The view from the test beam hall at CERN
One should think that the area where we do test beam studies is a very technical environment without any contact to nature. This is not at all true. Being at the SPS test beam at CERN means that you are in a huge hall in the middle of green at the flanks of the Jura. If for example the grass in front on the hall is mowed, it smells like fresh grass inside the hall for days. A very nice smell I like a lot.
As the SPS North Area is a big hall with many opening, of course you can find birds inside the hall, for example little sparrows. When doing a night shift, one can hear all the birds beeping throughout the night. Sometime they even sit above our setup or fly above our heads when we set up the electronics. I am always wondering if ever a test beam experiment was spoiled due to bird droppings ….
Directly outside the hall you can find many lizards. But taking a picture of one is not at all easy, and I spend more than one coffee break on trying to get one of these guys in front of my camera.
All of this is giving the hall a very special charm and I like a lot to work there.
I finally caught a lizard ....
