Environment and the people

CERN and the environment

CERN's environmental policy includes a commitment to minimize the environmental impact of the wide range of activities the Laboratory carries out in the course of its research.

• Ensuring the level of environmental safety and protection specified by European standards and directives.

• Monitoring all parameters that might reveal any impact on the environment, such as those related to atmospheric emissions, effluent water, radiation, consumption of electricity and production of waste.

• Improving continuously its environmental performance through an Environmental Management System.

• Informing the Host States, France and Switzerland, as well as the public of the results of its Environmental Monitoring Programme.  [info]

CERN and the People

An international spirit

The endeavour of science brings nations together towards a common goal, and many of CERN’s experiments are international collaborations. The Laboratory welcomes many visiting physicists every year from all over the world. Some may stay for a seminar, whereas others may remain for months or even years working on an experiment.

The continuous flow of visitors not only brings new ideas for physics, it also enriches the Laboratory with a unique mix of cultures. As nationalities mingle and visitors come and go, the exchange of ideas and the circulation of people is the life-blood that keeps CERN alive.

A different side of CERN, as seen through the eyes of the many physicists and engineers who are currently working here, or have spent a memorable time here. Whether these are exciting tingles of being right in the middle of the action, or precious memories of moments past, they all convey a private view of CERN that is unique and of its time, adding to the timeless spirit of the Laboratory. [info]

The history of CERN

Origins

9 December 1949

At the end of the Second World War, European science was no longer world-class. Following the example of international organizations, a handful of visionary scientists imagined creating a European atomic physics laboratory. Raoul Dautry, Pierre Auger and Lew Kowarski in France, Edoardo Amaldi in Italy and Niels Bohr in Denmark were among these pioneers. Such a laboratory would not only unite European scientists but also allow them to share the increasing costs of nuclear physics facilities.

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French physicist Louis de Broglie put forward the first official proposal for the creation of a European laboratory at the European Cultural Conference, which opened in Lausanne on 9 December 1949. A further push came at the fifth UNESCO General Conference, held in Florence in June 1950, where American physicist and Nobel laureate Isidor Rabi tabled a resolution authorizing UNESCO to "assist and encourage the formation of regional research laboratories in order to increase international scientific collaboration…"

At an intergovernmental meeting of UNESCO in Paris in December 1951, the first resolution concerning the establishment of a European Council for Nuclear Research was adopted. Two months later, 11 countries signed an agreement establishing the provisional council – the acronym CERN was born.

Geneva was selected as the site for the CERN Laboratory at the third session of the provisional council in 1952. This selection successfully passed a referendum in the canton of Geneva in June 1953 by 16,539 votes to 7332. 

The 600 MeV Synchrocyclotron (SC), built in 1957, was CERN’s first accelerator. It provided beams for CERN’s first experiments in particle and nuclear physics. In 1964, this machine started to concentrate on nuclear physics alone, leaving particle physics to the newer and much more powerful Proton Synchrotron (PS).

The SC became a remarkably long-lived machine. In 1967, it started supplying beams for a dedicated unstable-ion facility called ISOLDE, which carries out research ranging from pure nuclear physics to astrophysics and medical physics. In 1990, ISOLDE was transferred to a different accelerator, and the SC closed down after 33 years of service. [ more ]

Teacher Programmes

Teacher Programmes

_at_

CERN

Keep up-to-date with the latest developments in particle physics and related areas, and experience a dynamic, international research environment. CERN offers you the possibility to participate in special programmes for teachers and meet with teaching colleagues from your country or from all over Europe.

The High School Teacher Programme is a comprehensive international course held in English, aimed at teachers who would like to spend the first three weeks of July at CERN. The next session will take place from 30 June to 20 July 2013.

The National Teacher Programmes are held in the mother tongue language of the participants from CERN member states. 

CERN provides all scientific, administrative and technical support for the programme, such as scientific content and provision of national language facilitators, lecturers and guides. Travel and subsistence funds, covering accommodation and meals, are expected to be provided by national authorities or by other sources, e.g. educational foundations. [link]

The Globe

The Globe of Science and Innovation

A landmark for CERN

The Globe is undeniably becoming the landmark for CERN. The role of this new spherical building is to serve as a source of pride for the scientific community by sharing the important work done at CERN not only with those living in the regions of France and Switzerland surrounding Geneva but more generally with the whole of Europe.

At 27 metres in height and 40 metres in diameter, it’s about the size of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. A landmark by day and by night, the Globe stands out in the wine-growing countryside not far from Geneva. Its wooden structure constituting a symbol of sustainable development, the Globe sends a clear message on science, particle physics, cutting-edge technologies and their applications in everyday life.

The timber of the outer shell of the Globe of Science and Innovation began life as the main element of the Swiss Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Hanover in 2000, which was the work of architect P. Zumthor. It consisted in a quantity of wooden planks symbolizing sustainable development. Those planks were then transformed into the spherical openwork sections that form the outer shell of the present building, which was designed by T. Büchi and H. Dessimoz of Geneva for the Swiss National Exhibition Expo '02. 

The building, which for Expo '02 was called the "Palais de L'Equilibre", was dedicated to the theme of sustainable development and welcomed 1.9 million visitors over the six months of the exhibition.

After Expo '02, the Swiss government requested proposals for long-term uses for the structure. CERN’s proposal to make the Globe a venue for the presentation of science, technology and industry to the general public, as well as for debates and exchanges on innovative technologies in partnership with private sector companies and public sector institutions, was chosen. 

The Globe was rebuilt on the present site in 2004 and was first used on 19 October 2004 for the official celebrations marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of CERN.

Additional work on safety installations and thermal and sound insulation has been completed in the meantime.

The Globe has been open for limited access by the public since 16 September 2005.

[ source ] 

Elephant

Well, he feels like an elephant

Shaking his big grey trunk for the hell of it

He knows that you're dreaming about being over him

Too bad your chances are slim

And it's not like mister shook to get shy when they ask him who is under

There must be something deep down in the middle down there

He's not too easily scared

He's got friends but they have fear

Who don't care too much if he just disappeared

Oh, look there he is now coming down the stairs

Here it comes

He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac

'Cause he doesn't like it looking like he looks back

He talks like his opinion is a simple fact

Somebody grabbed his collar

He cried the whole way home

He won't remember a thing 'til they start again

That's how it is 'til the end

Yeah

Tame Impala