I am so proud that my wife is Armenian. I spent 5 years in that country studying engineering. Amazing country.
13
Better a skeleton crew than a crew of skeletons/
Sorry, but I couldn't resist.
7
This article glossed over the immense effort and progress made by the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) in recovering from the near total collapse of the Armenian economy and science following the dissolution of the USSR. Not only did the CRD recover, but also in the aftermath of a major earthquake and war with Azerbaijan, it continued to function producing world class research earning the admiration and respect of its international scientific collaborators. While doing this, it continued to train a new generation of bright young scientists and garnered the support of the Armenian Diaspora in the US, Canada, and elsewhere.
The Cosmic Ray Division should be judged on the quality and relevance of its research, not on the age of buildings built during the bygone Soviet era.
I am privileged to be a co-founder of the Support Committee for Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division (SCACRD). During our 20-year association with the CRD and it head, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, we have continuously been impressed with CRD’s accomplishments, its young scientists, and Chilingarian’s leadership.
55
And all without the environmental destruction of a huge particle collider. Give nature a chance to speak to us, before smashing it into submission.
11
Thank you for sharing. My pride in being an Armenian-American grows a bit more after reading articles like this one.
13
Scenes looked so much like those from the recent HBO movie 'Chernobyl'.
Years ago I was an engineer at Argonne National Laboratory in the high energy physics division. I remember 2 scientists from this facility coming over to visit. The irony is one of the projects I worked on at that time was a proton decay project in Minnesota where it was set up so that data gets streamed real time to scientists anywhere and a skeleton crew on site to maintain it.
6
Thanks for this article. I have visited our Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station National Historic Site in Banff National Park, but all that remains of this research station, which was built in 1957 to commemorate the International Geophysical Year, is a plaque and the station’s concrete foundation. Plus one heck of a view.
13
I knew a man that I referred to as the ex-Armenian Astrophysicist, he was stranded in CA buying equipment at time of collapse.
I wonder if he worked there.
Mostly he did math, which he wouldn't call it that probably, but that as far as I could get my head around.
I hope he got home or is happy here.
2
I’m an undergraduate from Notre Dame University, Lebanon majoring in physics. Since June, I've been working at the Cosmic Ray division as a junior researcher and have been participating in data analysis and detector tuning on Aragats. The Institute has a rather large supply of Sodium Iodide crystals and plastic scintillators, which are used for commissioning of spectrometers that monitor cosmic ray fluxes incident on the earth’s surface on a 24/7 basis.
My work on Aragats culminated in publishing the article “Origin of enhanced gamma radiation in thunderclouds” in the Journal of American Physical Society, Physics Review Research coauthored with other students and staff members. Our paper pioneered a comprehensive model explaining natural gamma radiation during thunderstorms
I had the privilege of working among the group of scientists especially, the head of the division prof. Chilingaryan and saw how new knowledge is embedded from detector counts via modelling and hypothesis making.
We are not lonely, Aragats has connected with the world via terabytes of data that Armenian physicists shared with the community, by conferences they made annually in Nor Amberd, by scientific papers co-authored by American and Russian scientists.
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You are going great work, Alexander.
Thank you.
14
May this Armenian physics outpost shock the particle physics world with a discovery of some rare detection event. I so admire their scientific curiosity.
23
Beautiful photographs. Beautiful story.
16
The stories from the chef of 32 years may have much to reveal about how science operates in the face of natural and man-made obstacles. I wager his efforts had as much to do about the scientific output as the people of letters that have inhabited the sight over its lifetime. You can imagine the conversation after a noteworthy discovery, "What's for lunch?" Science feeds the mind only if the stomach is full.
25
Wonderful article & photos!
10
The article was made even more compelling by the incredible photography that accompanied it.
31
I loved the story and the cmments
5
Wonderful article - a place right out of a Tarkovsky film.
12
Wow. Sci-fi movie location scouts take note!
13
Soviet Union era physics and astronomy was as original and insightful as anywhere else on Earth.
13
Congrats to the NYT - excellent piece. It would be nice to list the accomplishments and findings from the observatory. The article has beautiful pictures of sites and people, but the data must be gorgeous as well.
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@Ard
Go to scholar.google.com and search on, Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station
Most of the results will guide you to published research that is accessible and will give you an idea of the range of topics studied. Have fun!
7
Lovely photograph. Because of improvements in science and communication, there would be no reason to house researchers at the site even if the USSR had not collapsed. All that is needed to maintain the full purpose of the site is maintenance. The detectors produce more published science than they did in the past. Well done, Armenia.
12
Much of science is sitting, watching, waiting, recording , and analyzing.
Then, if you are lucky and persistent, there is the finding, the publishing, and the contributing to the growth of knowledge.
Thanks for the story.
14
So sad that all this research came to late to help four brave souls who in 1961 ventured into unknown territory and were inundated with these cosmic rays, changing their lives forever. These four heroes, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Jonathan Storm, and Benjamin J Grimm, will forever be etched in the memories of those who followed their exploits.
26
@FrankSquatch In the era of Trump, not sure if this is funny or scary (I appreciate it either way).
