
Three new physics experiments could revamp the standard model - sohkamyung
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-particle-physics-experiments-revamp-standard-model
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gehsty
They use physics grad students to build the wiring assemblies for the
detectors?! And they work?

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smueller1234
Always have always will!

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gehsty
Just seems like something that professionals would do! You wouldn’t let an
aerospace engineer wire up a flight controller, but I guess grad students are
cheap :)

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neel_k
Grad students are actually more expensive, because they're slower and more
likely to mess up than a pro would. However, you still want the grad students
to do it.

A successful experimental physicist needs to have a deep feeling for how their
experimental apparatuses work, _including_ all the grungy real-world details
that theoretical models don't cover.

You get that feeling by building and using the tools, and since the point of
being a grad student is to learn how to be a successful experimental
physicist, they've got to be the ones who build the tools!

