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CERN spokesman: We'll never plug blockbuster leaks
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Andrew Silke is professor of criminology and director of terrorism studies at the University of East London, UK
One minute with...
James Gillies In the age of Twitter and blogs, it’s impossible to stop leaks about possible blockbuster discoveries, says CERN’s press chief A recent blog post reported that the Higgs boson had been found, based on information leaked from one of the experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Are leaks really such a bad thing? What happened is that an early stage of an analysis was leaked. If something is leaked and then turns out to be untrue, it gives the impression that we don’t really know what we are doing, whereas this is just part of the normal analysis process. What should have happened before this information was made public? In particle physics you have small working groups that do an analysis that they then put out to a larger part of the collaboration for scrutiny. Very often it won’t get beyond that. If it does, then the analysis goes out to the whole collaboration for scrutiny. That can be the end of the story, but if it passes that test it goes to the wider community for discussion – but again, it may not survive the external clearing process. With huge collaborations of physicists, it must be impossible to stop leaks. I personally think it’s inevitable that information will come out. It’s part of the nature of the field. We are very open in particle physics. There are 3000 people in these collaborations and in excess of 100 institutions. Will the leaks lead to a witch-hunt at CERN? I wouldn’t go as far as that, but people will want to know what has happened and ensure that it won’t happen again. What is supposed to happen if someone really does find the Higgs at the LHC? We have devised a protocol for dealing with a blockbuster result. If one of the collaborations has a result to announce, they inform the director general of CERN. This sets in motion a chain of events. Other experiments with potentially the same physics are given the chance to confirm the findings. If the result is big enough, like discovery of a supersymmetric particle or the Higgs boson,
Profile James Gillies is head of communication at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Oxford
we inform the heads of other laboratories and all our member states that this is coming, and organise an announcement seminar at CERN. If the Higgs is found at the LHC, who will get credit for discovering it? That’s a difficult question. You can’t point to a small number of individuals in the way that you could in the past. Take the last Nobel prize CERN won for experimental particle physics. Everyone would agree that the two recipients, Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer, merited it. Even though hundreds of people were involved in that project, those two people really made it happen. There isn’t a similar situation today. Has any good come from the leaks? Since the recent leak about the Higgs I have had lots of conversations with journalists who want to understand the process of discovery in particle physics. That’s an extremely good thing. The fact that the level of interest is so high is a positive for us and something that we should embrace. Interview by Valerie Jamieson
14 May 2011 | NewScientist | 25
cern
one study found that it caused white Americans to show more sympathy and support for other whites who expressed racist views. In the Middle East, researchers found that Muslim students under mortality salience conditions expressed more support and sympathy for suicide bombers, and a greater willingness to carry out such attacks themselves (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol 32, p 525). Releasing images of bin Laden’s corpse will provoke this effect across the world, many parts of which are already unsympathetic – if not downright hostile – to the US. Among people who identify with Al-Qaida, the images can be expected to increase sympathy and support for militant groups, especially ones that claim to be the defenders of cultural identity. Linked to this will be increased hostility towards the enemies of that identity – the US and its allies, in other words – and an increased willingness to engage in violence. In short, the risks in many parts of the world would go up. Yet it is also important to note that releasing the images would have some benefits. Within the US, release would likely be associated with increased support for the president and the government. Obama’s approval rating among Americans has risen six points since bin Laden’s killing was announced. Release of the images would probably push it a few points higher, at least for a short while. Even so, Obama is right. Writing in 2005, the new commander of Al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, reminded his followers that they were in a “media battle for the hearts and minds” of the Muslim world. The Americans are also locked in this battle, and in holding the photos back Obama is showing astute caution. n
Andrew Silke is professor of criminology and director of terrorism studies at the University of East London, UK
One minute with...
James Gillies In the age of Twitter and blogs, it’s impossible to stop leaks about possible blockbuster discoveries, says CERN’s press chief A recent blog post reported that the Higgs boson had been found, based on information leaked from one of the experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Are leaks really such a bad thing? What happened is that an early stage of an analysis was leaked. If something is leaked and then turns out to be untrue, it gives the impression that we don’t really know what we are doing, whereas this is just part of the normal analysis process. What should have happened before this information was made public? In particle physics you have small working groups that do an analysis that they then put out to a larger part of the collaboration for scrutiny. Very often it won’t get beyond that. If it does, then the analysis goes out to the whole collaboration for scrutiny. That can be the end of the story, but if it passes that test it goes to the wider community for discussion – but again, it may not survive the external clearing process. With huge collaborations of physicists, it must be impossible to stop leaks. I personally think it’s inevitable that information will come out. It’s part of the nature of the field. We are very open in particle physics. There are 3000 people in these collaborations and in excess of 100 institutions. Will the leaks lead to a witch-hunt at CERN? I wouldn’t go as far as that, but people will want to know what has happened and ensure that it won’t happen again. What is supposed to happen if someone really does find the Higgs at the LHC? We have devised a protocol for dealing with a blockbuster result. If one of the collaborations has a result to announce, they inform the director general of CERN. This sets in motion a chain of events. Other experiments with potentially the same physics are given the chance to confirm the findings. If the result is big enough, like discovery of a supersymmetric particle or the Higgs boson,
Profile James Gillies is head of communication at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a PhD in physics from the University of Oxford
we inform the heads of other laboratories and all our member states that this is coming, and organise an announcement seminar at CERN. If the Higgs is found at the LHC, who will get credit for discovering it? That’s a difficult question. You can’t point to a small number of individuals in the way that you could in the past. Take the last Nobel prize CERN won for experimental particle physics. Everyone would agree that the two recipients, Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer, merited it. Even though hundreds of people were involved in that project, those two people really made it happen. There isn’t a similar situation today. Has any good come from the leaks? Since the recent leak about the Higgs I have had lots of conversations with journalists who want to understand the process of discovery in particle physics. That’s an extremely good thing. The fact that the level of interest is so high is a positive for us and something that we should embrace. Interview by Valerie Jamieson
14 May 2011 | NewScientist | 25
cern
one study found that it caused white Americans to show more sympathy and support for other whites who expressed racist views. In the Middle East, researchers found that Muslim students under mortality salience conditions expressed more support and sympathy for suicide bombers, and a greater willingness to carry out such attacks themselves (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol 32, p 525). Releasing images of bin Laden’s corpse will provoke this effect across the world, many parts of which are already unsympathetic – if not downright hostile – to the US. Among people who identify with Al-Qaida, the images can be expected to increase sympathy and support for militant groups, especially ones that claim to be the defenders of cultural identity. Linked to this will be increased hostility towards the enemies of that identity – the US and its allies, in other words – and an increased willingness to engage in violence. In short, the risks in many parts of the world would go up. Yet it is also important to note that releasing the images would have some benefits. Within the US, release would likely be associated with increased support for the president and the government. Obama’s approval rating among Americans has risen six points since bin Laden’s killing was announced. Release of the images would probably push it a few points higher, at least for a short while. Even so, Obama is right. Writing in 2005, the new commander of Al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, reminded his followers that they were in a “media battle for the hearts and minds” of the Muslim world. The Americans are also locked in this battle, and in holding the photos back Obama is showing astute caution. n