Seeing Dinosaurs

No doubt Murray Gell-Mann is one of the most famous and renowned physicists of the 20th century. He basically invented what you are made of. And even found a fancy/sexy name for it: the quarks. That name was actually mentioned much earlier in James Joyce's Finnegans wake ("Three quarks for Muster Mark!") although Joyce, despite his great genius, had not realized at that time that quarks were the spin-1/2 particles forming the hadrons. Murray Gell-Mann did. That's why the main auditorium at CERN was so packed with people when Gell-Mann gave a colloquium there a couple of years ago (on something totally different, by the way). As everybody else in the audience, I must admit it was truly exciting and moving to see that old man, this great legend, delivering his talk (the same feeling I had a year later with C.N. Yang). This guy is not only good at doing physics, he's also a very entertaining speaker. He started his seminar telling us a funny story about another hero of physics, Enrico Fermi. The story goes approximately (do not recall all the details!) like this. Gell-Mann had invited Fermi to give a seminar in Caltech, in the 50's. Fermi, who was then already famous, agreed and had prepared a rather long and technical talk for this occasion; he was thus expecting no more than a few geeks to listen to him. When Gell-Mann told him that the big seminar room was overcrowded, waiting for his speech, Fermi totally freaked out: "What? I prepared something technical, none of these guys will understand a single word of what I'm gonna say!". To which Gell-Mann replied: "Enrico, don't worry for this, people came here to see you, not to listen to you". Gell-Mann was of course right. Telling us this anecdote half a century after, he also knew that we were all silently staring at him for who he is, for what he's done, but not for what he'd prepared to tell us that very day. Because he's a legend. Because he's a dinosaur everybody wants to see before he becomes extinct. A thousand peeping Toms in the auditorium. Let's face it. And why not? I mean, his talk was certainly very nice, not so easy to follow and full of ideas, but that's not the point: we were touched to see him. As simple as that. I was glad to be there, and I'll bother my grandchildren in half a century with that story (I can't promise my blog would still be active).

In the same spirit but in a different field, I attended last Friday Charles Aznavour's concert in Geneva. Am I such a big fan of the great Charles? ... Nope. I listen a lot of "chanson française", so naturally I know his greatest hits and most of them I like very much. But a great fan I'm not. Still, I was excited and eager the other day when I went to the Arena, the big concert hall (looks more like a sports hall, unfortunately), to see Him. Another dinosaur. It's hard to explain what I felt, but I guess you know what I mean. The concert in itself was very well done, and I'd like to sing the way he does when I'm 83. But just like Gell-Mann, Aznavour basically knew why we were all here. The Arena as a zoo. And the stage as a cage. He started interpreting recent songs, which I did not like much, to be totally honnest. Probably because I usually need to listen a song a few times to fully appreciate it, perhaps because those songs ain't that good, but certainly because I was there to see Charles singing Aznavour. After half an hour, say a third of the concert, he started interpreting the classics. How many times has he sung La Bohème or Emmenez-moi in his life? I have no idea. I don't want to know. Perhaps it is for him as exciting as singing the phonebook. Still, it was really special for me to see/hear that live. I would lie if I tell you the concert was thrilling, it was not (well, do I need to tell you that the average age was way above mine?). But again the point is not there: veni, vidi, audi.

I am fascinated by those scientific or artistic dinosaurs, by all those great men (or great human beings, to be sexually correct). And I am happy to see one of them, from time to time. In that sense, one of my favourite places to visit in Paris is the Panthéon: Aux grands hommes, la Patrie reconnaissante!

ps: could you believe my grandma Janet has seen Albert Einstein?

Fred bailaba

I've just learnt that Fred Chichin, 53, passed away. Very sad news. For the non-french readers, he is one half of the Rita Mitsouko band (the other half being Catherine Ringer). The Rita M. is certainly one of the most inventive and crazy french band over the last 2 decades, a real UMO (Unidentified Musical Object). The duo is (was, I guess) composed of the extravagantissima singer Catherine Ringer and an extremely self-controlled guitarist, Fred. Believe it or not, such an unlikely duo was a couple even outta stage!

