete their activities in the accelerator complex by 2.00 p.m. on the Friday, hoping to restart the complex early if Swissgrid finished ahead of schedule. At around 5.30 p.m., Swissgrid informed CERN that their work was complete. This notification marked the official restart of the accelerator complex. Restarting the entire accelerator complex after…
- Going the extra mile to squeeze supersymmetry out of CMS dataGoing the extra mile to squeeze supersymmetry out of CMS data Supersymmetry (SUSY) is an exciting and beautiful theory that answers some of the open questions in particle physics. It predicts that all known particles have a “superpartner” with somewhat different properties. For example, the heaviest quark of the Standard Model, the top quark, would have a superpartner called the top squark, or simply the “stop”. In 2021 the CMS collaboration analysed the entire set of collision data collected from 2016 to 2018 and found features suggesting that it might contain stop particles. In that case, “might” meant that there was less than 5% chance that data containing only known particles could look like what was observed. Instead of waiting many years to collect more data with the hope of reproducing this behaviour, the CMS collaboration decided to reanalyse the same data with upgraded analysis techniques. The new analysis looks for the simultaneous production of pairs of stops. Each stop dec…
- Computer Security: Dear summer students, welcome!Computer Security: Dear summer students, welcome! A warm welcome to the summer-student class of 2024! We’re glad that you made it to CERN! We offer a packed agenda for the next two months: challenging lectures; interesting projects to tackle with your team; and lots of time to take a great big gulp of CERN’s academic freedom, spirit and creativity! In order to make your digital life as comfortable as possible, however, there are a few things you need to know. When you join CERN, you’re given a CERN computing account. Take care of your account password as any evil-doer might misuse it to spam the world on your behalf, abuse CERN’s computing clusters in your name, download journals in bulk from CERN’s digital library, or simply compromise your CERN PC and extract your photos, documents or personal data, or spy on you using your computer’s microphone or webcam. Worst-case scenario, the whole Organization is at risk! Similarly, take good care of your CERN and personal computers, tablets a…
- How well do you know the CERN & Society Foundation?How well do you know the CERN & Society Foundation? Did you know that the CERN & Society Foundation is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month? Created in June 2014 to support and promote CERN’s mission and its benefits to the wider public, the CERN & Society Foundation works nationally and internationally across three main areas: education and outreach, innovation and knowledge exchange, and culture and creativity. Education and outreach includes projects such as the Beamline for Schools competition, the CERN Non-Member State PhD Studentship Scheme and the Non-Member State Summer Students programme. Innovation and knowledge exchange encompasses several projects, including: CERN-MEDICIS, which enables researchers to develop new approaches to fight cancer; TimePix, which is a detector for monitoring radiation in the environment and has an educational component for students; and Zenodo, an open source tool, built and developed at CERN to ensure that everyone can join in…
- Building 60 renovations: one year onBuilding 60 renovations: one year on (Image: CERN) CERN’s iconic Main Building, Building 60, has reached a crucial milestone in its two-and-a-half-year renovation, with the completion of the so-called remediation phase. The overall objectives have been to bring the building up to current regulatory standards following the strictest possible safety measures and to improve energy efficiency to the highest environmental standards, while preserving the building’s exceptional architectural value. Building 60 in confinement for the duration of the first phase of the works. (Image: CERN) Since summer 2023, Building 60 has been surrounded by scaffolding and confined for this remediation phase, involving the removal of mainly asbestos as well as several other pollutants. Planning had already started in 2021, with a specialist consultant assisting the SCE and HSE teams with analyses. Once Building 42 was prepared for the Management and other displaced teams, Building 60 was fully emptied…
- Students from Estonia, Japan and the USA win the 11th edition of Beamline for SchoolsStudents from Estonia, Japan and the USA win the 11th edition of Beamline for Schools Geneva and Hamburg, 25 June 2024. Beamline for Schools (BL4S) is a physics competition run by CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, open to secondary school pupils from all around the world. Participants are invited to prepare a proposal for a physics experiment that can be undertaken at the beamline of a particle accelerator, either at CERN or at DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany). In 2024, three winning teams have been chosen, based on the scientific merit of their proposal and the communication merit of their video. “Mavericks”, a team from the Secondary School of Sciences in Tallinn and the Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu, Estonia, and the team “Sakura Particles”, which brings together pupils from Kawawa Senior High School in Kanagawa, Joshigakuin Senior High School and Junten High School in Tokyo, Kawagoe Girls High School in Saitama and K…
- Arts at CERN awarded European Commission’s S+T+ARTS Grand Prize for Innovative CollaborationArts at CERN awarded European Commission’s S+T+ARTS Grand Prize for Innovative Collaboration The European Commission’s S+T+ARTS initiative has awarded Arts at CERN, the arts programme of the Laboratory, the prestigious Grand Prize for Innovative Collaboration in recognition of its efforts to establish transformative collaborations that connect society with science and research. Two S+T+ARTS Prizes are awarded annually – one for Innovative Collaboration and one for Artistic Exploration – to outstanding projects that show significant impact on social and economic innovation at the convergence of science, technology and the arts, with each receiving €20 000 in prize money. The Grand Prize ceremony will take place on 5th September at the 2024 Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, where Arts at CERN will present an exhibition highlighting the collaborative nature of its programmes. As CERN commemorates its 70th anniversary, the exhibition will showcase the Laboratory as a unique…
- CERN's communications receive European recognitionCERN's communications receive European recognition The European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) has awarded CERN’s Education, Communication and Outreach group the EACD 2024 Communications Excellence Award. The award is given each year to individuals or groups who demonstrate excellence and best practice in communications and who build bridges through effective international communications, contributing to broader society. The jury rewarded CERN’s communication in particular for its commitment to transparency, knowledge sharing and transnational communications. “In its 70th birthday year CERN continues to lead not just in scientific research, but in engaging the world and communicating its discoveries and innovation”, said Kim Larsen, the EACD President. “This award is well-deserved recognition of the work done by everyone involved in CERN communications and the many scientists we work with every day”, explains Ana Godinho, head of the Education, Communication and Ou…
