A MODEL of Europe’s most powerful atom-smasher is en route to Galway, just two months after the discovery of the so-called God particle in Switzerland.
The Large Hadron Collider replica will be presented by Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, as part of an exhibition of its ground-breaking work in particle physics.
Galway will be its first and only Irish port of call. Cern’s Accelerating Science roadshow is hosted by the Galway Science and Technology Forum with support from Boston Scientific.
The event is generating keen interest in advance of its run from September 16th for six weeks in Leisureland, Salthill. The exhibition is designed for secondary students, but will be open to all.
Mind-bending, early-21st-century scientific adventures are promised, starting with the “Big Bang” and moving into the mysteries of the universe.
Visitors will be able to activate the Large Hadron Collider model, learn how a particle-detector works and witness the impact of particle collision at almost the speed of light.
NUI Galway and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology are participating by providing experts. Dr Andy Shearer of NUIG’s Centre for Astronomy said there was no doubt last July’s Cern discovery of the new fundamental particle had contributed to intense interest in studying physics and astrophysics.
Images from Nasa’s mission on Mars and video from the seven-mile-deep journey to the Mariana Trench, the ocean’s deepest point, by Hollywood film-maker James Cameron had also contributed to a surge in interest, he said.
However, the work of the university’s centre for astronomy and the contribution made by the Galway Science and Technology Forum had a particular impact on the west coast, with numbers due to study the subjects at NUIG doubling this year, Dr Shearer noted.
“It seems we are at last moving away from the slightly nerdy image of physics and we are really pleased to see such interest in fundamental science.”
Dr Shearer is involved in organising the second annual Sea2Sky event in Salthill, Galway, which will run the Cern exhibition for a day on September 28th.
Galway will be one of 320 cities celebrating “European Researchers’ Night”, when hundreds will share their work with the public.
Sea2Sky will be led by NUIG in co-operation with the Marine Institute, Galway Atlantaquaria and the Cork Institute of Technology’s Blackrock Castle Observatory.
The separate but related Cern exhibition “shows how researchers try to find out about the laws of nature and the origin of the universe”, the Geneva centre’s head of education and public outreach Dr Rolf Landua said yesterday.
“The exhibition is particularly suited for school students from 11-18 years, their teachers and their parents.”
The exhibition is open to secondary school tours from Monday to Friday and the public at weekends. Book a place at eventelephant.com/galwayscience.
Information on the Sea2Sky event can be found at sea2sky.ie