I can't resist to post below the tubest "Marcia Baila", which made the band that famous in France. It's about a girl who died of cancer, just like Fred did. The chorus says: "It is is death who murdered you, Marcia".

Grandma, the quark-gluon plasma, and all that

Among many other things, my lovely grandma Janet, 88, thinks I work in a nuclear plant. I told her that, rather, I was doing particle physics and that it is something which has nothing to do with working in a plant (God only knows what I might be doing there!). Let me be clear: it is of course not infamous to work in a nuclear plant, but simply, that's absolutely not my job. Anyway, I am pretty sure she knows it: I guess she keeps telling that to her (many!) friends more to tease me than from a genuine misunderstanding. Still, I realize that it may not be clear to everyone (including myself sometimes) what I'm doing for a living. This was confirmed to me the other day when my friend Eléonore asked me the question explicitely: WHAT are you doing, EXACTLY?

In what follows, I'll try to explain simply and in a few words what my research field is all about (btw, if some of my colleagues happen to read my blog, please correct/add anything you like). So... once upon a time... no, too sweety. Father atom and mother... childish. That's why I love divulgating science: it's really tough.

Let me start with an atom. That's already pretty small: typically 0.000 000 000 1 meter (in other words, 1 billion atoms next to each other would be 10cm long). We know from Rutherford that is composed of a tiny nucleus, which size is approx. 100 000 times smaller than that of the atom. What makes the atom so BIG, comparatively, comes from the electrons moving around that very nucleus (the so-called electronic cloud). Now forget about the electrons and let's focus on the nucleus itself. It is made of at least one proton plus some neutrons. Quite often the number of neutrons is roughly the same as the number of protons, but that's not always true. The simplest atom is a nucleus composed of one proton (but zero neutron) with an electron moving around: ladies and gentlemen let us welcome the Hydrogen atom.

The protons and the neutrons are quite similar, except for their electric charge (the neutron being... neutral). To know what the atom is made of, say its structure, Rutherford measured how an electron beam scatters on a gas of hydrogen atoms. Much more recently but basically in the very same way, it has been discovered in the 70's that protons and neutrons are themselves composed of more elementary particles: the quarks and the gluons. In the "standard" model of particle physics, quarks and gluons are "elementary" particles, meaning that, unlike the atoms or the protons and neutrons, they are not themselves made of more elementary particles. As a matter of fact, no quark or gluon structure has yet ever been seen experimentally.

Surprisingly, and now it comes slightly more technical but also hopefully more exciting, those quarks and gluons always bind together to form particles like the proton or the neutron (called "hadrons" in the jargon). No one has ever seen a single, unbound, quark or gluon. We say that they are confined. This confinement mechanism is pretty mysterious and its origin is still pretty much unknown (despite many people working on it for years). However, there's a general consensus that when the Universe was extremely hot (roughly 1000 billion degrees), some 0.000 001 second after the Big Bang, the quarks and gluons were able to move freely, without binding together. It is only later -as the Universe kept cooling because of its expansion- that confinement showed up and gave birth to the hadron particles and, among them, the proton and the neutron that we've already met.

As you can see from the length of the post, we're getting close to what I'm doing, but not quite there yet. In short, we would like to observe experimentally the soup (let's call it the plasma, it sounds better) of freely moving quarks and gluons. A soup is always better eaten hot. To heat up the matter up to those extremely high temperatures physicists collide heavy nuclei, such as gold or lead (any element in the bottom lines of the Mendeleev periodic table, for those who may recall what this is). When the collision takes place, at CERN in Geneva for instance, many quarks and gluons are produced and start to interact with each other. Eventually, a gas (some say a liquid but I don't want to go in too much detail here) of quarks and gluons is formed, characterized by a temperature. Just like the Universe, this gas expands and cools and you can guess what happens then: below a "critical" temperature, confinement strikes back and quarks/gluons merge again into hadrons which are much, much later detected experimentally (how to detect a particle would deserve a post in its own). The tricky thing is that everything happens at very short space and time scales: the soup, which we call quark-gluon plasma (cool, isn't it?), is roughly 10 times larger than a proton -pretty small indeed- and its lifetime (before hadrons show up) is as short as 10 millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second. Poor guys, not much time to enjoy freedom. You understand of course that it is both way too small and too short to be observed. Rather, we have to focus on some properties of the quark-gluon plasma which could survive well after its extinction (think dinosaurs!). Those indirect signals (we call them signatures) could then give evidence to the formation of the quark-gluon plasma in the very early stage of the collision, before the damned confinement process takes over.

