Around the Laboratories
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Around the Laboratories The park at CERN's new 'Microcosm' visitor centre, dominated by decommissioned but nonetheless still futuristic-looking equipment including the body and piston of the BEBC bubble chamber, phased out for physics in 1985. (Photo CERN 154.11.88) CERN Shop window Public support is vital for the future of big science. The man in the street should understand what mo tivates physicists, what new knowledge has resulted and what are the key issues ahead. With to day's big international collabora tions providing young scientists with hands-on experience in man agement and frontier technology as well as physics, it is important, es pecially for the younger generation, to see how this physics is done. Now taking shape at CERN is the nucleus of a new visitor centre, de signed to improve the presentation of CERN and its work to the ever growing number of sightseers and science students attracted to the Laboratory - over 20,000 last year. This number has been in creasing fast and the trend shows no sign of slackening. An international Laboratory fi its own success, with bookings for quent development. The interplay nanced by 14 West European Italian-speaking parties, for exam between the two complementary States and used by scientists from ple, taken one year in advance! In physics horizons of the infinitely all over the world, CERN is situated addition, the completion of the 27- small and the infinitely large will be on the Swiss-French frontier just kilometre ring of the LEP electron- a basic theme in the Microcosm outside the Swiss city of Geneva, positron collider, the world's lar project. itself one of the major crossroads gest scientific machine, means that Microcosm visitors will be able of Europe. Most visitors come from CERN's installations are even more to stroll in off the street with little France, Switzerland and nearby Ita widely scattered, making sightsee or no prior arrangements neces ly, while the strong international ing more difficult. sary, and concentrate on what in community in Geneva assures an To handle this increasing influx terests them. CERN's key role in English-speaking contingent. of visitors and to overcome the higher education will be extended To handle the language mix problem of distance on-site, CERN by the new centre acting as a natu (English, French, German and Italian has embarked on the 'Microcosm' ral focus for groups of high school are standard options) and to fit in project, eventually to be equipped and college students. Language dif with CERN's own working sched with a full range of audio-visual ficulties will be overcome by cas ule, these visits are organized in aids and exhibits. sette packs. advance. Volunteer guides take New insights from particle phy With some infrastructure already care of the groups, providing intro sics have led to important develop in place and thanks to financial and ductory explanations and arranging ments in astrophysics and cosmo material assistance from authorities transport to suitable viewing points logy, extending our understanding in CERN's two host states (France round the site. However this free of the creation of the Universe in and Switzerland) and from industry, attraction is becoming a victim of an initial Big Bang and its subse the centre is taking shape. After CERN Courier, July/August 1989 9 RESIDENCE DIVONNE CENTRE HESTER de profiter encore et toujours de votre residence. % Luxueux appartements, du studio au 7 pieces, piscine, pare de plaisance, cour a I'ancienne et commerces. Residence Divonne Centre BUREAU DE VENTE SUR PLACE: iiaei* DIVONNE franco agence immobiliere FRANCE Residence Divonne Centre 10, Grand-Rue, Batiment A AEROPORT 01220 Divonne-les-Bains GENEVE Telephone 023/50202575 10 CERN Courier, July/August 1989 The superconducting coil manufactured by the UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for the H1 experiment arrives at the North Hall of the HERA electron-proton collider at DESY. leaving the reception area, visitors will walk through a fifteen-metre tunnel, a full-size mock-up of a sec tion of LEP, to reach the 640 square-metre exhibition hall, divid ing into four main permanent themes - the universe of physics and the physics of the Universe; the people, ideas and equipment of the quest to probe the infinitely ksmall; CERN's installations and ac tivities; and CERN as an inter national organization. Attractions lined up include a spark chamber triggered by cosmic rays, and an online link (loaned by Apollo Computers) to the OPAL ex periment at LEP, showing electron- positron collisions as they happen. Proton-antiproton collisions will be screened on a Megatek display. The important links between particle physics and cosmology will Cockcroft-Walton high voltage gen several years, but progress is now be illustrated by exhibits designed erator previously used to give very visible (for a basic description by astrophysicists from Geneva CERN's protons their first nudge on of the experiments see July/Au University's Observatory. Illustra the way to high energy, and the gust 1986,« page 16 for Zeus and tions of the technological spinoffs mighty BEBC bubble chamber, September 1986, page 11 for H1). from particle physics will focus on phased out in 1985. In the two underground halls developments and applications of In its initial form, Microcosm will (North for experiment H1 and superconductivity. Here the Univer be ready for the public this autumn, South for ZEUS) the iron structures sity of Geneva is providing help. but completion should take several are now ready and the 'rucksacks' The permanent display covering more years, depending on the rate housing the electronics (a three- two-thirds of the available space of funding. storey steel building attached to will be supplemented by temporary The steering group (Guy each detector) are being prepared. exhibits. LEP will be featured this Hentsch, Maurice Jacob and Rafel The 6 m diameter superconduct year and next, giving way to dis Carreras, with Werner Kienzle as ing coil for H1 (very similar to that plays organized by the European project leader) hopes that its pro of the DELPHI experiment at Southern Observatory and the Eu ject will eventually triple in size, CERN's LEP ring) has been com ropean Space Agency. providing a natural focus for a dis pleted at the UK Rutherford Apple- Large-screen video material is play of European collaboration in all ton Laboratory, cooled down and being prepared in collaboration branches of fundamental research. successfully tested at 40% of the with the well-known Palais de la nominal current (without an iron Decouverte science centre in Paris yoke) in April before shipment to and Saclay's Institute of Funda DESY in May to be installed in the mental Research. Additional spe DESY iron structure. The thin supercon cialized material will be viewed on H1 and Zeus ducting solenoid coil for Zeus (1.7 TV screens. Computer-aided dis m diameter) moves from Ansaldo's plays will also play a key role. factory in Genoa to Hamburg this A small park outside the hall is The two big experiments for the summer. already the home for decommis HERA electron-proton collider un Both detectors have central sioned, but nevertheless still im der construction at DESY (Ham tracking with cylindrical and planar pressive equipment, including the burg) have been in preparation for drift and proportional chambers, CERN Courier, July/August 1989 .