I have written before about how life at CERN is just like Star Trek. Whoever picked the ATLAS control room notification sounds either read that entry, or (far more likely) is as big a nerd as I am. When the LHC starts to ramp up to high energy, as it is right now, we hear the Star Trek: The Next Generation “Red Alert” sound here in the control room.
However, I have an even better idea: all of the notification sounds should be movie quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger. For example, when the beam dumps, he would say, “I’ll be back.” Everyone I’ve suggested this to claims that we’d get tired of that, but as a California resident, I try to assure them that it’s impossible to get tired of the Governator and his accent.
The current beam dump sound is a toilet flushing, which I guess is pretty good too.