ode to CERN

In tunnels deep beneath Die Schweiz's trails:
Magnetic coils gain power at command,
By engineers who hope they will unveil
A phsyics marvel new to any land;
Though budget problems threatened to disband,
The mighty Hadron, over sixteen miles,
Which cost quite more than its initial plans;
But now stands ready to partake of trials,
This new construction's bound to make bold Hermes smile.

Though some cry danger, and forsee our death,
For fear the test may cause a new black hole,
The rest of us await with bated breath,
To see what can be learned from Science bold,
And hope that out of this vacuum-like cold,
The sought-for Boson will to us reveal,
The secrets of our universe so old,
And like Prometheus, the fire will steal,
And give us a new definition of what's real.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7604293.stm

Foldit: Solving Puzzles for Science.

Aghast by dreary news from every port,
I turn to something lighter for today,
An entertaining electronic sport,
And something that the youngest child could play,
But also can help researchers display,
The forms of proteins best to fight disease:
And if your protein puzzle wins the day,
And is rewarded by the Noble peers,
The Nobel Prize will be part yours, and earned with ease.

An interesting tool is what results,
With mind of man and ease of game combined,
And databases there to store results,
In cases a player successfully finds,
A combination that restores the minds,
Of people with Alzheimer's, or the cure,
For AIDS or Cancer, in their proteins binds,
And rid the body of all that's impure;
I think that many will be snagged by this game's lure.


URL: http://fold.it/portal/adobe_main