A Place for Science
July 25, 2008 2:50 PM Subscribe
I'm kind of in love with the post. I think it's lovely.
posted by the_royal_we at 3:13 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by the_royal_we at 3:13 PM on July 25, 2008
Newton's Cabin... tsk, 'cottage', please (oh and I was there yesterday)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:14 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:14 PM on July 25, 2008
Second the lovely. Thanks, homunculus.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 3:29 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by Turtles all the way down at 3:29 PM on July 25, 2008
If you like the Salk Institute image (Labs at Night) you should check out My Architect, a documentary by that architect, Louis Kahn's, son. Deeply strange, but that building is fantastic.
"I wanted each office to be private, and have it's own view of the ocean."
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:37 PM on July 25, 2008
"I wanted each office to be private, and have it's own view of the ocean."
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:37 PM on July 25, 2008
Thank you muchly. I will spend this evening at home poring over the lab photos and wishing I had cooler equipment.
posted by oreonax at 4:48 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by oreonax at 4:48 PM on July 25, 2008
i saw this slideshow earlier this week when a friend sent me the link. i spent 4 years as a SLAC operator and used to sit in these chairs for 8-12 hours a day. (that blue one sucks, by the way.) i haven't been back there in a few years so it's interesting to see how it's changed (not much) as the experimental program has shifted away from HEP and towards coherent x-rays.
the caption is only partly correct; the accelerator is usually staffed around the clock, but is shut down for extended periods of a few weeks to a few months, every year or two. it was also shut down for about 6 months (and almost closed for good) in 2004 when an electrician blew himself up.
by the way, the photographer is noah kalina, who's that guy who took pictures of himself every day for 80 years or whatever.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 5:24 PM on July 25, 2008
the caption is only partly correct; the accelerator is usually staffed around the clock, but is shut down for extended periods of a few weeks to a few months, every year or two. it was also shut down for about 6 months (and almost closed for good) in 2004 when an electrician blew himself up.
by the way, the photographer is noah kalina, who's that guy who took pictures of himself every day for 80 years or whatever.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 5:24 PM on July 25, 2008
I thought it said "Where do I Science" and was all like Science is a noun, man.
posted by clearly at 6:08 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by clearly at 6:08 PM on July 25, 2008
Many, many moons ago, I was the night watchman for a bio-pharmaceutical lab. During the day, it was kind of a lackluster, hum-drum place, with people going about their jobs with bored efficiency. At night, when I could get up close to see what they were doing, the equipment they were using, the glassware they had rigged, the chemicals they were mixing, and the immense collection of pipes, vats and strange, steaming, leaking machinery on the factory side that processed the day's work into a new compound overnight...
... it was magic. Pure magic.
This was science, as good as or better than anything you'll find in a science fiction novel, exciting and (at the time) way out on the edges of what we could do with bio-engineering. In the light of day it was... work. Boring, day-in, day-out work, done by bored lab workers. It was only at night when the lab was truly revealed for what it was: A science laboratory, where miracles were wrought.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:48 PM on July 25, 2008 [2 favorites]
... it was magic. Pure magic.
This was science, as good as or better than anything you'll find in a science fiction novel, exciting and (at the time) way out on the edges of what we could do with bio-engineering. In the light of day it was... work. Boring, day-in, day-out work, done by bored lab workers. It was only at night when the lab was truly revealed for what it was: A science laboratory, where miracles were wrought.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:48 PM on July 25, 2008 [2 favorites]
Wow, those nighttime pictures actually choked me up a little. Nighttime in a lab is not only beautiful, but it is also silent, and maybe the one time of the day you can work and hear yourself think. It's a place where you'd cycle to when it's too hot to sleep in your room; on your way you pass by all those closed shops and dark apartments and silent streets, and it's hard not to feel like you're the only person left in the city. And then you reach your office, slip inside, switch on the computer, kick back and read Metafilter till 4:30 am, when you finally have enough coffee in your system to start working again. Nice!
*Man, I really can't write for shit. Sorry for foisting this upon you folks, but, as I said, the night photos were really, really nice. Thanks, homunculus
posted by Anderson_Localized at 7:32 PM on July 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
*Man, I really can't write for shit. Sorry for foisting this upon you folks, but, as I said, the night photos were really, really nice. Thanks, homunculus
posted by Anderson_Localized at 7:32 PM on July 25, 2008 [1 favorite]
this is good inspiration for my quantum physics experiments
posted by bhnyc at 7:35 PM on July 25, 2008
posted by bhnyc at 7:35 PM on July 25, 2008
Bah. Seen the inside of too many labs at night. Lemme tell ya, without the fancy filter on the camera making the LEDs all twinkly, they're just like labs during the day, only quieter.
You kids get offa my bench!
posted by Quietgal at 9:04 PM on July 25, 2008
You kids get offa my bench!
posted by Quietgal at 9:04 PM on July 25, 2008
Maybe I'm too fresh outta grad school to appreciate the wet lab stuff, because the phrase "nighttime in lab" in the same sentence as "beautiful" makes my brain whirl. "Nighttime in lab" and "holyfuckIcan'tbelievethiswesterndidntworkagainjesuschristiwanttodiei'mnevergettingoutofhere" sounds more familiar, however.
posted by NikitaNikita at 9:49 PM on July 25, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by NikitaNikita at 9:49 PM on July 25, 2008 [4 favorites]
When I'm about to leave my lab, after turning out the lights I sometimes turn around and look at the hundreds of LEDs and indicators dimly lighting up cryostats and vaccum bellows. It looks like it could be inside the Nostromo, much different from when it's fully lit and you see the clutter of tools and cable.
posted by springload at 8:47 AM on July 26, 2008
posted by springload at 8:47 AM on July 26, 2008
sergeant sandwich is right--the photographer is being a little disingenuous (or perhaps just woefully ignorant) about the staffing in MCC (the SLAC photos). There are many times the control room is not occupied. Also, his time caption says 23:56 whilst the two clocks visible clearly show 20:58. Additionally, he's taking a photo of what is no longer the "business end" of the control room now that PEP-II has been shut down and LCLS is the primary program.
All snark aside, this is a nice series of photos. A shame he wasn't let into the more interesting areas of SLAC, though.
(Hi Nate.)
posted by essband at 3:09 PM on July 26, 2008
All snark aside, this is a nice series of photos. A shame he wasn't let into the more interesting areas of SLAC, though.
(Hi Nate.)
posted by essband at 3:09 PM on July 26, 2008
Labs at night make me feel safe and quiet. Much like empty libraries.
posted by you're a kitty! at 11:27 AM on July 27, 2008
posted by you're a kitty! at 11:27 AM on July 27, 2008
(is that jerry? hi dude!)
posted by sergeant sandwich at 5:38 PM on July 27, 2008
posted by sergeant sandwich at 5:38 PM on July 27, 2008
New at Seed: Revolutionary Minds: Five young thinkers who aren't just crossing disciplinary boundaries; they're shattering them.
posted by homunculus at 4:15 PM on August 2, 2008
posted by homunculus at 4:15 PM on August 2, 2008
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posted by munchingzombie at 2:57 PM on July 25, 2008