iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Harvey Birch! It was a pleasure to visit the University of Zürich as External Examiner for his PhD viva on liquid-xenon direct dark matter searches, and to tour the Department including the impressive Xenoscope demonstrator for future of liquid-xenon science.

Darren discussing the Xenoscope with Nicolas, postdoc in Zürich

Darren, Harvey, and PhD supervisor Björn standing in a line at the celebration for his PhD defence - a blackboard with science(!) is in the background

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Today we enjoyed presenting our 'Seeing the unseen: a particle physics mystery' stand at the Universally Manchester festival at The University of Manchester reaching hundreds of people! Want to produce your own? @cern.bsky.social has produced some great guidance at scoollab.web.cern.ch/mystery-boxes

Volunteers behind the stand showing the interactive exhibits that rely on our senses and understanding beyond sight to figure out the hidden structures inside the closed boxes

Our volunteers demonstrating our interactive exhibits to members of the public and young children

Post doctoral researchers in the particle physics group introducing the interactive exhibits to members of the public

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

I'll be talking all things #particlephysics and "Discovering the Unknown" at a public talk in Sale, Greater Manchester, on Friday June 27th at 19:30 -- hope to see you there! Tickets at: watersidearts.org/events/sale-... (proceeds go to charity)

ATLAS control room displays at CERN, showing some status images of the detector in the background, and the "DAQ duck" (a yellow rubber duck!) in the foreground.

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Reposted by Darren Price

Social Responsibility at The University of Manchester @socialresponuom.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

We are excited to invite you to our Universally Manchester Festival! 🎉This free family-friendly festival is a great day out with hands-on science experiments, performances, inspiring talks and more! 📅 14 June 📍 @uniofmanchester.bsky.social Oxford Road campus 🔗 universallymanchester.com

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Registration is open for A-Level #physics school groups / individual students to attend our one-day Particle Physics Masterclass at the University of Manchester on April 4th 2025! We have 300 available slots for students & school groups who wish to attend. Sign up here: indico.global/event/4172/

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Reposted by Darren Price

ATLAS Experiment @atlasexperiment.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

3D print your own ATLAS Experiment! 🖨️ This 1:100 scale model, designed by physicist Jan Brajer, showcases the beauty and complexity of particle physics. Perfect for 3D printing enthusiasts and science lovers alike! Download the files here: atlas.cern/Resources/3d...

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Congratulations to Dr. Ben Wilson who successfully passed his PhD viva! 🎉 Ben's research focused on searches for heavy neutral lepton production via vector boson fusion @atlasexperiment.bsky.social and tau identification algorithms

Dr. Ben Wilson, standing next to PhD supervisor Darren Price and examiners Carl Gwilliam and Terry Wyatt. Celebrating with a glass of champagne.

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Last week I spent the day 1.1 km underground at the Boulby Laboratory exploring the future of dark matter and quantum technology in the UK. The lab is situated in an active Salt and Polyhalite mine in North East England which makes for an interesting commute and office wear! 🧑‍🔬⚛️👷‍♂️

The visiting team of scientists, outside the facility, above ground, wearing orange PPE high-vis outfits and hard hats. A light dusting of snow on the ground, and a clear blue sky. In the background are buildings of the mining facilities and the two shafts to the underground area.

The visiting team pose for a photo underground in the Boulby Lab tunnels. The team are wearing orange high-vis PPE including helmets and boots. The head torch on their helmets are turned on to help with visibility underground. A sign "Boulby Underground Laboratory" is held in the centre of the group. In the background, mock-up tents for research into medical care on Mars are just visible.

The team pose for a photo in the clean environment of the lab, within the cavern underground. The team have changed clothes to wear white clean room boots, Tyvek coveralls and different hardhats to reduce dust and radioactivity in the sensitive lab environment. The lab space is dominated by shiny white walls, ceilings, and floors in a pristine environment.

A photo of Darren in the Boulby Lab clean environment, wearing an orange safety helmet, high vis orange PPE clothing, covered with a Tyvek cleanroom coverall. Out of focus in the background is the white-walled lab hall, various pieces of technology and an overhead crane.

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

I recently visited Daresbury Laboratory as part of an ongoing project on planning & development of a science lab 1.1 km underground in the North-East of England. 👷‍♂️ More on that soon, but most importantly here is the resident #sciencecat undertaking public engagement activities at Daresbury Lab

A tuxedo cat with white socks, wandering around the foyer of Daresbury Lab like they own the place: because they do...

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Oh hey 👋 looks like an uptick in activity here, so a short (re-)introduction! I'm a #particlephysicist working at the Large Hadron Collider #CERN and new approaches to searching for #darkMatter using quantum sensors/ new materials. Follow for #science life, #physics chat, and occasional cats 🐈

A photo of Darren. In the background is a glacier in Iceland.

