As the world acclimates itself to the inevitable start up of the LHC, the scientists are wasting no time getting ready, gathering in groups all over the place getting ready for the data (a trickle at first, but which may grow into an overflowing river rather quickly…). I’m here at BNL now, at a three-lab “Jamboree”, where people are catching up with the latest software tools, analysis techniques, and up-to-date simulated data sets (believe it or not, the more data you have, the more simulations you need to correct away experimental effects…).
I also just found out that there’s a whole web page for “first beam” activities. Check it out especially if you’re in the neighborhood of AZ, CA, FL, IL, IN, NY, MA, OR, TX, or VA.