4
@FrankSquatch
Most interesting. Please provide more information about this matter. Thanks.
5
I am crying from laughing so hard ! Thanks for this most excellent tribute to these four , it’s quite... fantastic !
6
The Cosmic Ray Institute is but the latest mysterious structure to materialize on this massive stratovolcano which towers over the anciently settled plains below. Looking across the border at the serene Mt. Ararat this mountain has been a sacred place for millennia, evidenced by the profusion of stone age petroglyphs, Bronze Age standing stones, and medieval buildings found throughout its alpine landscapes. As this article alludes, the Institute too will one day join these sites as yet another enigmatic relic in the cultural continuum; a monument not merely of our cold war dreams and ambitions, but to a species haunted by the stars.
35
“The worl is ful of things waiting to happen. Thats the meat and boan of it right there.”
6
Interesting story. I'd like to know more about Artash Petrosyan and why he has chosen to stay there so many decades.
12
@jim At this point it seems like a pretty easy job, with only two people to cook for. He could be practically retired but still getting paid.
Suddenly I’m struck with the thought that at least some of modern science is more overwhelmed by its instruments than the reality the instruments are meant to help explore and explain.
2
Beautiful photographs. I would like to see this work brought more recognition and funding, to continue it into the future. The infrastructure is there and being maintained, new findings and discoveries are being made, don't let the flame die out!
31
Light duty for observers! After graduation in 1967 (physics), my roommate took a one year civilian job at the South Polar Station to measure cosmic rays. At full room and board, plus around three times the salary of a post-doc, plus some insurance against an enforced visit to Southeast Asia, the job had some appeal. I received letters during the months planes could fly in.
Not even earth orbit is as isolated as those people were. A handful of scientists and a Navy volunteer contingent. Drugs, unlimited alcohol, fights, two medical techs continuously x-raying eachother for days. After an LSD-laced Christmas party, my friend was unable to log the instruments for several months.
As a scientist, I have to respect the heroic aspects, and even years later when I rejected signing on with a pointless ancient project that, like some government ones that simply continue to maintain budget, I respected my friend. He never really recovered, though, and died some years ago.
I do have to say that, science being cumulative, it isn’t always easy to project the future value of today’s measurements, which can seem pointless make-work. Without the dreary records of climate, glaciation, ocean currents and atmosphere taken over lifetimes, we would not truly understand the current crisis.
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@Marat1784 Your point is well taken, but somewhat overstated. We do not TRULY understand the current situation (not necessarily crisis), and we wouldn't/couldn't even if we had all imaginable data from the past, because of limitations inherent in our processes of understanding.
Go easy, there.
2
@Marat1784 — The article makes a solid case that this project does not “simply continue to maintain budget.”
It’s easy to forget that science lives and also dies on data. And that ugly duckling projects that do not produce successful outcomes, succeed in in another way, by disproving a hypothesis.
7
@Tom. If you re-read, you see I was referring to the project I didn’t work on, which not to be too specific, involved extremely expensive high altitude balloons and instrumentation right out of 1935. The entire utility of that project ceased around 1957, but it continued on, and on, and on. There are others. Valid research has to compete with featherbedded work in the government funding world, and, since we don’t particularly overspend on science, it’s a bad thing. There are many, even in the space sciences, who resent much of the money going to NASA’s manned programs, to pick one outstanding example.
3
I worked on a crude detector while studying Physics at Albany in the early ‘70s. Both fascinating and humbling.
6
As a person who worked at this lab for 8 years (2005-2013),
I strongly disagree with "Remnants of the old USSR"-like statements. If detectors are not "nice-looking" and the buildings are old, doesn't mean that no research is going on. Actually, lots of things are going on, including high-quality research, well-cited publications, cooperation with top research establishments such as MIT, NASA... If before 100 people worked at the station, now 2 people, that's maybe because the data is sent to researchers in real time and no need to keep personnel at the station?... that's not nice to talk about the "great past" and get the current science buried alive.
98
@Bagrat. Exactly. Unlike Overbye’s usually good perspective, a reader might assume that the program has little or no purpose. Should Betelgeuse, for example, inform us that it has supernova’d 640 years ago, we might see some cosmic ray data not obtainable from accelerators! There’s also the very current interest in the Earth’s magnetic field wandering faster than usual, and maybe thinking about flipping, which also opens us up to an unwelcome cosmic bath. Beyond these apocalyptic things, cosmology, which happens to be, eh, exploding, is informed by both the flux and origins of rays. Every data point means something, even if we do not know exactly what.
30
Remnants of the old USSR. I fly over The Caucasus and southern Russia and Kazakhstan almost every month or 2. I often think how it will continue to sink into decay and irrelevance as the decades pass.
1
@pere maybe you should visit those areas one time. Armenia is a pretty interesting place, and certainly seems to be doing well (I admit I'm just basing this on a quick recent visit plus the usual econ stats such as GDP growth).
