Fake Banner
On A Roll

What? Another boring chess game?Buzz off, this is my blog, and if I feel like posting a chess game...

When The Attack Plays Itself

After a very intense day at work, I sought some relaxation in online blitz chess today. And the...

Toponium Found By CMS!

The highest-mass subnuclear particle ever observed used to the the top quark. Measured for the...

The Problem With Peer Review

In a world where misinformation, voluntary or accidental, reigns supreme; in a world where lies...

User picture.
picture for Hank Campbellpicture for Heidi Hendersonpicture for Bente Lilja Byepicture for Sascha Vongehrpicture for Patrick Lockerbypicture for Johannes Koelman
Tommaso DorigoRSS Feed of this column.

Tommaso Dorigo is an experimental particle physicist, who works for the INFN at the University of Padova, and collaborates with the CMS and the SWGO experiments. He is the president of the Read More »

 Blogroll
The Quote of the Week

The Quote of the Week

Jun 26 2012 | comment(s)

"There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more
precise measurement"
Lord Kelvin, 1900
A Pot-Pourri Of Particle Searches

A Pot-Pourri Of Particle Searches

Jun 25 2012 | comment(s)

As we near the first week of July, with the start of the International Conference of High-Energy Physics in Melbourne (July 2nd-8th) and the July 4th press release at CERN on the new results of Higgs boson searches by ATLAS and CMS, the attention to new particle searches is understandably increasing. And the question is what the new 8-TeV data produced by the LHC this year will give.

Will the final word on the existence (or absence) of the Higgs boson be said ? Will there be new particle discoveries ? Will the LHC surpass the Tevatron precision on the measurement of the top quark mass ? Is the Standard Model going to show cracks from the result of other, off-the-spotlight  measurements ?
The Quote of the Week

The Quote of the Week

Jun 22 2012 | comment(s)

"It is pure craziness what Politics is doing in our country (Italy, T.'s n.): that is, investing little and bad in research, letting the brightest minds escape, not rewarding excellence, and failing to attract foreign researchers. Not doing, that is, what is being done in Soccer, where Italy is in the first places, exactly because Soccer clubs deploy the best players, their selection is based on their merits, the best ones are very highly paid to avoid them to leave, and the best players are sought abroad to make the team a winning one. And even the coach, if (s)he does not bring home results, gets fired.

To sum it up, we in Italy occupy ourselves much more in the selection of feet than in the selection of  brains."
Live Blogging On July 4th - Tune In Here !

Live Blogging On July 4th - Tune In Here !

Jun 22 2012 | comment(s)

CERN announced today (slightly preceded by Physics World) that the LHC experiments will present updates of their searches for the Higgs boson on July 4th. I will be there, blogging from the main auditorium at CERN in real time. By the way, since I just linked Physics World  for this, note that the site also has a piece relevant to the recent discussions on the allegedly detrimental value of rumors...
To All You Disgruntled Particle Hunters...

To All You Disgruntled Particle Hunters...

Jun 21 2012 | comment(s)

The tirade below (a bit over the top, admittedly, but I'm in the middle of a stressful week) is inspired by a post written today by Chad Orzel in his blog, Uncertain Principles. It is a breath of fresh air to hear that scientists outside high-energy physics (Orzel works in condensed matter) actually see things for what they are:
Seeking A PhD In Italy ?

Seeking A PhD In Italy ?

Jun 20 2012 | comment(s)

The CaRiPaRo foundation offers 15 grants for students willing to follow a Ph.D. program at the University of Padova (Italy). The winners of these grants will get a (modest, but normal for Italian standards) yearly check of about 13.500 euros, plus full board and lodging.

If you are interested, check the rules of the game here. The applications have to be sent electronically by September 5th. Note that if you won the grant, you could come and work with me at some hot topic in particle physics research with the CMS experiment !