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The impact of fundamental research at CERN on daily life

CERN Training 2024.01.19

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What brings us here?

  • Innate human curiosity towards fundamental questions
    • Where do we come from?
    • Why are we here, in this form?
  • Job with noble purpose, for the benefit of all mankind, rather than mere private interests
  • But also: range of practical CERN-born applications contributing directly to society, health and wellness of all human beings…

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Information Technologies

  • The World Wide Web was invented at CERN in 1989 to allow an ever-increasing number of scientists to share information
    • What would your life look without it?�
  • CERN’s Grid, developed to process the huge amount of experimental data, harnesses the power of computers around the world

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Medical sciences

  • Accelerators technology lead to the development of Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, also relaying on crystals developed by CERN
    • Cancer radiotherapy has been saving life to millions of people�
  • Space equipment and safety of astronauts assured by radiation-tolerant electronics, developed to cope with harsh on-detector conditions

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Environmental monitoring

  • PlanetWatch: monitor and analyse air quality data. Custom environmental sensors enabled by CERN’s C2MON, a Java framework for the large-scale
  • AtmoRep: AI-powered weather forecasts
  • Pollution and global warming are major planet-wide challenges threatening our future

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Political impact

  • CERN was born after WWII to re-unite a broken Europe
  • Open-access policy, military development forbidden
  • Continues to bring countries together by ongoing pacific collaboration
  • Quest for knowledge and scientific method is a planet-wide human endeavour

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Take-away

  • Working at CERN is like no other ordinary job
  • Plenty of motivation and success stories
  • CERN’s endeavors improve society, health and wellness
  • CERN brings nations together favouring peace and collaboration

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Backup

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