The Boss: Comic Book on CERN and the LHC by Karl Gill

1. terrifying!!!!! comic books to communicate science introducing karl gill as The Boss unbelievable!!!!! amazing!!!!! hst 2006 participants Victims: aline guevara, rebeca lópez, helena howaniec, stacy mccormack

2. objectives • outreach to teenage audience • describe the amazing aspects of CERN, the LHC, and CMS experiment including (some) physics, technology, applications • 24 pages, contemporary style • similar to huyghens comic ‘objective titan’ • the story will be centered around 2 kids sneaking into CERN/CMS • and their experiences • being in a recreation of the big bang

3. working groupactivites looked at existing huyghens comic • materials: previous comic • collected feedback on style, content and usefulness • do’s and don’ts considered the CMS comic • materials: storyboard, 4page brochure (draft) • discussed • the prototype storyboard • main ideas for images • main ideas for the story • how to make connections to high school physics concepts

4. WHERE ? AT THE BORDER OF FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND, MANY COUNTRIES ARE WORKING TOGETHER AT CERN, THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH, ON AN AMAZING PROJECT. IN A 27KM TUNNEL ABOUT 100M UNDERGROUND SITS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST SCIENTIFIC TOOL, A PARTICLE ACCELERATOR CALLED THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER, OR LHC. VAST CATHEDRAL-SIZED CAVERNS HOUSE GIGANTIC PARTICLE DETECTORS . THE COMPACT MUON SOLENOID OR CMS, IS ONE OF THESE DETECTORS, A NEW GENERATION PARTICLE HUNTER BUILT BY A WORLDWIDE COLLABORATION OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS. WHY? TO UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF MATTER AND FORCES FROM THE BIG BANG 14BILLION YEARS AGO, RIGHT UP TO THE PRESENT DAY AND BEYOND. JUST AFTER THE BIG BANG THE UNIVERSE WAS A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE, A STRANGE SOUP OF EXOTIC PARTICLES AND ANTI- PARTICLES TOTALLY UNLIKE THE STUFF WE’RE MADE OF TODAY. MORE THAN 95% OF THE ENERGY AND MATERIAL THAT WE KNOW EXISTS IN THE UNIVERSE REMAINS UNACCOUNTED FOR. CMS AND LHC WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN THESE PUZZLES. HOW? BY ACCELERATING TWO BEAMS OF 100000 MILLION PROTONS TO 99.9998% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND THEN CRASHING THEM TOGETHER HEAD-ON. THE LHC CCELERATES THE PROTONS USING RADIO WAVES – THE PARTICLE PICK UP SPEED LIKE SURFERS RIDING DOWN BIG OCEAN WAVES BEFORE TO BE FOCUSED TO LESS THAN A HAIR’S BREADTH FOR COLLISIONS AT THE CENTRE OF CMS. CRYOGENIC SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS, COLDER THAN OUTER SPACE STEER THE BEAMS ROUND AND AROUND WHAT IS OBSERVED? LIKE DETECTIVES, PHYSICISTS CAREFULLY SIFT THROUGH ALL THE EVIDENCE RECORDED BY THE CMS DETECTOR. LOOKING FOR NEW PARTICLES IS LIKE SEARCHING A FOR NEEDLE LOST IN A THOUSAND HAYSTACKS. POWERFUL ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTERS NARROW DOWN THIS SEARCH WITH INCREDIBLE SPEED AND ACCURACY. ARE THERE ANY APPLICATIONS? PARTICLE PHYSICS IS FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH, AN IMPORTANT HUMAN ENDEAVOUR SINCE ANCIENT TIMES. THE MAIN AIM IS TO INCREASING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE. NEVERTHELESS, SOME VERY IMPORTANT ADVANCES HAVE COME OUT OF PARTICLE PHYSICS: MEDICAL IMAGING, NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND THE WEB ARE AMONG THE MOST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS. WHAT’S NEXT? COME, JOIN IN AND MAKE IT HAPPEN…… WHAT HAPPENS? EVERY 25 NANOSECONDS A FEW PROTONS COLLIDE AT THE CENTE OF CMS AND THE TEMPERATURE MOMENTARILY PASSES A BILLION DEGREES, MAKING A VERY SMALL ‘BIG BANG’. PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN AND SUPER-HEAVY PARTICLES, EXTINCT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME, MAY REAPPEAR FOR JUST THE TINIEST FRACTION OF A SECOND. THEN THEY DISINTEGRATE, THEIR MASS CONVERTS TO ENERGY CREATING A CASCADE OF MAYBE HUNDREDS OF MORE FAMILIAR PARTICLES THAT BLAST INTO CMS. WE CAN SEE AND MEASURE THESE PARTICLES IN CMS AND LATER RECONSTRUCT WHAT HAPPENED.

5. now, if you are trying to make a comic some info you need to know before you try to write one of those…

6. do’s and don’t’s • comics won’t be understandable just because they’re comics! • only one structure, just a few topics, one conflict to solve • use a simple principle from literature: “SHOW, DON’T TELL” then please… avoid phrases like “your friend the atom” or “the fantastic world of…” (???)

7. feedback from HST • positive attitude towards the use of a comic because it could fit in well with classwork • problems: there’s a lot of information, (it’s difficult to handle it all) • question remains of how to structure the use of the comic • classwork to discuss the relevant concepts • homework to read the comic • You probably have to ‘force’ the students to read it!!

8. feedback from HST • positive attitude towards the use of a comic because it could fit in well with classwork • problems: there’s a lot of information, (it’s difficult to handle it all) • question remains of how to structure the use of the comic • classwork to discuss the relevant concepts • homework to read the comic • You probably have to ‘force’ the students to read it!!

9. hst feedback for CMS comic storyboard • very interesting • too much material (science/technology topics) • potentially very difficult material (compared to huyghens and their own curricula) • how to work with the comic was the main discussion we had afterwards • we arrived at suggestions of how to connect to CMS/LHC to high school physics (see later)

10. discussions on (mental) imagery and story but… • tried to arrive at one single storyline/and one topic. but… The Boss strikes back!!! • not succeeded yet! • The Boss starting position was no more than one topic per page!! (and the Victims complain) • remember: main goal is not education, but science communication/outreach… The Boss strikes back!!

11. but… there’s still hope • we do agree that the story should be an adventure and experience • NOT using too simplistic question/answer approach • may be insulting for the reader! also: -we have a few ‘chapter’ storylines that maybe can make one single story: big bang, kids sneaking into CMS, to imitate conditions just after the big bang. it’s a story that begins and closes with the biggest event in universe

12. …and finally: making connections with high school students • identified many ‘hooks’ where hs physics could be connected to all parts of the story: big-bang, CERN/LHC/CMS, particle physics • e.g. superconductivity • used in LHC magnets, CMS magnets • relation to school physics • ohms law and resistance • heat (energy loss) in resistive wires • leads to consideration of use of zero-resistance materials • which then could lead to • discussion of cryogenics, • discussion of thermodynamics near absolute zero • other uses of superconductors… • to consolidate these connections, would propose to develop a teacher ‘kit’ to accompany the comic

13. this is not the end… will The Boss allow the Victims to decrease the amount of information? will there be a neat, interesting storyboard? WILL THERE BE A COMIC ON CMS???????

14. this is not the end… will The Boss allow the Victims to decrease the amount of information? will there be a neat, interesting storyboard? WILL THERE BE A COMIC ON CMS???????