Six years of particle physics (and STEMsocial) on Hive!

in StemSocial2 years ago

At the end of this month, it will be 6 years that I am on this chain. It will be six years that I discuss, week after week, particle physics, cosmology, and connected topics. It will also be six years that STEM passionate bloggers see me reading and commenting their blogs, both within the STEMsocial community and outside it.

On the other hand, in two days, I will switch my computer off for three weeks, allowing myself to rest, enjoy outdoor spaces and reload my batteries. As those who follow me probably know it already, my health has been heavily affected this year, not only by COVID itself (I am still paying a hard price after getting it two months ago), but also by its impact on university duties and life.

In other words, I am quite exhausted and a disconnection is in order. As most researchers, when the computer is on, I do some work, no matter what, and I don’t rest… Consequently, the post of today is a ‘happy holidays post’, with some personal items and highlights, before a three-weeks break.


[Credits: @lemouth (13 August 2018)]

Six years ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to Hive, when this chain had another name (Steem). Hive was presented to me as a new blockchain-based social media, connected to the crypto-world. At that time, I always wanted to have a blog in order to discuss particle physics with the general public, and cryptos were something into which I wanted to dig.

In July 2016, I thus made the move and decided that Hive could be an interesting experience, both for the social and crypto aspects.

After six years, I wrote about 300 blogs on particle physics and cosmology, mostly in English but also in French. In 2022, I even managed to keep a rhythm of two blogs per week, one in English and one in French. This pace allows me not only to discuss new research topics and ideas, but it also leaves me enough time to have fun in engaging other authors (mostly those making use of the STEM tags). I have checked my statistics, and I am very close to reach the nice number of 20,000 comments.

This is where STEMsocial enters the discussion.

Our community was founded in September 2016 by a group of STEM enthusiasts, with the goal of supporting and engaging all Hive community members interested in science and technology. We are hence probably one of the oldest curation group on this chain. As any curation group, evolution nevertheless kicked in. People left and people arrived. Today, the core team consists of two of the original members, @mobbs and myself, plus four dedicated curators, @carloserp-2000, @eniolw, @gentleshaid and @iamphysical.

Obviously, social aspects are very important to us. We have a more-or-less active Discord server, and we have (so far) organised two meetups, one inside CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (the LHC), and one at Virgo Labs (where gravitational waves are observed). I hope more will come!


STEMsocial is however much more than this. If I had to define the project in one line, I would say that our goal is to create an environment where both STEM professionals and enthusiasts could take STEM communication in a new direction (i.e. without the need for a third-party journalists mostly looking for buzzes and/or weird stories).

Let me now shed some light on the future.

Before being able to show off at universities, research institutes and participate officially to outreach events, we need a frontend so that we could format Hive data in a way matching our vision. I have tons of ideas in this direction, and we used to have an old app back in the days. However, it did not survive HF25 and COVID.

This app is still something which I would like to see. With @bambukah we will do our best to release an MVP by HiveFest 7. Don’t hesitate to come and meet me there. I will even give a STEMsocial talk (see here). To go back to the app, note that STEMsocial still has room for any developer interested in helping us.


[Credits: Eric Bridiers (CC BY-ND 2.0)]

Before closing this blog, let’s briefly chat about particle physics. I won’t discuss any recent research highlights today, even if I have great topics that I should definitely discuss soon. I indeed managed to release two scientific publications in June-July, and both deserve to get dedicated blogs on Hive.

The first article addressed the development of a technique allowing researchers outside any big LHC collaboration to use optimally LHC data to test any model of physics. The second article discussed new production channels for hypothetical particles called leptoquarks (that are very interesting in light of current anomalies in high-energy physics data). Whilst these channels have been ignored by experimental searches so far, they are potentially important and could give rise to new signatures of leptoquarks at the LHC.

I leave these two topics for dedicated blogs at the time of my return to the online world in three weeks.

Note that if you really need a weekly physics jab, you could consider giving a chance to our particle physics citizen science project on Hive. With a simple computer and a few hours of your time, it is possible to take part to actual research in particle physics on this chain.