That's basically what my research field is about. What am I doing then precisely? Well, the post is pretty long already and I don't want to confuse my rare and precious readers so I'd better stop here. Let's say I (try to) study some of those signatures, elaborate models and compare with the measurements done in the experiments to be able to tell whether or not, the quark-gluon plasma, sometimes refered to as the "Little Bang", has actually been produced.

You see grandma, that's my job. Now go and impress your friends :-) I hope this was instructive and not too confusing. Please feel free to ask any question. Now let me be back to more prosaic things: find something to eat and check whether some trains circulate this afternoon from Paris to Geneva.

Deep Thought

No matter what the water temperature is, I hate this very moment in which the body gets in contact with the water jet when taking a shower. See what I mean?

Helvetic Administration Nightmare (Part II)

Back to my plate story. Last Monday 29 I called again to know what the procedure is, which you better follow in Switzerland. I went first to my insurance company and got rather easily a specific document in which my car plate should not appear (since the Swiss authorities would not only give me new plates but also new NUMBERS). I then went proudly with that document to the "navigation" thing (in another town) and was already prepared to queue a bit, but then to get my new plates/numbers, which I would clip: case closed, move on! The reality turned out to be slightly different, sadly for me. After queueing for an hour or so, I gave all the required document as well as the front plate. When they asked me for my living permit. I then explained my case, that I had one (obviously actually, since without it I wouldn't have gotten the Swiss plates in the first place!), had just quit my job but still had not asked yet for a new one. Then the answer came as a bombshell, categoric: no plates for you, sir. In short, I live in Geneva perfectly legally (at least till Nov 31st, before which I need to ask for another permit), and I drive a car legally. But as soon as my plate is stolen: baby you can't drive your car.

All I had to do was going to another town, Onex, where the "Office Cantonal de la Population", OCP, is. Funnily enough, OCP became "Office de Contrôle de la Population" for the lady at the counter, which is even scarier to what it actually is (even though I must admit that's close to it). Back home after 2 1/2 hours. Still plateless. After several phone calls and lots ofcontradictory information, I finally got all the documents required to submit my living permit request. After getting there and queueing for 1 1/2 hour, I gave that guy all my documents and asked for a certification letter (25 CHF i.e. 16 EUR!). It was 5pm, perfect time to enjoy the traffic jam and go home.

On the next day, I went again to the "Service de la Navigation" with my expensive letter and hoping they would agree to give me my plates. No way. I asked for the permit, but they still don't know whether my request will be accepted. No plates. I insist politely, explained that I've lived and driven legally until this plate loss, that I submit my application within the 3 months, and that I DESPERATELY NEED THE PLATES TO GO TO WORK! My only fault is that someone had the funny idea to steal my plate. In a vibrating excess of zeal, the lady tells me she can only give me temporary plates. Sure, perfect, makes sense! After 1 1/2 day, I knew the story was close to its end, and my car close to its plates. Just one thing to do: "please call your insurance and tell them to fax me immediately a document for temporary plates". OK, no problem. I rushed to the first telephone, filled with excitement. To listen to this: "we don't do temporary plates". What? No way! Don't do this to me!!! Went back to the lady who was not surprised, and who suggested me to ... change my car insurance company (seriously).

Basically, it's hopeless. I just need to wait for the Helvetic Confederation to take a (positive) decision and give me this %@$%^# living/working permit. It should take 3-4 weeks. During which I should not use my car. And therefore not go to work. Because in Switzerland plates are not screwed. But I am, definitely. Let's see this positively: I decided to go for vacation till Nov 11th. God only knows what I'll do when I'm back!

