Thistletalk Autumn 2008 - Winchester Thurston School

city cover as story our campusCrash Course on Big BangWT physics students were transported14 billion years back tothe beginning of time duringan extraordinary assembly on September26, courtesy of Dr. Vladimir Savinov,particle physics expert, whose work forthe Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, inSwitzerland has propelled him into thestratosphere of scientists.Savinov—whose energy on energywas palpable—sent imaginations soaringwith insights on the Big Bang, darkmatter, dark energy, and more. “It wasmonumental,” said Thomas Holmes ’12.“A scientist such as Dr. Savinov is notsomeone that you have the chance tomeet every day of your life.”Savinov, Associate Professor ofPhysics at the University of Pittsburgh, isinvolved with groundbreaking researchat CERN, the world’slargest particle physicslaboratory, located inGeneva, Switzerland.Dr. Savinov is one of1,700 scientists from37 countries unitedin their work on theATLAS experimentfor the LHC, a particleaccelerator used tostudy the smallestknown particles. It isthe largest scientificexperiment in thehistory of mankind.“[This experiment] could turnparticle physics on its head,” said SharonGoughnour, Upper School science andmathematics teacher who, with the helpof WT parent Paula Holmes, broughtSavinov to WT. “To have somebody herein Pittsburgh actually involved in thatis extraordinary.”Art Attack!When “Life on Mars,”the 2008 CarnegieInternational, waslaunched last May, MorganGilbreath ’09, Destiny McKnight’09, and Laura Short ’09 wereamong a constellation of luckystudents beamed into its orbitvia Zero Gravity, the CarnegieMuseum of Art’s groundbreakinginternship program. “I love beingin the galleries and meeting somany incredible people,” saysMorgan. “It makes you think verydifferently. It’s so beautiful andinfluential and mesmerizing.”Laura explains, “Getting lost in a workby yourself or with others is by far the bestpart. When you look at a work extensively,silently, mini-epiphanies sprout again andagain, ultimately leading up to a majorrevelation. Once I reach revelation-level,an eternal relationship with the workis formed. Even if I do not see the workfor a few weeks, when I return, it is likecatching up and reminiscing. Whendiscussing with a group, a relationshipforms with those with whom you havediscussed it. That type of dynamic trulymakes the internship what it is.”6 T h i s t l e t a l k A u t u m n / W i n t e r 2 0 0 8