Working at a Physics research facility this summer..

[McWilloughby]

Hi there. This summer I'm working at DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron), a particle physics/photon science research facility in Hamburg about the size of a small village. While here, I have access to a large range of areas that most people won't ever get a chance to see and it occurred to me that people on geekhack might be interested in seeing the kind of equipment and engineering that goes into large scale scientific research. Also, if anyone has any questions relating to these areas of Physics, I'll do my best to answer them (I'm a final year undergraduate masters student so my knowledge isn't exactly amazing) or find someone who knows the answer. Finally, myself and the other students working here this summer have (relatively) open access to the whole site so if there is anything specific you'd like to see, I can always see if I can get in there.

Anyways, to start, I'll post a couple of the photos I've taken so far.


This is the HERA (Hadron-Electron Ring Accelerator) tunnel. It was shut down in 2007 because with there was little need for it when the LHC went online. I believe they're currently trying to think of something to use it for so they don't have to fill in the tunnel again.


This is part of the XFEL (X-ray Free Electron Laser) currently being built. It starts at DESY and is a 3.4 km long tunnel with an accelerator inside to create very high energy laser light. The tunnel is split at several points resulting in 5 endpoints for the laser, this will allow multiple experiments to run at the same time using the laser rather than just one.


This is the EUDET Pixel Telescope. This is what I'm working on (and helping to build) and it isn't currently finished, it should be fully operational sometime next week and I can probably take a better picture then. Behind it is a large (maybe 3 m tall?) electromagnet that can create a 1 Tesla field and the telescope will sit inside that magnet once it's all complete.

[AKIMbO]

Wow this is awesome! Thanks for the pics.

[linziyi]

Amazing!!! I always wanted to be a physics researcher, would have a LOT to learn from you

[tp4tissue]

What is your take on Ultra expensive Audio Cables.

Also, Do you think EMR from wifi/cellphones can cause dna damage/ increase rates of replication error, despite the fact that they do not cause much increase in "heat"


I figure I'd ask you these 2 questions that bother me, because you must have access to the best EE people over there. Or perhaps you are one..

[Findecanor]

Also, Do you think EMR from wifi/cellphones can cause dna damage/ increase rates of replication error, despite the fact that they do not cause much increase in "heat"

It is already an established fact that radiation in the microwave bands used for cell phones and Wifi is not "ionizing radiation", which could nudge molecules in DNA.

However, there have been several medical studies that have shown other effects, such as brain cells subjected to microwaves guzzling an abnormal amount of sugar, the blood-brain barrier breaking down and killing brain cells, increase in dopamine levels (addiction?), lowered intelligence, etc.  That is what I would like to know more about, and I think that some deep cross-domain studies would be needed for that.

I do think, though, that you would be quite safe if you used handsfree instead of putting the phone against your ear.

[tp4tissue]

Also, Do you think EMR from wifi/cellphones can cause dna damage/ increase rates of replication error, despite the fact that they do not cause much increase in "heat"

It is already an established fact that radiation in the microwave bands used for cell phones and Wifi is not "ionizing radiation", which could nudge molecules in DNA.

However, there have been several medical studies that have shown other effects, such as brain cells subjected to microwaves guzzling an abnormal amount of sugar, the blood-brain barrier breaking down and killing brain cells, increase in dopamine levels (addiction?), lowered intelligence, etc.  That is what I would like to know more about, and I think that some deep cross-domain studies would be needed for that.

I do think, though, that you would be quite safe if you used handsfree instead of putting the phone against your ear.

which is why i put wifi in there, wifi is on all the time.. for years and years

[McWilloughby]

Also, Do you think EMR from wifi/cellphones can cause dna damage/ increase rates of replication error, despite the fact that they do not cause much increase in "heat"

It is already an established fact that radiation in the microwave bands used for cell phones and Wifi is not "ionizing radiation", which could nudge molecules in DNA.

However, there have been several medical studies that have shown other effects, such as brain cells subjected to microwaves guzzling an abnormal amount of sugar, the blood-brain barrier breaking down and killing brain cells, increase in dopamine levels (addiction?), lowered intelligence, etc.  That is what I would like to know more about, and I think that some deep cross-domain studies would be needed for that.

I do think, though, that you would be quite safe if you used handsfree instead of putting the phone against your ear.

which is why i put wifi in there, wifi is on all the time.. for years and years

The intensity of the microwaves from a WiFi router is very low and as a result won't really do anything. Kind of like how you couldn't set something on fire by holding it near a radiator in your house.

As for expensive audio cables, I guess it's like anything that's excessively expensive. You're paying an extra, say, $100 for a fraction of a % increase in quality. I've done some sound production work myself and the difference between stuff I've recorded in a studio and in my bedroom (i.e. going from a full 24 track studio setup to a 2 input preamp) is noticeable if you're listening for it. That said, I've never had anywhere near enough money to compare properly.

[McWilloughby]

Also, Do you think EMR from wifi/cellphones can cause dna damage/ increase rates of replication error, despite the fact that they do not cause much increase in "heat"

It is already an established fact that radiation in the microwave bands used for cell phones and Wifi is not "ionizing radiation", which could nudge molecules in DNA.

However, there have been several medical studies that have shown other effects, such as brain cells subjected to microwaves guzzling an abnormal amount of sugar, the blood-brain barrier breaking down and killing brain cells, increase in dopamine levels (addiction?), lowered intelligence, etc.  That is what I would like to know more about, and I think that some deep cross-domain studies would be needed for that.

I do think, though, that you would be quite safe if you used handsfree instead of putting the phone against your ear.

which is why i put wifi in there, wifi is on all the time.. for years and years

The intensity of the microwaves from a WiFi router is very low and as a result won't really do anything. Kind of like how you couldn't set something on fire by holding it near a radiator in your house (as far as my knowledge goes at least, there could be other problems that arise in the future but the technology hasn't existed long enough to say what the long term effects are).

As for expensive audio cables, I guess it's like anything that's excessively expensive. You're paying an extra, say, $100 for a fraction of a % increase in quality. I've done some sound production work myself and the difference between stuff I've recorded in a studio and in my bedroom (i.e. going from a full 24 track studio setup to a 2 input preamp) is noticeable if you're listening for it. That said, I've never had anywhere near enough money to compare properly.