CT-PPS Detector Alignment

by Giles Strong

Continuing on from my last post, in which I described part of the service work I am doing in the CMS experiment, I’ll now give an overview of the second project I work on, which takes place in the context of the CT-PPS sub-detector of the CMS experiment.

CT-PPS, located on both sides of the main bulk of CMS some 200 metres from the interaction point, stands for CMS-TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer. The experiment is a joint project

A Narrow Escape

by Tommaso Dorigo

If I am alive, I probably owe it to my current very good physical shape.

That does not mean I narrowly escaped a certain death; rather, it means that if I had been slower there are good chances I would have got hit by lightning, under arduous conditions, at 4300 meters of altitude.

So, after this dramatic introduction, I hope I have hooked as many of you as possible, and I can start from the beginning the tale of what was meant to be a half-day excursion with no particular ambitions. I am spending a week in Quito, Ecuador, where I have been lecturing graduate students in astro-particle

Home birth

by Greg Kotkowski

Two weeks ago I was honoured to become a father for the second time. My wife happily gave birth to our first son. I was deeply moved by this emotional moment. For a long time to come I’ll have memories of my wife relaxing with a newborn in a swimming pool in the middle of our living room.

What could you do in a low-cost flight?

by Pablo de Castro

This post is the result of a self-imposed free-writing exercise while crossing on a plane, therefore it differs in format and content from my previous compositions. My aim was to write what I was thinking, without editing or overthinking. Here you go!

My first weeks at CERN

by Ioanna Papavergou

It has already been almost 2 months since I arrived at CERN, but it certainly feels like a week. Being in such an interesting place, surrounded by some of the smartest people in the world, is a unique and inspiring feeling for a young researcher like myself. I was also lucky enough to be able to have the opportunity to visit CERN in the beginning of my PhD, which greatly helped me to integrate to the CMS experiment.