Helvetic Administration Nightmare (Part I)

or to make it short: HAN, in the following. That's what I'm living these days and I have strong indications that it's gonna last for a little while. From a blogging point of view, such an ongoing story is perfect. It keeps the readers (are there any, by the way?) in suspense and I don't have to rack my brain to find little stories to tell. That's a little consolation because in real life, well... it ain't that funny. At all. A real nightmare.

Everything started with my change of status last September 1, when I stopped working for CERN in Switzerland (and I'm not speaking about financial issues, here). The day before, on a sunny Friday, I had to give back my "carte de légitimation", aka The Magic Card. Basically, this document is the living/working permit in Switzerland for anyone working for an international organization (such as CERN, UNO, or many others in Geneva). Without it, I am kindly asked to leave Switzerland unless I want to enjoy a bit more the Swiss life, its mountains and chocolate, in which case I need to ask specifically for another living permit. The request needs to be done in the three months which follow the arrival in Switzerland, or the loss of a previous permit. Still living in Geneva, I therefore have to "submit" my application before Nov 31st, after which I'll know wether I am still allowed to live in Geneva. So far, so good.

Car plates in Switzerland are not screwed, since they are not assigned to a given car but rather to the car owner. That is, should I have another car, I could use the same plates for both cars. A couple of weeks ago, I lost my car rear plate (lost or stolen, doesn't matter). I phoned immediately to the "Service de la Navigation" to know how I should proceed. Simple: I need to wait for 10 days before changing plates just in case these are regained in the meantime. I then ask the GPD, Geneva Police Department, which informs me that they would tolerate that I drive during that period. Meaning actually: as long as a I stay in the Canton de Genève, of course. In other words, I am not supposed to drive in France without a plate, which kind of makes sense of course. Except that I need to go to France because this is where I work, and that there's no way to commute with public transport. Not so good.

Each of the following 10 days, I had a little apprehension when crossing the border, hoping that the French customers would not notice my lack of plate (even though I posted a piece of paper in the rear window). Luckily, they only realize this at the end of that plateless period: the guy was pretty upset, threatened to fine me, but let me go in the end. Of course, I should not try to pass the border again (at least in that specific point customs house) but since the ten days were over, I would retrieve my good old plate or they would provide me with another one. This will be reported in... a coming post!

Black day for black sheeps

This blog ain't political at all, I mostly spend some writing little stories about everyday life, something spotted in the news, or talking about sports recently (by the way: well done, BOKKE!). For a change this post is a political one.

Shame, shame, shame, ... SHAME ON YOU! You probaly know that song in the 70's by the group Shirley and Co (this I've just learnt from Wikipedia). I like it, yet I must say the parody by Henri Salvador with the approximate homonym, "J'aime tes g'nous" (literally "I love your knees") is simply delicious. This long introduction to inform those who are not yet aware of it that the badly-named Union Democratique du Centre (UDC) has won yesterday's election in Switzerland. UDC now becomes the most important party represented in the parliament, le Conseil National.

I know very little about the political organisation of the Swiss Confederation, so let me go straight to the point and explain why yesterday's election is a disaster. In two words. UDC is an extreme right party. Xenophobic, racist, homophobic. As a scientist, I know well that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Fact I: UDC is a xenophobic and racist party

You know the story, foreigners are responsible for everything which goes bad in the country (what? by the way), they take our jobs, rape our wives and so on and so forth. Note that "foreigners" mean here the horribly poor Africans or Eastern-europeans, but also everything related to the European Union, sometimes pejoratively called "Brussels" (sic). My example is a poster which has (fortunately, but apparently not enough) triggered lots of discussions in Swizerland over the last few weeks. Here it is:



No need to comment further on this, I guess.

Fact II: UDC is a homophobic party

Switzerland has a long tradition of popular survey. A few months ago, a pact celebrating the civil union of gay couples (e.g. roughly similar to the french PACS) has been submitted and accepted, which is very good. During this campaign, UDC made clear how they do see homosexuals. Ready? ... I mean, are you sure, you won't regret it, you are really ready? drum rolls .... (it's so dramatic that I prefer to laugh a bit). According to Christoph Blocher's party, homosexuals are of course "infertile and well-to-do", that is 2 good reasons why they should not be allowed to enjoy such a contract (or, let's face it, to live). Obviously, the illustrators from the UDC made a good job to convert this into the nice poster below:



Again, I don't need to add anything to this. Remember, UDC is now the most important party in the Conseil National. They even made a big move in Romandie (the french-speaking part), which remained reluctant for a long time though.