18
Let me get this straight, a government-paid chef originally meant for a cadre of a hundred scientists 32 years ago still remains on the payroll for only two scientists? Is it too much to expect that two adults with advanced degrees could perhaps take turns cooking for themselves?
No wonder the Soviet Union collapsed. And to think that in 2019 over $60 million of U.S. taxpayer money was given as foreign aid to Armenia, a member of Russia's Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) military alliance. A 40-percent increase over the previous year’s amount by the Trump administration.
Maybe Trump was just trying trying to remain in Putin's good graces ...
10
@EMIP You missed the point completely.
86
@EMIP If the salaries are similar to those of staff at the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, a few thousand feet down the same mountain, they are a pittance -- several hundred dollars a month. Those who are well paid, and infested with titanic graft, are the bureaucratic administrators of the once great tradition of Armenian science.
On site, there are both clever and industrious people trying to make do with almost nothing functional, while apparatchiks guard jealously their salaries and posts against criticism. Armenian science is now largely a catastrophe in this environment, and its not for lack of a (former) great educational system.
13
@EMIP The $60 million is used to help Armenia become more independent and democratic via sustainable development projects and help with elections. That is very much in the interests of the US and the amount spent is surely inadequate, given the strategic importance. Or we could close our borders and let other ideas take over the rest of the world, unopposed.
20
"whistling down from space"
Not to be picky, but a science related article should respect science. There is no direction in space in terms of up or down. Only direction I know is in religions with the creator usually up there and we down here.
Smile, science is forgiving.
7
@Kamyab
“....are forgiving”—so are those in other forms of religion.
1
@Kamyab
I took it to mean whistling down TO EARTH, FROM space; Earth is where the collectors measuring the particles are located.
“Once upon a time, it was one of the bustling centers of physics, devoted to the study of cosmic rays: high-energy particles thrown from exploding stars...and whistling down from space.“
This is an article in a newspaper, not a science journal, written in a language for the lay reader, in this case English. English-speaking humans rooted firmly on planet Earth have always referred to space (or “the heavens”) as being “up there” and humanity as being “down here”. In fact, I know a few scientists myself with whom I’ve discussed space travel and science fiction and they’ve never seemed to have a problem with referring to rockets as launching “up” to space or the sun’s rays as coming “down” to us here on earth. The trick with mastering the English language is understanding the orientation of the observer and in the case of the storytelling of this article, the speaker.
But smile, the English language can be forgiving, if you choose to learn from it.
8
@Kamyab
In a popular article it is highly desirable to add color and imagery. That phrase likely does not appear in journal articles but it make for a compelling, sensory image. Articulating such concepts is a valuable skill. Ask Carl Sagan.
3
If you really want to witness up-close and personal the effects of cosmic rays and such just take a stroll through your own backyard to see the random items that deteriorate relentlessly year after year despite their designers best efforts to make them last forever....outdoors.
11
The wonder of the isolation is a Romantic (not romantic) dream, but goodness, I'd have to tidy the place up first. And that would take a good year--the disarray alone unsettles me.
2
It would be nice to have some scientific images along with the human interest images. The Wikipedia entry for "air shower" has an inspiring simulated diagram and mentions that the showers can be many kilometers wide. The "Oh-My-God particle" entry puts a number on how much more energetic the top cosmic rays are than the particles at CERN: 40 million times -- one proton with the energy of a baseball going 58mph.
When I was a kid the science museum in London had a collection of tubes that crackled with lightning every few seconds as cosmic rays penetrated the building, the earth, and me. It's great to see direct evidence of this "hard rain" as you poetically call it. Also maybe an emulsion track photo would be inspiring, for budding scientists.
36
The large hadron collider cost $5b and who knows how much to run.
This place could be modernized and run for $200k.
Who knows what would be found?
39
@pat
It's been known for decades that some cosmic ray particles have orders of magnitude higher energy than what is made in accelerators. But the problem is that the flux is very, very low relative to the lab. (The accelerator physicists' term for it is luminosity.)
The chances of seeing interesting events from cosmic rays - much less the chance of seeing repeated events for confirmation - are so low that chance of finding new physics is insignificant.
10
@J Carlson
_Multiply_ the chance of finding new physics by the value of the new physics to get a meaningful indicator of the value of the lab.
2
A wonderful account about a group of scientists driven by their imagination, sense of wonder and belief that there is still so much to learn. Carl Sagan would be pleased.
71
What a fascinating article both about the place & also about the people. A story of what might have been if funding hadn't been lost, a reminder of how far unintended consequences sometimes work.
27
Before even reading this I was struck by the beauty that the previous response (Zack, Ottawa) recognizes. A big thumbs up to the photographer on this assignment and of course to the writer of this story.
61
What Armenia’s scientists lack in funding and resources, they make up for with ingenuity and dedication. Global politics has been the major obstacle to Armenia’s economic and scientific development. Under the right circumstances, this nation has great potential. Bravo, Aragats Research Station!
99
There is something beautiful about the ruins of a once grand place. As with most industries, science has also suffered automation, with the technicians and a cook keeping the machine running, while the scientists can work anywhere with the data collected.
49
@Zack Science has "suffered?"