On January 25th 2019, at the “Scipione Staffa” Institute in Trinitapoli (BT), a conference was held, about the Extreme Energy Events activities and, in particular, the PolarquEEEst2018 mission.
The headmaster Prof. Carmine Gissi chaired the conference, highlighting the importance of «Doing experimental science in schools» and the necessity to apply new didactic models which can stimulate the students’ curiosity and their desire of knowledge. Prof. Margherita Lafata and Giacomo di Staso, local representatives of the EEE project, talked about the activities at CERN, underlining how much this scientific organization is at the forefront of the research world with its impressive experimental equipments.
Prof. Lafata focused on the history of the birth of CERN, also analyzing political and social factors, and the activity conducted by thousands of scientists from all over the world. Professor di Staso described the various experiments currently conducted at CERN and the important discoveries done in the recent years, then hinting at the projects that will be developed in the future.
Particularly pleasant and captivating was the presentation by Prof. Abbrescia (Physics professor at the Interateneo Department of Bari and national responsible for the EEE project) about the scientific results of the PolarQuest2018 mission. Spectacular images of unexplored landscapes, glaciers overlooking the sea, whales, white bears, documented the activities carried out on board the eco-sustainable boat Nanuq which completed a cruise of about 3500 nautical miles in the glacial Arctic Sea. The EEE experiment took part in the mission by studying the cosmic ray flux at latitude levels never reached before, brilliantly overcoming the challenge of operating in difficult climatic and environmental conditions.
“Journeys are never forgotten, they are all unique in their own way, but this was particularly charming and the wonderful…Nothing could leave us emotionless in this amazing world, where physicists from everywhere meet and look for the traces of the absence of chaos, the whispering of beauty, the tangled nature of our own lives which still thrills and leads us through wonderful stories of galaxies and particles”: this are the emotions expressed by the students of the “Staffa” Institute: Angelica Picca, Ilenia Lopez e Alyssa De Rosa, who have reported on the study trip at CERN in the months of April and December 2018, making them privileged interlocutors of enlightening lessons by Prof. Antonino Zichichi as well as protagonists of multiple educational visits within the laboratories of CERN, the interactive museums “Microcosm” and “Globe of Innovation” and the great experiments of the LHC, ATLAS and CMS.
The lectures, aimed at the divulgation and awareness of scientific issues and recent research in modern physics, were followed with interest and attention by teachers, students and parents of the “Staffa” and of the “G. Garibaldi ” institutes participating the meeting.
At the end of the conference, as a sign of gratitude and recognition for the tireless dedication to Science, two paintings by the internationally known painter Prof.ssa Tina Bruno, Philosophy professor at “Staffa”, were gifted to the Centro Fermi and Prof. Abbrescia.
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