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/12/2023

Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Sandford @sandford_ellen on the successful defence of her PhD dissertation on direct dark matter detection with DarkSide and silicon photosensor development! 🥳🎉

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 01/12/2023

In the ALICE experiment cavern 50m underground at CERN -- one lonely chair contemplates the fundamental nature of existence #LonelyChairsAtCERN

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 01/12/2023

In the @ALICEexperiment cavern 50m underground at CERN -- one lonely chair contemplates the fundamental nature of existence #LonelyChairsAtCERN

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 01/12/2023

The W boson, central to our understanding of the weak nuclear force was discovered 40 years ago at CERN. A BBC documentary "The Geneva Event" follows engineers and physicists from the UA1 and UA2 experiments from 1978 to 1983 #fromTheArchives videos.cern.ch/record/1004828

videos.cern.ch

Geneva Event (long version)

Presentation of CERN at the time of the PSP. Carlo Rubbia presents his experiment on SPS, called UA1. He also deals with general aspects of the particle physics.The second part of the film deals with ...

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 24/11/2023

Dr. Kara Lynch (Manchester) discusses her research 'Measuring the shape of proton-emitting nuclei with laser spectroscopy' in today's Bohr Lunch Seminar

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 03/11/2023

Dr. Alice Hamer (Edinburgh) presents a summary of the UK-wide silicon photosensor production effort for the DarkSide-20k dark matter experiment in today's Bohr Lunch Seminar

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 13/10/2023

Many congratulations to Ellen Sandford, who has been awarded the John G Rutherglen Memorial Prize for her PhD research on direct dark matter detection! 🥳🔬🏆 gla.ac.uk/schools/physic…

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 11/09/2023

Proton in a bubble chamber observed at CERN...

Picture of a sign reading "Proton" about to be installed at CERN, wrapped in bubble wrap

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 08/09/2023

After examining a successful (congratulations Dr. Gary Robertson!) LHCb PhD thesis in Edinburgh last week, this week I've been CERN for meetings, training courses, and a sneak peek at the new Science Gateway open to the public from October -- looks great! sciencegateway.cern

Looking towards the Science Gateway exhibition tubes from the CERN reception plaza, on a sunny day with member state flags flying in the foreground

On site at the science gateway, with other members of CERN personnel, which is currently a construction site so everyone wears high visibility jackets and hard hats

A selfie inside the science gateway, in a hard hat and high vis jacket with the CERN globe in the background

The main auditorium and events space at science gateway undergoing final touches, showing 900 seats, a stage, and audiovisual equipment

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Reposted by Darren Price

ATLAS Experiment @atlasexperiment.bsky.social · 17/08/2023

The ATLAS Experiment always takes particle physics into uncharted territories — Hi Bluesky! 👋

Photo of the ATLAS inner detector under construction.

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 15/08/2023

For my inaugural bsky post, I would like to introduce Emmy, my Research Catssistant, who has been helping me prepare my latest #particlephysics paper draft...

Black cat, looking intently at a screen in a home office, showing a paper draft in progress, some plots of results, and a skype conversation in the background.

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 18/07/2023

Today at #LeptonPhoton, @ATLASexperiment released results of a search for new states in X→μ⁺μ⁻+Υ(1S)→4μ decays, with intriguing results! 🧐 An unexpected excess of events is observed near 18 GeV in four-muon mass in 8 TeV data, but later 13 TeV data excludes this excess...

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 17/07/2023

With more than a day of travel to get here, plus jet lag ✈️, it's good to see a session has been scheduled in sympathy

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 17/07/2023

Fantastic to be in Melbourne this week representing @ATLASexperiment at Lepton Photon 2023 @lp2023monash both with some new results on the search for new exotic resonances (coming soon...!🌶️), and showcasing our current and future #OpenData 👨‍💻 offerings!

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 05/07/2023

We're planning the next phase of our @ATLASexperiment #OpenData release and want YOUR input to shape the future 👩‍💻 Fill out our survey: cern.ch/atlasoutreachcensus #OpenScience Take a look at our currently released data, software and documentation here! opendata.atlas.cern

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 27/06/2023

Great to be in Vancouver this week for @ATLASexperiment collaboration week. Lots of physics discussions, a presentation on our outreach/education initiatives, and time to explore!

