Written by: Eilidh McClain
Edited by: Olivia Pifer Alge, Mena Davidson, Kristen Loesel, and Jennifer Baker
Illustrated by: Jacquelyn Roberts
Start of experiment. Shift one. 3 hours in.
Cuckoo! “Scan finished.”
We hear the announcement that a scan is finished, sitting in a control room at Hamburg’s European X-ray Free Electron Laser. I wasn’t expecting it the first time; it’s such a silly little sound to use in a serious scientific lab. I began to associate it with success in the experiment we were conducting—another successful data collection scan under our belts. The sound of people typing diligently on computers and the gentle hum of discussion between the roughly ten scientists in the small room provides a rather calming backdrop to the experience. With each experiment, I am amazed at all that goes into setting up measurement scans. The control room computer screen is littered with endless computer screens, each monitoring important parameters of the experimental setup in the other room. The decisions are made by the visiting scientists, coming from multiple labs all over the world, but the equipment is monitored and handled by the three to four resident scientists at the facility.
Continue reading “The 60-hour crunch: realities and possibilities of working with X-ray free electron lasers”
misciwriters.com 