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The 1980s are calling

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06 December 2022, 10:32 AM
wtg
The 1980s are calling
quote:
Crucial Computer Program for Particle Physics at Risk of Obsolescence

Maintenance of the software that’s used for the hardest physics calculations rests almost entirely with a retiree. The situation reveals the problematic incentive structure of academia.

Recently, I watched a fellow particle physicist talk about a calculation he had pushed to a new height of precision. His tool? A 1980s-era computer program called FORM.


https://www.quantamagazine.org...solescence-20221201/


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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



06 December 2022, 01:53 PM
Mary Anna
If I could just remember all that FORTRAN I did back then, I might be able to manage a lucrative few years before I hit retirement age.


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Mary Anna Evans
http://www.maryannaevans.com
MaryAnna@ermosworld.com

06 December 2022, 02:22 PM
wtg
Too funny, MA. I sent the article to a friend of ours who retired a couple of years ago from Argonne National Laboratory. He was part of the group working on the ATLAS experiment.

https://www.anl.gov/hep/atlas-...-hadron-collider-lhc

Post-retirement income!

For total geeks, here's something he put together:

https://slidetodoc.com/overvie...avid-malon-malonanl/)

For non-geeks, one of the final slides from the presentation:



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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training



06 December 2022, 05:03 PM
Nina
This is happening everywhere, unfortunately. There were a large number of volcanologists who entered the field or were active during the large eruptions in 1980 - 2000ish, including St Helens, Mt Pinatubo, and El Chichon. As a result, these folks learned the telltale signs of an imminent eruption and more importantly, how to help organize an effective evacuation. However, due to the march of time many if not all of these people have retired, and budget cutbacks have meant that their positions aren't being refilled, or those positions are going elsewhere.

Do I think about this when I look out my window at Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, Mt. Adams, etc.? You betcha!