Shame, shame, shame, ...

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Need some help? Go here

The Northern Hemisphere Strikes Back!

Amazing. I apologize for my poor english vocabulary. Amazing. The only adjective I can find to characterize yesterday's games. Help me to find some more! Magic? Not really. There's no simple trick to defeat Australia or New Zealand in quarterfinals of a Rugby World Cup. Surrealistic? Rather... hyperrealistic.

England is France's best ennemy. Any sensible frenchman will always support a team that play against the Rose. Actually, there's only one case in which this does not happen, and this is when England play vs. one of the great southern-hemisphere nations: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa. This happened yesterday, in Marseilles. England vs. Australia. The Remake. To those of you that are not (yet?) that much into this sport, may I recall that England became the first nation of the northen-hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, after a final successful drop by Jonny Wilkinson (pic) in the last minute of the game. Against Australia. Soon after, Jonny W. got injuried and England had never played that well ever since. Yesterday England defeated the Wallabies, 12-10, Wilkinson scoring all the twelve points. At that time of the day I was pretty happy for them, for him, yet I must say I did not care that much. I was still waiting.



Waiting for THE game. In Cardiff. France was going to face the All Blacks. Surprisingly I had planned a very nice dinner somewhere in Geneva with some friends on Saturday night. After all, I thought the Kiwis were likely to defeat France, in which case why not spending time with friends rather than soring in my couch in front of my TV. And if France had the crazy idea to win that game (sic), then I would have another opportunity to see them in the semis. For the record I had told my great Irish friend James that I would give France a 15%-chance to win. Roll a dice. If you get 6, France win. You know the story, after an unforgettable haka (below), France won this game after being led 13-0 and 18-13...



I don't know that much about Rugby. The complicated rules make it a not-so-easy sport to watch. But today it's simply the best of sports. Jeez I'm being too much chauvinistic. But it's not only that. It's also about likeliness. France had lost the last 10 games vs. the Blacks. Over the last few years, New Zealand has been by far the best team in the world, even way better than Oz and SA. They had never lost before the semis. Yesterday they did.

Today I am 8 years younger. Remembering Twickenham, 1999. Merci les Bleus!

Beyond reasonable: Marco Olmo

He's rather slim, of course. And wiry. Apart from that you couldn't really guess. No, you could not imagine what he has done. "He" is Marco Olmo, a 59-year old Italian man. I decided to relate his performance simply because I find it fantastic.

Before this, I must first tell you about the Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB). That's a race organized every year in Chamonix, which took place a couple of weeks ago. Let me give you some figures so that you realize what this race, in that case they call it a "trail", is. Length: 163kms. Change in altitude: +8900m. Duration: less than 45 hours. Means of transportation? None.

The trail started on Friday 24 at the end of the afternoon. By chance, I was in Chamonix on Sunday 26 around noon. And I saw people coming. Some were exhausted. Others simply happy. Even quite fresh for a few of them. All extremely touched. And so I was. The race is surreal, running for roughly 40 hours around the Mont Blanc.

I don't know where Marco Olmo was at this very moment. Probably in his comfortable bed. I guess he deserved to sleep in on that Sunday morning. After all, he had finished the race almost 20 hours before. Yes, he ran that 160+ km race in 21 h 31 mn 58 sec. Apparently, he's not a fast runner (sort to say, his average speed still is the same as mine when I go running for an hour...). Almost no stop during the trail. He "simply" keeps the rhythm. And that strategy looks pretty efficient. Not only he won the 2007 Ultra Trail Mont Blanc...but also that of 2006. Amazing.

Marco, saró in Chamonix l'anno prossimo, e spero vederti lí. I'd be happy to welcome you next year when you end the trail. As a winner of course. As usual. Chapeau bas, signor Olmo!

Click here to see Marco's arrival in Chamonix

Alive!