[Credits: Daniel Dominguez (CERN) ]

This allowed in particular @agreste, @eniolw, @gentleshaid and @travelingmercies to undertake particle physics calculations relevant for the on-going run of the Large Hadron Collider, and to produce new results for neutrino physics for the first time ever. We plan to move further from September, and we aim at publishing our on-going study in a scientific journal (with the help of @gtg for the management of our future simulation data).

If you are interested in joining this project, consider reading this blog. it contains a list with the five episodes that I proposed up to now. Do not hesitate to report your findings on chain, and you can check what others did by browsing the #citizenscience tag.


It is now time to end this blog. I wish everyone a very nice and relaxing summer. Happy holidays if you have the chance to take some, and see you very soon.

PS: I will stay online until Sunday included!

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Congratulations dear friend @lemouth, it's been six years since you joined this incredible platform, which as you say, gives us the opportunity to have our academic content in a simple and creative way.

Without a doubt, you are one of the oldest teams on the platform, since I met the @stemsocial community in 2018, it has always provided support and guidance to those of us who socialize science content in both English and Spanish, I thank @carloserp-2000 and @iamphysical for the guidance they had with me when I entered.

I want to tell you, that I have seen how you have dedicated time to the review, support and comment of all the content related to science inside and outside of @stemsocial that is valuable, because it allows to attract researchers to us within the platform, which I am sure there are many.

I hope you enjoy your holidays, see you later brother.

 2 years ago  

Thanks for passing by and your nice words. I really appreciated it. It is great to be here today, as we are somehow still early adopters and have the opportunity to build something (from scratch). This is a challenge I particularly like!

Thanks again and see you in a couple of weeks!

The 1st picture immediately reminded me of @lamouthe's great post about your road trip there ;) For a good and full rest, three weeks without connecting is a good decision!

Since your return as a very hyper-active member of HIVE you have set the level very high both in terms of the number of posts and comments, but also with the citizen project. So I am glad to hear that you are taking a rest to recover and come back to us in great shape.

It is a real pleasure to have met you on HIVE and a big thank you for the knowledge that you transmit to us for 6 years through your posts & comments :)

My learning today: the Discord server hahaha (a long time ago I came across a STEMsomething HIVE Discord but it wasn't you)

Now I have 3 weeks to get up to date with your latest posts (si je ne veux pas me faire taper sur les doigts à ton retour)

 2 years ago  

I didn't remember that we had already shared this picture on chain. This was a memory from our trip in the US canyons in 2018. This year, we will have a bigger tent as four of us will be camping (and we won't go to the US canyons).

Good luck for multiplying your number of comments by 10 by the time of my return, and thanks for this nice message! :D

 2 years ago  

Happy 6th year anniversary to you. What a journey this has been for you. A combination of education and entertainment, no doubt. You have been true and true to particle physics right from the beginning. I am certain Hive will be a repo for particle physics-related information in the nearest future. Thanks to you.

Here is wishing you more fruitful years here on Hive.

 2 years ago  

Thanks for this very nice message, and for being with us for so long. We had the chance to count on you to hold the fort even when we were stuck in some distant warp zone!

See you very soon!

TL;DR: Make sure your gf has a worthy brother before you marry her!

 2 years ago  

Gne? I didn't get that one ^^

You said,

Six years ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to Hive

And I was saying, that the best way to summarize the post is, 'make sure your girlfriend has a valuable brother before you marry'! :P

May the forces be with you! ;-)

 2 years ago  

Definitely, but I won't tell whether I'll use the bright or the dark side ;)

Whatever, use magnetic and nuclear!

 2 years ago  

Always the strong force :D

 2 years ago  

A really well deserved vacation I must say, well deserved.
please all the fun and we hope to see you back stronger, renewed and fresher than ever before.

20k comments, incredible!

All the best sir.

 2 years ago  

Thanks a bunch. I will definitely try to reload myself as much as I can. Enjoy your summer as well!

20k comments, incredible!

@mintrawa asked me about the time this took me. I am too scared and I don't dare to count ;)

I hope you are unplugged, @lemouth, as I write this. Two days are up. You are a champion in every way. Hive and physics can have no better representative.

