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CERN Looking For Help Filling In the Gaps In Photo Archive

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-does-this-look-like-to-you? dept.

rHBa writes According to the BBC scientists at the European nuclear research center CERN have uncovered an archive of images from its first 50 years and are asking for help in deciphering what is going on in them. Dr Sue Black, who was a key figure in the campaign to save Bletchley Park, said "we believe that much of this information could be crowd-sourced from the CERN community."

28 comments

  1. "Croudsourced." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Or, to put it more succintly, "we're too lazy and cheap to do the work ourselves, have at it Internet!"

    1. Re:"Croudsourced." by rHBa · · Score: 1

      How many people do you think worked at CERN between 1955 and 2005? How many of them (from the early days) have email addresses that CERN could contact them on, or would want to be contacted, given they're probably in their late 80s by now?

    2. Re:"Croudsourced." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      between 1955 and 2005

      Well, let's see, that's about 49. Easy as pi!

    3. Re:"Croudsourced." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why even use the term "crowd-sourced"? It just sounds... ugh.

      "We don't know what these are photographs of. Maybe the people who worked there, some of whom are pictured in said pictures, know. Let's ask them!"

    4. Re:"Croudsourced." by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      More likely its "this work doesn't need to be done, won't affect anything if its not done, lets spend actual resources and money on something more important - but hey, if you want to chip in feel free!"

      No ones going to bitch about timescales and missed deadlines when this isn't done in 10 years...

  2. Missing a comma by rHBa · · Score: 1

    I submitted this story so maybe it's my fault but I'm pretty sure the BBC don't have scientists at CERN.

    1. Re:Missing a comma by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

      Well there is Brian Cox although technically I've never actually seen him at CERN despite working on the same experiment.

  3. I'd rather do Galaxy Mergers by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 0

    http://mergers.galaxyzoo.org

  4. set it up on mturk or microworkers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    or many of the other sites that do such tasks for cheap

  5. Re: Bennet Hasselton by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He fills my gaps with his insightful new and ingenious queue distribution ideas like he proposed for burning man

  6. Go to Media but not CERN people? by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

    How many of them (from the early days) have email addresses that CERN could contact them on

    Well I have a CERN email address and I still regularly visit CERN to work on an experiment there and this is the first I've heard about it. It seems strange that they went to the media before emailing those of us who were around during some of that period and are still working at CERN!

    1. Re:Go to Media but not CERN people? by rHBa · · Score: 2
      Fair enough, maybe they do have an ulterior motive, from TFA:

      "Crowdsourcing the information related to these images is a fabulous approach to public engagement and one which other institutions - scientific or not - would be wise to follow.

      "It engages public interest and imagination in a way that is interesting and exciting. It will also be a great exercise in demonstrating the power of crowdsourcing, possibly to an audience that has not experienced it before," she said.

  7. Facial recognition by ortholattice · · Score: 0

    As a first rough pass at identifying the people in 250,000 images, they could use facial recognition against the ID photos of all past employees (assuming they saved them). That way, interested past employees would only have to look at much smaller samples to confirm and describe the images.

    Oh, and I'm sure the NSA could be of assistance.

  8. My guesses by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Funny

    My guesses as follows:

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    The Robo-tometrist. The first mechanical optometrist device. While every test subject did get a perfect eyeglass fitting, few after the fitting had eyes left to enjoy them with. And a couple even lost fingers.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    An experimental magnetic bong. No more bong water smell! Unfortunately researchers lost it along with their keys and can't remember how to build another one.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    A female scientist in the 80s? Clearly this was a Halloween party!

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    Mecanical penises sound like a good idea until you actually see one in person.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    Come on, we all knew Carl Segans vacuum cleaner would have to look something like this.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    And his Latte machine and barista would look like this.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    Some jerk coughed into the magnetic bong. We thought it was bad getting water on your weed, but gamma rays? Now we're starting to remember why we lost that thing.

    http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media...
    CERN employees require a lot of coffee to get started in the mornings.