"It's so strange to be alive". This is a song by Emily Loizeau, a french-english singer, whom I really like. I went to see her a few months ago in Geneva, great concert and very good presence on stage. Anyway, it's not the purpose of this post. Nope. Rather, I was just thinking how strange for Ken Foster it is be alive. So unlikely.

This 30-year old guy was sentenced to death after his friend has shot Mike LaHood Jr, after a robbery back in 1996. According to a Texas law, Ken Foster deserved death penalty for being the driver, and thus co-inspirator (?), of the murderer. Following the recommendation of the Pardons board (6 votes to 1), the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, commuted Foster's sentence to life imprisonment. 6 hours before before the execution. 6 hours. It's definitely so strange to be alive. Especially for Kenneth Foster. Today.

Thank you Mr. Perry. Perry. So strange. That's also the first name of Perry Smith sentenced to death and executed after the famous murders in Holcomb, Kansas, related in Truman Capote's fantastic book, In Cold Blood.

I can't help quoting Norma LaHood, the murderer's victim mother (in the New York Times): "I’m filled with peace. I will mourn my son till I die, but I’m not forced anymore to relive his death".

Global cooling

Tuesday, August 21, 2007, 11:29 AM
Place: Geneva, Switzerland.
Date and time: August 21, 2007 9:56am
Weather: rainy
Temperature: 14.0 degrees Celsius.

Pornography in Etosha

Etosha's the huge National Park in the north of Namibia. We spent three days there, going on safaris early in the morning and shortly before sunset. Unlike other parks in Botswana or South Africa, Etosha is really dry. The best chance to spot interesting things is to go directly to one of the (artificial) water points spread all over the Park.

On the first morning, we were about to leave one of these ponds when a herd of 20 thirsty elephants passed by to freshen up. Great. I had never seen an elephant (apart in those gloomy circus) and here there were 20 meters away from me. But let me come to the point. I guess you're waiting for the connection with this entry's title. Here it is. An hour later, we meet by chance a couple of sleepy lions. 5 meters away. Very impressive. Even though we were all gently seated inside the truck, to see the male roaring in our direction had something forbidding. 15 minutes, 264 pics, and a few videos later, we were about to leave this couple and let it sleep peacefully. When Frantz shouted at Rea. Stop it. Now. "They should copulate in 5 minutes"... Burst of laughter. Soon, I start the bets. They won't do it. This guide simply has an extravagant imagination. You've already guessed: 5 minutes later, the female stands up. Male follows. Pics (see the fantastic one below by Robert Dalaudière). Videos. 7 secs. Doesn't seem that impressive for human standards. Except if I recall this happens 150 times every half an hour.



During night time, a water point adjacent to the camping was illuminated. That was even better than during the day. Rhinos, giraffes, elephants, ... succeed. Until that couple of male elephants. Alone after the rhino had left the scene. One of the guys didn't seem very thirsty. He was moving all the time, going backwards, turning around itself. Dulcet. And here comes the (gay) parade. The elephants start to snarl the trunks. Crossing tusks. Convinced that things were going pretty well, one starts to mount his companion. No way. Not tonight. People are laughing discreetly. Time to go to bed. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow is another safari.

Etosha is a fantastic park. Huge and wild. And sometimes pretty hot too.

Geneva - Windhoek - Geneva

I'm just back from Namibia. 3 flights (and 24 hours) from Geneva.

Till recently, I knew very little of this large country, 1.5 bigger than France and roughly the size of Pakistan. Its density (2.4 hab/km2) is the second smaller in the world after Mongolia! I knew it before going there, but to see what these figures really mean is something totally different. Basically, a huge desert. Or, rather, deserts: Namib, Naukluft, Damaraland, Kaokaland, ... The deserts are so diverse that I never got bored during the 2 weeks I spent there.

I went with a group of 12 people, together with a guide, Frantz Thille, a helper (actually his son, Max) and a driver, Rea. Using a truck (see pic), we essentially covered the northern part of Namibia, visiting several highlights including the sandy dunes of Sesriem (magical!), the colony of sea lions in Cape Cross, granite mountains of Spitzkoppe, before spending 3 days in Etosha National Park. Great trip.





