You know you’re a grad student if you spend your Saturday nights watching the Control Room Channel to see some of the first 900 GeV collisions. Although that sounds like a bad Jeff Foxworthy joke, sure enough, here I am with my laptop open and my monkey pants on. The lamest TV ever is on Saturday night, but it doesn’t matter. Word is that there will be collisions this weekend and even though I’m not in the control room, I’d still like to see them live (even though for some reason there’s no sound…). Some of my friends at CERN are at the LAr (liquid Argon) desk. Here’s a sneak picture I got of them 🙂
In the Atlas Control Room
Although it’s almost 3 am there, the control room is still full. Normally the control room isn’t this packed, but like a baby’s first steps, the first few collisions are always exciting. Unfortunately about every half hour, I have to refresh the page. I don’t even remember how long I’ve been watching, but it sure is exciting. Good thing there’s a coffee machine in there, and I’ve got my fresh pot here. Ooh winter storm warning for New York, you can’t phase me now… I’m in for the night.
-Regina
