Saturday, September 13, 2008

Skydiving Interlaken!

It all started with an email to friends in Geneva for a weekend trip to Interlaken. We ended up with 17 folks renting out a hostel and doing extreme activities. Interlaken is known for it's outdoor fun.

Doug and I take a jump out of a heli into the Swiss Alps. The town is called Interlaken. As you will notice, the lakes are 2 different colors. One is filled by the glaciers (Blue) and the other isn't (Blue green).

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

How to Recreate the 'Big Bang' 101

Today there is a lot of energy flying around Geneva and I'm not talking about the ski season coming up. Its time to send some particles flying and letting them collide into what would be a 25 year long project to reproduce the 'Big Bang' (On a much smaller scale of course).

This summer, in the most expensive machine on earth ($9 Billion) Large Hadron Collider, scientists at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, will be smashing atoms at full power to monitor debris in the hopes of learning more about the origins and workings of the universe.



The device is located deep beneath the border of France and Switzerland (Just outside Geneva), firing protons around a 27-kilometer (17-mile) tunnel at over 11000 times a second. Today they kicked off the first particle beam running counterclockwise and then clockwise. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro "black holes" and endanger the planet. The results are hoping to teach them more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.

These are great conversation pieces. I try not to talk about work with friends that I've made from CERN. They usually go into tangents that leave me looking like deer in headlights.

You may have not known, but the internet was created at CERN, not by Al Gore.

Below is an overview of cern:


They also have a rap about the project that is getting a lot of hits on youtube.
CERN RAP

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

Matt from Connecticut, at 31 years old quit his job to travel. The people from stride gum saw his dancing video and asked if he wanted to take a paid trip around the world. The only thing he has to do is dance.

Can't say much for Matt's dancing skills, but this guy went to some amazing places.
14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands.



http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/