It started Friday with a trip to an observatory where we had lectures on the movements of planets, space debris, and touched on the idea of dark matter. These were accompanied by a 3D movie so obviously we were all pretty enthralled. Shortly after we walked around the various exhibits of the observatory open to the public which included relics of ancient star gazing, illustrations of various planetary movement beliefs over time, and this scale that would display your weight as if you were on countless other planetary bodies. Clearly the highlight.
After that we traveled deep under the Gran Sasso to a research station built into the tunnel that passes under the mountain, one of the only subterranean laboratories in the world. The underground location is a necessity to stop as many other particles and waves as possible interfering with the readings besides the elusive neutrino. In a sense, it's a giant clean room to the Sun's rays and various other radiations present in the atmosphere and less so at 3400 mwe (3400 meters of water equivalent of radiation shielding). The lab is set up with three research tunnels allowing three different experiments to be run at once. Currently, the tubes are mostly in states of transition, however there was one experiment being conducted on dark matter where the scientists were attempting to cut out every possible interaction a sample material could could have with the outside world...and see if they could detect a change in the material. Perhaps this is the way we will catch the substance that makes up 90% of the known universe? The lab was very bond villain-esque and definitely worth the lengthy drive. It took us out of the Renaissance and deep into the topics a lot of the technical students are interested in.
The three-hour bus ride returned us home by 8:45, after the grocery store had closed so while most went out for dinner Quan and I decided to cook some pasta and save a couple Euros. The day ended with a late-night walk through Rome that was really quite amazing.
Today was a far simpler affair....in terms of schedule. We started off with a guest lecture on painting techniques of the 1600s and various restorations of famous works around Italy. The guest professor approached these topics from a technical side too which was fantastic as she explained the different types of dyes and binders used in paint back before there were really tried and true tactics to getting the colors you love. She likened the process of making just the right mixtures to alchemy more than actual science, and explored recent efforts to expand on these techniques as well. It was also the first lecture everyone stayed awake for! I'm excited she'll be our tour guide at the Vatican as well, but I hope her knowledge on sculptures is just as vast.
The rain kicked in shortly before noon and we were cut loose in the city. Grace, Zach, and I found a wonderful little restaurant just off of the Piazza that houses the Pantheon where I tried fried quail for lunch! I'm certainly no food critic though, really it tasted no different from chicken. In the afternoon the three of us went off in search of the Roman baths, beautiful ruins I missed my last time in town.
After a long hike to the outskirts of the city, we found ruins and they did not disappoint. Massive arches and buildings some of the largest I've seen with wonderful displays explaining each room and the different mosaics that have survived the millennia.The ruins were set in a nice little park setup, it was the perfect way to end a day of touring before grabbing a quick dinner and spending the evening with friends.
On the way back we passed the Circus Maximus and I got this beautiful picture of the clouds above the ancient race course!
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