I had not done such an organized trek before, and I must say it was a really good experience. We camped for the two weeks (what else? don't expect too many hotels in the desert), alternatively in campings of bivouacking in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, I found it much less uncomfortable than I had thought before. The guide, Frantz, was extremely enthusiastic (and enthusiasming), perhaps even too much when we all wanted to go sleeping and he was keeping telling us everything about the origins of the Namibian people or any fancy African mammal of which he's a specialist. Btw, he wrote a very nice book which I fully recommend on the wildlife in African national parks (35 euros, sold out on Amazon). If interested, let me know I'll try a get some copies directly from him.

Speaking about animals, I'll post a new entry soon on Etosha. In the meantime, you can have a look at all the pictures of that trip, here. I find the dunes pretty photogenic. Sea lions a bit less (see video below).

Switzerland Samba

I went to Brazil last Saturday night. An hour driving from Geneva.

The place is called Montreux and there's a jazz festival over there every year since 1967. Well it's actually more than jazz. This year the organizers had the great idea to schedule "Carnaval do Brasil", a looong evening dedicated to brazilian music. I was going there a bit sceptical: a brazilian night organized in Auditorium Stravinsky (sic) somewhere in the Canton de Vaud. Hmmmm. Doesn't look like that exciting. It definitely was. While I was expecting a quiet auditorium filled with a very polite audience comfortably seated on red velvet chairs (see which ones?), it actually was a huge dancing place (no seats!) filled with hundreds of brazilians partying all over the place. You could have spotted from time to time an inhibated european-like spectator enjoying as much the music as the crazy atmosphere.

The music was indeed really good too. I really liked the songs of Alceu Valença which sometimes reminded me some french songs (in the music and the format). It was then followed by Beth Carvalho who was amazing. She sang many Samba classics (some of which I even knew from before!) which, as I later discovered, were "her" classics written in the 70's and the 80's. Of course, everybody (but the europeans, remember) was singing with her. The last (and least) band was playing some mixture of Reggae and Samba music. It was interesting although I liked it a bit less than the previous two concerts (I was also starting to get tired).

Perhaps some of you didn't know there's such a large (and active) Brazilian community around here. I can tell you there is, fortunately. And sometimes, they gather in Montreux, Switzerland.

Nobel collection

My friends Dolores, Markus, and I are making a (totally useless and childish) list of Nobel prize winners, that is the number of Nobel prize winners we've seen so far (a more stringent variant includes the need to shake hands). Anyway, my list increased by one unit yesterday at the cafeteria after I finished my pasta dish, when an old man wanted me to move away so that He could have a seat. Markus was fair enough to tell me this impatient not to say impolite person was Carlo Rubbia, whom I had not seen yet, surprisingly. For non-experts, he got the Nobel in '84 with van der Meer for the discovery of the Hig... nope sorry the Z0/W weak bosons. He's one of the few CERN's Nobel laureates.

My list now includes, in alphabetical order: G.Charpak, C.Cohen-Tannoudji, M.Gell-Mann, R.J.Glauber, T.Haensch, T.D.Lee, B.Mottelson, N.F.Ramsey, C.Rubbia, J.Steinberger, G.'t Hooft, S.Ting, F.Wilczek, and last but certainly not least, C.N.Yang (14 in total, yet I have a doubt concerning Ting). I regret this list is only made of Physics Nobel prize winners, I'd like to see Nobels in other fields as well!

Many more could be added quite "easily" I believe, such as: Glashow, Gross, Perl, Smoot, van der Meer, Weinberg, Wilson, ...

Doug Hofstadter at CERN

The other day Doug Hofstadter ("Godel, Escher, Bach") came to CERN and gave a colloquium on Albert Einstein. I was on vacation last week and missed that talk, shame on me ! Have a look on the CERN website for the video of the conference: video Hofstadter

My very first blog

Hi there,

you're reading my first note on this blog. It ain't a real blog anyway, consider it as a regular (static) homepage. I'll write some notes and put some links from time to time, though.

Enjoy !

(tu aimes bien leo, le nom du blog ? argh j'ai pas pu resister a le creer .....)