When you read this, three weeks from now, I hope are rested and back to full strength. I'll try to comment on many StemSocial posts while you are away.

Happy Hive birthday. Happy holidays. Enjoy your family and the summer.

 2 years ago  

I am not totally unplugged as we need to prepare our trip (and somehow I need to access the computer). However, we are super busy in preparing everything, and my online time is thus already very limited. I am only answering messages when other pages I need (like those of hotels, airlines) get loaded ;)

See you in a few weeks and thanks for engaging with our authors. I hope you will enjoy your summer too! Happy holidays!

wow!! I was so thrilled seeing this, you've come a long way on the blockchain , you've written a lot of contents without relenting. that's the spirit of consistency... you're such an inspiration to a lot of people here , I'm not exclude.

yeah, you deserve an amazing holiday, and you can have a lot of nice moment as much you want... you need the rest.

 2 years ago  

Thanks a lot for your nice words! Reading them made me really happy!

Consistency is definitely a good way to define my activities here. Except for 18 months during the pandemic where I just had anytime for anything, I never stopped being active since day #1.

Have a nice week-end, and a nice summer!

I believe you can still achieve great things.
☺️

Six years on hive??
That's awesome.

Happy holidays

 2 years ago  

Many thanks for passing by!

Yes, six years. I was not expecting this at all when I signed in, in July 2016. But here we are. I stayed around and I must confess I have a lot of fun on our chain (which is among what matters most for me)!

Glad that you'll have that much needed break! 👏🏻 congratulations for the consistency and perseverance in writing content here on Hive for 6 years already, that's really amazing!

 2 years ago  

Thanks for passing by and your nice words.

I have seen your new report, but I am unable to say whether I will have the time to read it today. However, don't worry. I will give it a look later (maybe not during my break, but right before it). I am now preparing everything before the disconnection.

Wow. Many congratulations Benjamin. That's a lot of work and a whole lot of Physics. All the very best in your endeavors. 🪴

 2 years ago  

It is a lot, but at the same time not much. However, the chain will live for quite a long time so that I will have many more opportunities to add more physics on here :)

Cheers and enjoy your summer!!

Can't help but admire your love for Science and Hive. Your work will live forever with the chain.

I live in Indian plains. We don't enjoy summer as much as we enjoy 🥶❄️ Thanks anyway. 🙏

And happy summer holidays to you. Relax and Rejuvenate. xD

 2 years ago (edited) 

Yep! Forever on our chain!

Thanks for the kind words! It is greatly appreciated!

I wish you good luck and that stemsocial grows a lot!

!PIZZA

 2 years ago  

Thanks! I definitely hope you are right on this one ^^

Good luck! @lemouth How many of us would not like to have such an excellent track record on the platform I did. A well-deserved vacation, although I feel that you will be equally eager to share your experiences with all of us.

 2 years ago  

Thanks a lot for your message. That was very pleasant to read. I am not sure I will share anything related to my vacation here, but who knows... In the old days, I had the account @lesmouths-travel that I co-shared with my wife for this purpose.

Enjoy your holidays and recharge. Congrats on your accomplishments and we hope to see you again here with the energy in the balance!
But I am always interested in the topic. Partly because of Bessy II is just a few hundred meters from my workplace away. Bessy II is an original synchrotron facility, storage ring, and research building.
Not like I understand too much of particle physics but hey .. open to learning ;-)

 2 years ago  

Thanks a lot! Enjoy your summer too!

Unfortunately, I cannot tell much about BESSY as it is a machine that operates at much lower energies than those I am used to, so that the physics there is different from that in which I have expertise. Physics is vast, and all domains of it are definitely worthy to be investigated! If you have a chance, feel free to give them a visit. I am sure there are tons of interesting things to learn there!

I have been on a few tours. They are booked out with the experiments for the next 12 years. It's crazy. On one tour I was translating the operator to a Chinese delegation (engl. not Chinese) fun part was that I was only understanding half of what he said. Then I guess the audience then understands another 10% of that 🤦‍♂️

When you take a tour they gave me also a Geiger counter for exposure to radiation. Not sure what experiments had the radiation particles involved.

