A Holiday To CERN

When planning a holiday or weekend getaway I'm not sure how enticing an information packed trip to CERN  would be, but the largest Particle Physics laboratory in the world attracts an eager international crowd to Geneva, Switzerland.
At one point I'm sure visitors to CERN were mostly friends and family and there are a lot of organised educational trips from schools and universities or for teachers, but word of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has spread. Especially with all the media coverage on the discovery of a new boson (if you want to learn a bit about the illusive Higgs Boson this little series of videos may be interesting to watch). I really believe that interest in Physics is growing and as a result people are using their holiday time to check out what exactly is going on at The European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The image above is of the Globe which houses a permanent exhibition called Universe of Particles. Every half an hour at the exhibition there is an exciting and informative film that takes you back to the Big Bang telling the story of our universe and detailing the mysteries that physicists want to solve. The film alternates between the French and English versions so if you come in and catch the French version, walk around and interact with the touch screen pods for half an hour then watch the show in English. The rest of the exhibition is a mix of interactive pods, displays of scientific items and pod seats that play audio files made by various scientists describing their favourite mysteries of the scientific world.

The exhibition was funded by Rolex and looks very futuristic and exciting and more importantly is free.

Across the road from the Globe, inside building 33 aka the reception at CERN, is another exhibition called Microcosm. It is completely different from the Globe and it is probably more exciting and captivating for younger children, there are interactive experiments and quizzes throughout this exhibition. The displays in the microcosm are quad-lingual (English, French, German, and Italian) whether the Globe only  displays two languages English and French.

The Microcosm features a garden with several large components of old CERN experiments, you might not be able to get out into the garden area but you can see them through the windows of the exhibition. They look quite impressive.

If the exhibitions leave you excited to learn more then there is still plenty to see. Tours are organised by the visits service at CERN where you will be taken around places like the ATLAS control room by a PhD student or maybe a retired Physicist, allowing you to ask questions or get an insight into the everyday musings of a scientist. The tours are free and extremely popular and you will need to book in advance.

After March 2013 the LHC will be shut down for maintenance, this could mean that visitors will be able to walk into the underground tunnel to witness the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator with their own eyes. Now that is quite exciting.

It used to be the case that if you were hungry during your visit to CERN you would either have to find the restaurant in a sports centre just down the road from the Globe or get a sandwich at the nearby petrol station, there is also a coffee vending machine at the reception. However this summer a little coffee shop selling sandwiches and other snacks became available outside reception making the CERN experience even better. Also located at reception is a small shop selling books, educational items, clothing and CERN souvenirs.

Getting more people talking and thinking about the exciting developments at CERN is important as it is such a unique organisation where scientists from all over the world can collaborate on experiments that try to answer questions about our universe. It is such an exciting concept, no wonder hundreds of people are visiting daily, whether on holiday or on an educational visit CERN is an amazing place. Spread the word.