20130828

PSI and the Aare


We hiked up to Besserstein recently and I got the chance to play with my new second-hand 40mm to 150mm (80mm to 300mm: 35mm equivalent) lens. I'm hardly an expert, and I'm finding that there's much I can learn with it.

One of the interesting things about Villigen is that it is home to the Paul Scherrer Institute, which is the largest Swiss research facility. The topics covered range from the applied such as fuel cells, and cancer therapy using proton beams, to the fundamental such as determining the proton radius. There are people doing ice core studies to measure atompheric pollution, probing unexpected behaviors in magnetic materials and developing new detectors and techniques to "see" closer, better, faster.

They offer tours of the facility (in German). The contact site is the psi forum.

7 comments:

Stan said...

Nice shot of PSI. I wrote yesterday mentioning that I will be visiting Villigen in a few days. I am a theoretical physicist and I am precisely going because PSI is organizing an international conference on Sept 9-12.

Congrats on the new lens, which you seem to be are mastering already.

Best

blogger tset said...

That's great that you'll be at PSI. Perhaps you'll get the chance to do some sightseeing as well. This area is not the most beautiful in Switzerland (oops, I said it) but I find much beauty here.

Thanks for the compliment! Judging by the examples on pbase and Flickr I would say I'm about average.

Stan said...

The area might not the most beautiful in Switzerland but, trust me, after several years living in the American Midwest I am fascinated with the beauty of the place based on the pictures in your blog.
Thanks for sharing!

blogger tset said...

Hello Stan,

So, your only impression of this area up to now is from the pictures on this blog? I'm REALLY interested to learn how you'll find it in "real life" and how the blog shows things in comparison. I hope you'll take the time to share your thoughts after your trip.

If there's anything you think I might be able to help with, just write in.

Z

Stan said...

I made it tonight to Villigen and I will be staying for ten days. I promise my report on "the real life" vs. "your pics."

blogger tset said...

Great! I wish you a productive conference and a nice visit afterwards. I trust you'll get to do some sightseeing as well/

Stan said...

Sorry for the delayed comment, I left Villigen a week ago, but I have been very busy.

I did not have the chance to visit many places, the weather played against that.

I have to say that your pictures gave me the sense of a very rural place (in a positive way). This agreed completely with what I experienced during my 10 days in Villigen. Although there was a bus, I walked every day from my hotel (Hirschen) to PSI. It was a lovely walk around places now I recognize in your pictures: the cranes in Würenlingen, the rock conveyor, the cement plant, tractors in the streets, etc.
It was nice to see so many cows, my grandfather lived in the country side and when I was a little kid he took me for walks early in the morning with cows, Villigen brought nice memories.

I think that instead of classic and cliché pictures you are doing a great jobs on presenting the essence of Villigen with your shots.
Keep up the nice work, I do not know when I will return to Villigen but your blog stays in my Blog Reader.

Best.

PS: my stay at the Hirschen was great, quite room, delicious breakfast, extremely friendly staff; I recommend it.