Resonance strikes a chord

25 January 2011

ATLAS musicians in The Telegraph newspaper


The ATLAS CD, officially released on December 6th last year, has enjoyed some pretty decent coverage in the global media over the last six weeks. The disc itself has sold around a thousand copies, and the perceived unlikely package of physicists as musicians has proved an irresistible hook for reporters.


More than that though, the starting point of the CD has proved to be a springboard for media discussion about ATLAS, the LHC, CERN, and the big physics ideas being grappled with here. The UK's NME – a weekly bible for teenagers and music-mad adults – included an article which touched upon antimatter, the creation of the universe, string theory, and the importance of fundamental research; surely a first in the music media! They also managed to let slip that the groups Muse and The Orb are both desperate to play gigs here at CERN…

The story was also picked up by well-respected science pages around the world, including the Discover magazine blog, the journal Science, and numerous BBC radio shows. The full roll call of the CD's media appearances is catalogued here.

Project organiser Chris Thomas is chuffed with the excellent press coverage of CERN, ATLAS, physics, and physicists, and jokes: “Also general feedback from buyers has been good about the standard of the music - and no-one's actually complained!”


   

Ceri Perkins

ATLAS e-News