This morning CERN teams brought the first proton run at the Large Hadron Collider to and end with the message "So long and thanks for all the fish," - a phrase made famous by British writer Douglas Adams in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. The remarkable first three-year run of the world's most powerful
particle accelerator was crowned by a
new performance milestone. The
space between proton bunches in the beams was halved to further increase
beam intensity and the accelerator's luminosity.
Link
Dolphins: [singing] So long, and thanks for all the fish / So sad that it should come to this /
We tried to warn you all, but, oh, dear / You may not share out intellect / Which might explain your disrespect / For all the natural wonders that grow around you / So long, so long, and thanks for all the fish!
The world's about to be destroyed / There's no point getting all annoyed /
Lie back and let the planet dissolve around you / Despite those nets of tuna fleets / We thought that most of you were sweet / Especially tiny tots and your pregnant women / So long, so long, so long, so long, so long! So long, so long, so long, so long, so long! So long, so long, and thanks for all the fish!/ If I had just one last wish / I would like a tasty fish!/ If we could just change one thing / We would all have learnt to sing!/ Come one and all / Man and mammal / Side by side / In life's great gene pool!/ So long, so long, so long, so long, so long / So long, so long, so long, so long / So long, so long and thanks for all the fish!
On 17 December CERN's Director-General, Rolf Heuer, met with Ban
Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Their meeting
follows
CERN's accession to status of observer at the United Nations General Assembly
on 14 December. The two leaders discussed CERN's new status and how the
laboratory can contribute to the Assembly's work. Rolf Heuer pledged
that CERN was willing to actively contribute to the UN's efforts to
promote science.
In particular, CERN can help with the 'Science for sustainable development' initiative coordinated by UNESCO, and with objectives of the post-2015 agenda.
CERN, founded under the auspices of
UNESCO,
maintains strong relations with several UN institutions. CERN and
UNESCO, for example, lead knowledge dissemination projects in developing
countries. CERN's accession to observer status to the UN General
Assembly strengthens these efforts to share scientific knowledge across
nations.
Is this some kind of sick joke?