    1. Re:My guesses by grcumb · · Score: 1

      Feh, easy:

      Porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn porn work porn porn porn porn porn work work porn porn porn porn porn...

      (This is another paragraph that does not use repetition to make its point because Slashdot's lameness filter is rearing its ugly head again.)

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  9. Research and Development! by twebb72 · · Score: 1

    ...deciphering what is going on in them

    Research and Development... putting in the man hours to study the science of what you need. Last week we put liquid paper on a bee... and it died

  10. My guess by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Based on my experience with this type of thing, the answer is, "here is a scientist posed with a random piece of equipment and staged lighting to make a visually appealing image that looks science-y."

    More seriously, I think this crowdsourcing effort is likely to be overwhelmed with clever jokes or well-intentioned guesses.

    1. Re:My guess by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Based on my experience with this type of thing, the answer is, "here is a scientist posed with a random piece of equipment and staged lighting to make a visually appealing image that looks science-y."

      Then really, you don't have much experience with this type of thing. Certainly some of that archive will be posed PR type shots. But if you look at TFA, you also find what I'd also expect to find in such an archive - documentary shots showing pieces of equipment and scientists working with such equipment.
       

      More seriously, I think this crowdsourcing effort is likely to be overwhelmed with clever jokes or well-intentioned guesses.

      It actually doesn't take much effort to weed those out, I regularly taking part in crowd sourced efforts to identify the locations, dates, etc... of photographs, and the jokes and guesses stand out like sore thumbs.

  11. Aren't we supposed to be dead already? by dorpus · · Score: 1

    Growing up in the 1970s, there were many books by reputable scientists who were absolutely sure that the Earth will have mega-famines and enter an Ice Age by the year 2000. They were absolutely certain that no economic growth will ever occur in China or India, the Cold War will last a thousand years, and air pollution will require everyone to wear oxygen masks at all times.

    1. Re:Aren't we supposed to be dead already? by JasonGoatcher · · Score: 1

      Growing up in the 1970s, there were many books by reputable scientists who were absolutely sure that the Earth will have mega-famines and enter an Ice Age by the year 2000. They were absolutely certain that no economic growth will ever occur in China or India, the Cold War will last a thousand years, and air pollution will require everyone to wear oxygen masks at all times.

      That IS the reality. That reminds me, do you want the red pill, or the blue pill? I forget what they're for, and they may have fuzz on them from the length of time they've been in my pocket.

    2. Re:Aren't we supposed to be dead already? by cusco · · Score: 1

      There were books by "futurists" to that effect and some science fiction stories, but reputable scientists? Hardly. If you think back, which "scientist" was it that claimed we were about to enter a new Ice Age? None, it was a reporter at Time Magazine who had (probably accidentally) learned about Milancovitch Cycles, actual climatologists (there were a few then) already knew we were getting warmer and together with astronomers put together the first climate models to explain the gross temperature ranges of Venus, Earth and Mars. Economists were the only people surprised by economic growth in India and China, and there aren't many of those who could be called "scientists" much less reputable. And even politicians as ignorant as Ronnie Raygun were under no illusion that the Cold War was a permanent state.

      Are you sure that you actually remember **anything** from the 1970s?

      --
      "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
  12. Simple shapes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously work for an arc reactor.

  13. Bayern München Borussia Dortmund live stream by weiche · · Score: 0

    Watch the game between the best teams in Germany, Bayern München - Borussia Dortmund live stream https://sites.google.com/site/...

  14. Bayern München Borussia Dortmund live stream by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Correct link here :P https://sites.google.com/site/...

  15. Public Domain ? Not yet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So far these pictures are not officially in the public domain, so if Cern expects public contribution (err... free, no money, you know we are on a budget), it should make a move in that direction first.

    That, or they just wait another 30 years or more before requesting Internet's help.

  16. Re:Bayern München Borussia Dortmund live stre by Maavin · · Score: 1

    Mere words can't even begin to describe how irrelevant this is!

    --


    Crivens! I kicked meself in me own heid!