Christopher Kyba 🇨🇦🇪🇺I worked at @snolabscience.bsky.social ages back when it was still just "SNO". It wasn't on Mastodon then, but it is now 😃
If you're a fan of cool physics done 2 km underground, you should definitely follow them!
Stephen Sekula@skyglowberlin Nice photo! I know those doors!
@steve Do personnel still go in at the door to the left, or has the entrance and dry been moved with the expansion?
I would love to come for a visit again sometime, but I don't see much chance of me coming by Sudbury any time soon.
(Ooooh, here's a suggestion: in 2029 you guys could hold a "30 years since the start of data taking" event, and invite all of the alumni back to hold a Fest where you guys present what's new in the lab, and the alumni present the weird and wonderful stuff they're doing inside and outside of academia! I would totally come for that.)
@skyglowberlin The lab expansion that led to the formal opening of SNOLAB moved the car wash and entrance to the dry about 100m further up the drift (back along the tracks that lead to the cage). Attached is what the new entrance looks like now (the doors are behind the rail car).
Those doors in your photo now lead from the “new lab” to to “SNO+ area/old lab”.
I will pass along the “reunion”/“30 years” suggestion and see what comes of the idea. Thanks for the suggestion!
@steve Thanks for sharing! Do you still walk all the way to the dry in dirty clothes? Or is there a new dry closer to the new entrance?
Back when I was a student, there was a rumor that the women's dry wasn't originally planned. The story went that when the area for the dry was blasted, the volume was larger than planned, and then it was decided to squeeze in a women's dry. That was supposedly the explanation for why the roof in the women's dry was so low.
I found the rumor both unbelievable and too believable at the same time... the Penn physics building originally had no women's toilets, and there were still urinals in the women's toilets when I went there.
@skyglowberlin The procedure overall is largely unchanged. We cage down at 06:30, walk the 1.6km to the front entrance, boot wash, then get out of dirty mine clothes, shower, and change into cleanroom attire. The women’s and men’s drys are both much better than they used to be, but we have 150 staff and 1200 users and we need bigger drys overall on surface and underground. Space is, as always, a challenge.
We have a community needs report coming out soon. I will send a copy.
Stan Seibert@steve @skyglowberlin A SNO reunion in 2029 would be pretty interesting! (I think my last time underground was in 2013.)
@seibert @skyglowberlin There is an event planned in May this year, marking 20 years since the end of operations. I have no insight into the advertising, scheduling, etc. however, so I cannot tell you much past that. When something official is available, I will drop it in Mastodon and try to reply here.