Higgs Boson according to Nurse Jackie

Thanks to Television Without Pity, here’s an American’s version on a bit of episode 2 of Nurse Jackie ‘Sweet ‘n’ All’ (season 1):

“Later she’s with Eddie in the Harmacy, bitching because the Supercollider cost eight billion dollars and twenty-three cents or whatever they have over there, you know, guilders or florins or whatever, and he tells her that actually it’s cool. He tries to nutshell it for her, and she waggles her brows at him about “ooh, nutshell!” and he’s like, well, okay. You have matter and antimatter, and when they meet they annihilate each other. Boom. She pronounces this depressing.

However, though, but, that means there’s no reason for us to be here, or pencils, or God. So: The thing in France, or wherever, shoots a proton at an antiproton and smashes it at the speed of light. (He leaves out the whole doomsday situation where we party in the black hole forever and ever, because Jackie’s got enough stress on her plate. Or I have no idea what I’m talking about, or he doesn’t, or none of us do. Who really knows. Well, somebody. The people in France, or wherever. But not me. Nobody in this room, right now, with us.) But eight billion dollars, she reiterates. Really?

Yes really, because they are looking — and I love this, I love Eddie — they are looking for the particle that “allows matter to connect with other matter and become actual things.” You, me, pencils. “It’s fucking magic, Jackie! It’s the God particle, that’s what they’re looking for, they’re looking for God.” I think if God were a particle of anything, it would be like a nice cheese blintz. Something that will stick to your gut but not make you sick, something warm, something a little sweet but with a lot of other flavors going on in there too. Or else Silly Putty because that shit is amazing.”

Riiiiiiiight. Now I get it. LOL. You can watch the episode on MegaVideo if you like.

Interesting, by the way, how there’s another medical junkie on TV. Don’t have a real opinion yet on Nurse Jackie, am still catching up. Reminded me to write a blog about another recent trend on TV: tough women teaming up with clever men. House, Castle, Bones (that’d be clever woman teams up with tough man).

Visit to CERN. Or: how my head exploded

For NIKHEF I travelled to CERN, Geneva, to interview an expert on superconductors. He has worked (amongst others) on the cable that generates the electricity for the magnets that keep the particle beam in place so they can collide at the right place and time. At least I think that’s the right summary. After all, it is very complicated stuff. Fascinating and wonderfully abstract. So you can understand my nerdy heart was all a-flutter, visiting this place where the world wide web was invented and where people are digging into the origins of the universe.

To Geneva

This must be the fastest checking ever for me. I took the 6:38 train and was at the  gate less than 20 minutes later. And that included checking in, taking off my shoes and emptying my bag on the conveyor belt. Feels… Adventurous to live that close to the airport (without the  bother of plane noise). When i lived in the UK i often carried my passport with me. The thought of being able to leave the country at any time was very appealing. Apparently, i havent changed that much.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, i am off to CERN for an interview. How cool is that! To visit the place the web was invented. Yay