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 03/05/2023

Want to get an insider look on the day-to-day operation of the @ATLASexperiment? Watch our YouTube Live event this Friday 16:00 CET where you'll get the chance to tour our control room, meet people running the experiment, and ask your questions! Teaser: www.youtube.com/live/KCFq7xQaHqU

youtube.com

TEASER: Upcoming live tour of the ATLAS Experiment Control Room at CERN

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/04/2023

I am here for this 'go to absurd lengths to use modern tools to make your plots look like you couldn't be bothered to update your macros/transparencies/woodcuts since ... ' dynamic! 😂 Anyone got any favourite examples? twitter.com/AstroJacobLi/status/164…

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 04/04/2023

PhD student Conner Roberts presents his work on assembly and characterisation of cutting-edge silicon photosensor arrays for the DarkSide-20k #darkMatter detector at @IOP_APP #IOPAPPHEPP2023 @UoMPhysics

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 17/02/2023

Let's build an ambitious silicon photosensor R&D facility and world-leading #DarkMatter experiment in Yorkshire, during this decade! 🏗️🔬 In Sheffield today to outline the vision and a path to get there (and beyond)! 💫

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/02/2023

What are the implications if dark matter interacts differently with protons and neutrons? 🧐 Our new paper arxiv.org/abs/2302.05458 revisits how this affects Earth-based experimental searches for #darkMatter scattering on argon and xenon targets 🧵(1/n) @UoMPhysics

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 09/01/2023

This week in Manchester we're thrilled to welcome over 230 people from the @ATLASexperiment-UK community to our first in-person annual meeting in three years! 🧑‍🔬🖥️🧑‍🏫 A huge thanks to the operations team at @UoMPhysics for making this happen! 🏆

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 15/12/2022

Celebrating the graduation of some of our @UoMparticle and @UoMPhysics postgraduate students this evening!

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 18/11/2022

The sparkling Dr. Sarah Schlobohm, Head of #AI @KubrickGroup, discusses her journey in #data, as well as AI ethics, language, and data training in a new Data Stories podcast: 💭 Spotify: t.co/JKtLDkTqJ2 🔉 Apple: t.co/SMqb2i04W4 #DataScience

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 14/11/2022

Mine sat in a big box too until I decided to spruce up my office with them on an otherwise very ugly wall! 💫 twitter.com/1cRebeca/status/1592091…

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 10/11/2022

There's some good entertainment prospects here in having senior staff present their first conference talk again at a dedicated new event! :) Combining it with a 5 min close bringing the topic up to date with a present-day perspective might be interesting... Any volunteers?? t.co/y9wZLVChKe

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 03/10/2022

Seventy years ago, in October 1952, Geneva was selected as the site for the @CERN laboratory. The original occupier of the field was a bit puzzled by the news 🐄🐄🐄

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 22/09/2022

Ellen Sandford @sandford_ellen presents new results on low mass dark matter searches and isospin-violating dark matter studies in liquid noble direct detection experiments at the Dark Matter UK meeting today at Imperial College London indico.cern.ch/event/1189888/timeta…

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 12/09/2022

Did you know the first touch screens were developed at @CERN in 1972, to solve the problem of controlling the cutting-edge SPS particle accelerator? Report from 1973: cds.cern.ch/record/186242/files/CER… [PDF]

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 06/09/2022

A quick visit to @CERN this week for meetings and training, but managed to stop in at the factory floor before leaving... 🏭🔬⚛️

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 05/09/2022

A proposal for a new one tonne scale low-threshold #darkmatter detector, DarkSide-LowMass, exploiting ultra-radiopure argon and silicon photosensors could probe MeV to GeV-scale dark matter down to the neutrino fog with just one year of data-taking! 🌌🔬 arxiv.org/abs/2209.01177

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 02/09/2022

A milestone for the DarkSide-20k #darkmatter experiment with shipping @UoMPhysics➡️Naples of the first assembled veto photodetector units! 🥳 UK production contributions from RHUL, Warwick, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham Universities & STFC Interconnect + many 🌍 colleagues

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 26/07/2022

New constraints on dark matter interactions with nucleons released today from DarkSide-50, with key contributions from @UoMPhysics and in particular PhD student @sandford_ellen, extend the reach of searches down to dark matter masses of 40 MeV! arxiv.org/abs/2207.11967

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 22/07/2022

It was great to be able to catch up with the DarkSide-UK community in Edinburgh this week, and have the opportunity for all the @UoMPhysics Darkside students (📸 below) to present + receive feedback on their work!

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Darren Price @darrenprice.bsky.social · 22/07/2022

If (when?) the DarkSide-20k dark matter experiment detects a signal, how well will we be able to determine its properties? 🌌⚛️🔬 Undergraduate student @UoMPhysics @OfficialUoM, Flavia-Alexandra Cîmpean, explores the potential in her Summer research project with @UoMparticle!

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