 2 years ago (edited) 

On one tour I was translating the operator to a Chinese delegation (engl. not Chinese) fun part was that I was only understanding half of what he said. Then I guess the audience then understands another 10% of that 🤦‍♂️

Arghhhh. 10% may still be better than 0 ^^

When you take a tour they gave me also a Geiger counter for exposure to radiation. Not sure what experiments had the radiation particles involved.

Maybe more to make people feel safe, as the probability to get irradiated may be pretty low. At the LHC, you need to have one if you go down often, I think (if I remember well as this is now many years I have been down into it).

Congratulations @lemouth, it has been a journey for you, and you have been a motivation to people outside the physics world. HiveFest is one event i will like to attend but it would look like chasing wild dreams.

 2 years ago  

Thanks for your message. If not this one, maybe the next Hivefest will be the one for you :)

Cheers!

Thanks for the good words. This is very comforting.

We gonna miss you but, do enjoy your holiday papa.

 2 years ago  

Thanks! See you very soon, in three weeks!

Alright have a nice weekend and holiday ahead

6years! 300 blogs!! I'm awed!!!
For a newbie, I've worried a number of times if I can be consistent but reading this, I'm actually encouraged.

Have a wonderful summer @lemouth and take good care of yourself... can't wait to have you back.. honestly.

 2 years ago  

What shocked me most is when @mintrawa asked me how long this took me in total. I refused to do the calculation, as I know that I need quite a decent amount of time to write any single blog....

Anyway, thanks for passing by, and see you very soon, in three weeks.

I can imagine.... I thought about it too😂.

See you soon.

Happy Holidays!
That you soon recover your health and that you return with the energy to 100%

 2 years ago  

Thanks a lot! I am looking forward to rest a bit far from any screen (although the computer will be with never far, just in case ;) ).

Enjoy your holidays!

Thank you for what you have done on the chain for the past 6 years!

 2 years ago  

Thanks a bunch! I still hope to find some time to visit Strasbourg this year, so that we could finally get some drinks. It has been a long time! ;)

Yes, it's been too long ! I live in Besançon now so tell me if you're anywhere between Strasbourg, Lyon and Dijon :)

Take care !

 2 years ago  

I have been a lot to Lyon this year. I will let you know the next time I will be there.

I am so happy to hear that you are about to take a break :) You will be missed but it a vacation is something that you definitely need.
I will send you a message after your return to ask about what I already mentioned a few weeks ago :)
Happy 6th Year on the blockchain too! You set a stellar example for all of us with your commitment and thank you for devoting so much time to support stem content ..
See you soon!
p.s. I will probably write about my interview experience tomorrow, I enjoyed it a lot!

 2 years ago  

Thanks for passing by and your nice words. Feel free to reach me out when I will be back. I really need a disconnection to restart of saner bases in a couple of weeks!

Enjoy your summer too!

Wow amazing and well deserved

 2 years ago  

Thank you! :)

Great Post!

!1UP

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 2 years ago  

Thanks!

!BEER

 2 years ago  

Cheers!


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Hey @lemouth, here is a little bit of BEER from @cryptoyzzy for you. Enjoy it!

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It has been 6 years of participation, contribution and enjoyment of particle physics, besides that you have taught us a lot I want to add that you are currently encouraging writers to continue writing STEM content. It's good to take a break from time to time, so turning off the computer and going to enjoy nature is a good option.

Cheers my friend and thanks for all the good you do for the hive and STEM environment.

Congratulations @lemouth! You received a personal badge!

Happy Hive Birthday! You are on the Hive blockchain for 6 years!

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking

Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Hive Power Up Day - August 1st 2022

Wow...this community has really come a long way and I am glad to be a member. Very sorry for your Covid 19 experience. Wishing you a wholesome recovery.

Looking forward to learning more from your blogs when you return from your holidays. Do have a wonderful holiday sir.

Congratulations @lemouth 6 years is really not six months. Keep exploring on hive. New ones like me are motivated to stay strong.