CERN PORTAIL DE LA SCIENCE

A visit not to be missed, it's an excellent concept. The "Sciences Gateway" designed by CERN has just opened its doors. The idea? The aim of this center for scientific education and culture is to bring the nature of CERN's research within the reach of the general public, and to inspire new vocations in young people! Everything is designed to enable visitors to conduct their own physics experiments. There's nothing quite like the grounds.

Designed by the famous architect Renzo Piano, the structure of this new museum may seem strange at first glance. It's made up of three pavilions, two giant "tubes" and a long glass walkway connecting the two. When you're inside one of them, the idea is to recreate the same kind of atmosphere as if you were inside the LHC. These gigantic tubes are the image of the LHC, the famous particle gas pedal, consisting of an underground ring 27 km in circumference, installed 100 m underground. This increases the speed of the particles (ions and protons belonging to the Hadron group) circulating within it. These particles travel at close to the speed of light, and are split into two beams in opposite directions. These beams are then triggered to collide in the control center, at four points in the system - the particle detectors ATLAS, CMS, Alice and LHcb. In this way, for example, one of these "experiments" can recreate a situation that occurred just after the famous Big Bang.

The bridge between the two enormous tubes symbolizes the link between science and society. As CERN's Director so aptly explains, the aim is "to make CERN's research known to the public, to show the importance of fundamental research and its applications to society, and above all, to arouse the interest of all visitors and encourage young people to pursue careers in science... a place where scientists and the public can interact on a daily basis". A winning bet!

You'll be able to do hands-on experiments - numerous workshops for children and adults, led by CERN scientists, and guided tours, are organized every day. You can attend scientific shows, immerse yourself in immersive environments and engage in interactive activities.

A modular amphitheater hosts conferences for scientists, schools and the general public, as well as temporary exhibitions.

The center is organized around three main themes:

Discovering the Universe, Exploring the Unknown and Back to the Big Bang. This first exhibition is fascinating, as are the rest. Go back in time... Start with a film showing the evolution of the universe since the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago. What was there before the Big Bang? Why did it happen? What is the dark matter that makes up 27% of our universe? What about the dark energy that makes up 68% of our universe? Could there be parallel universes? What about the journey of these particles, which form the basis of our constitution? Did you know that we are made up of stardust?

In this exhibition, you can discover the subtleties of stellar nucleosynthesis, create your own star and launch it into the universe (in this case, it will simply be projected onto a wall, and your imagination will do the rest), and understand its life cycle. Other experiments let you play with antimatter and discover the various phases in the evolution of the universe....

Discover CERN You're in the thick of things, as you discover how the LHC works. accelerate' and 'Experiment'. Two life-size models, with a working gas pedal, and "experiment" with a particle detector cross-section. How do particles collide? These exhibits provide a better understanding of the LHC at work underground - the site is not open to the public - and how it was set up How are the results of the famous 'experiments' analyzed when the particles collide? How does the control room work? (you can also visit it on a guided tour) The presence of scientists is of the utmost importance. Ask them questions! You'll get a better understanding of how the LHC works by exploring the famous tunnel or... playing soccer with protons.

The world of quantum phys ics Learn all about quantum physics. Don't miss the famous "initiation" and explanatory tour. Equipped with goggles, you can step into the shoes of a... particle... It's a brilliant idea, but if some aspects of it still seem obscure, there's nothing like immersing yourself in a book like "Quantum Physics for Dummies". It's fascinating! You'll discover the world seen on the scale of the smallest elementary particles. Remember the story of Schrödinger's famous cat, the physicist who, in 1935, theorized, in his box, about what is both dead and alive. In a nutshell, it's a science that seeks to explain the behavior of atoms and particles, i.e. matter on an atomic scale, and to understand electromagnetic radiation. Try your hand at experiments, and you'll understand much better!