Jefferson Lab Open House (2010)

[Snakecharmer95]

i would love to work here. it would be awesome. i'd pass out from all the sciency stuff XD i love science

[Snakecharmer95]

is there an open house every year? if so when is it?

[JeffersonLab]

@Snakecharmer95 No, it's not every year. We try to have one every two years, but it also depends on other factors, like the budget and site construction. As of today (2/22/11), there is no set date for the next Open House. If I had to guess, I would expect the next one to be in the spring of 2012. That isn't official, though. Don't book any flights based on that speculation.

[Jon58004]

you guys know how steve is always making presentations to classes why doesnt joanna also do that?

[JeffersonLab]

@Jon58004 It's because Steve and Joanna have different jobs at the Lab. Part of what Steve does involves him giving presentations to groups. Joanna's job doesn't require that.

[nwfklan]

Is this thing like the large hadron collider in Cern?

[JeffersonLab]

@nwfklan We're like them, but different. We use similar tools (accelerators, detectors, etc...) but we are studying different things. We study how the quarks and gluons interact within the nucleus. They study what the first few moments of the universe would have been like using very high energy collisions. There are some experiments we can do that they can't and vice versa. Since none of these facilities are exactly cheap, you don't want a lot of overlap in capabilities.

[nwfklan]

@JeffersonLab Thanks for a great answer!

[Almontmarine]

what's "goggle face"? can i have one too? it sounds interesting...

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine gog•gle face: the appearance of having been wearing goggles for an extend period due to numerous dents and ridges in the wearer's face outlining the shape of a pair of goggles; caused by the pressure of a pair of goggles upon the wearer's face from the goggle's elastic band

[Almontmarine]

suddenly steve's voice went very loud (when you reached the accelerator part), but joanna's voice remained the same loudness.

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Obviously, he's quite excited about the accelerator.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab i thought he spoke into a mic or something like that.

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Both Steve and Joanna are wearing microphones.

[Almontmarine]

actually it isn't "finally". both of you have done stuff on liquid nitrogen long ago. and what's "cryo"? you mean cryogenic. heard of "cryogenic" before but don't know what it means...

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine Normally, Joanna is the one using the liquid nitrogen.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab but both of you are like a group... and he used liquid nitrogen thrice: 1st, the liquid nitrogen ice cream, 2nd, extinguishing a candle flame with liquid nitrogen in front of the audience, and 3rd about the tea kettle.

[Almontmarine]

I guess this isn't scripted.

[aliceblack16]

what would happen if you put cotton candy into liquid nitrongen?

[JeffersonLab]

@aliceblack16 As it turns out, nothing much. But, you can't use it to do the 'cloudy breath' trick like you can with marshmallows. The cotton candy acts more like a sponge, so you end up putting liquid nitrogen in your mouth along with the cotton candy. It isn't overly pleasant. Steve knows this from experience.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab what experience?

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine From the time when Steve put cotton candy in liquid nitrogen, put it in his mouth and then had it freeze to his tongue.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab Wow! I wanna try that...

[parvathaker]

what date is the open house next year?

[JeffersonLab]

@parvathaker We don't know yet., although there probably won't be one in 2011. Sometime in 2012 is the current best bet.

[hitachi088]

Wow ! you got your own Accelerator ! i was thinking you was just a normal institute .

[JeffersonLab]

@hitachi088 Yep. We're a full-fledged Department of Energy Facility, just like FermiLab, Brookhaven and SLAC.

[Almontmarine]

both of you REALLY like candy... oh my gosh!!! both of you are like kids... OKAY... I like your experiments but I don't like both of you to keep talking about candy, like "Skittles!!!" or "Oreos"... or "Cotton candy". Err... but I don't mind you freezing them.

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine But there really was a cotton candy stand a few feet in front of us! They hauled it in for the Open House. We don't see cotton candy machines here every day. It was very exciting!

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab but both of you are adults. most adults don't like candy anymore...

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine What gives you that idea?

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab i don't know...

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab okay... so do you two like popcorn?

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine It's okay, but not as much as candy.

[ussyless]

is the accelerator responsible for any sort of technology so far?

i mean, 300 mil is alot to spend.

kinda hard to explain my question but, from what i can gather, you use it to observe the insides of electrons, atoms and that sort of thing, but what sort of useful technology could come out of that?

[JeffersonLab]

@ussyless Our main purpose is to understand the laws that govern the behavior of the quarks and gluons within the nucleus. Whether that knowledge can later be applied to something that has a day-to-day impact on people... We don't know. But, that isn't really our goal. We are a basic research facility and you never know what you're going to get with basic research. That said, the Free Electron Laser is a big technological spin-off from the accelerator and it does have a lot of industrial uses.

[Almontmarine]

do the visitors get to touch liquid nitrogen?

[JeffersonLab]

@Almontmarine No.

[Almontmarine]

@JeffersonLab how sad... if i went there i hope i could touch liquid nitrogen.

[DemonHunter2k7]

you guys are awesome

[JeffersonLab]

@DemonHunter2k7 Thanks!

[dudeyourvideosucks]

HOW YOU GUYS SO RICH?? did u say 300 million to build a building???? D:

[JeffersonLab]

@dudeyourvideosucks Well, first of all, it's a little bit more than a building. And, we also said "It's part of a $312 million upgrade that will also double the accelerator's operating energy." We're building an additional experimental hall PLUS doubling the accelerator's operating energy for $312 million. For comparison, the original cost of the accelerator and end stations was $600 million. So, double the energy plus an additional hall for about half the original cost. Not a bad deal.

[meowmeow5]

make subtitles for this one too please

[JeffersonLab]

@meowmeow5 Done!

[Snakecharmer95]

what state is this in???

[JeffersonLab]

@Snakecharmer95 We're in the southeast corner of Virginia. We've set the longitude and latitude information for the video, if you can figure out how to access it...

[steadfast1984]

yay for the acting.