SLAC's science data really sticks
Even through the BaBar collaboration stopped taking data in 2008, it's still producing a steady flow of scientific results.
To keep track of the roughly 35 papers the collaboration will publish in the next year, the high-tech experiment went low-tech this summer. It transferred data from computers to Post-it notes.
BaBar physics analysis coordinator Steven Robertson uses the notes' vibrant colors to help him shepherd data analyses through the collaboration's rigorous approval process. The Post-its, he says, make it easier for him to see what he most urgently needs to work on when he arrives at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory each morning.
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| Photo: Bradley Plummer, SLAC |
“What started as a set of simple reminders at some point developed into a formal system,” Robertson says. He writes blue notes for papers in the first stage of the review process; yellow for analyses that have gone on to the next step, in which the entire collaboration reviews a draft of the completed paper; and green for papers submitted for publication in scientific journals.
“It's gratifying to see that the collaboration is still churning out papers,” Robertson says. “Ultimately every one of these Post-its should turn into a publication.” BaBar scientists have published about 450 papers so far, and he expects to see another 100 in the pipeline.
Kelen Tuttle
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