I am nervously fidgeting in my office here at Diamond. Today is a very important launch. Not the space rocket, but the new, shiny Diamond website, which should go live in about 13 minutes. This is the result of about two years endeavours and has involved a very steep learning curve for me, not just in learning HTML and CSS properly, but also so much about the synchrotron itself and the scientific applications.
I’ve been writing about science for about 8 years now, but until I joined Diamond it was all about physics, and not just physics but the specialised field of metrology. That gave me a head start when it came to understanding how a 560m particle accelerator actually works, but was of less use when it came to describing the myriad applications from structural biology to cultural heritage.
But Diamond is also a place where I have never been a practising scientist, which in some respects makes me quite sad. There is still the excitement of when a new beamline switches on, or when a new high impact paper is published. But I don’t feel a part of it as I used to, as observer rather than participant.
On the plus side though there is the sheer diversity of science to observe here. When I left science I knew more about my tiny field than all but a few people. But it was a very tiny field. Here I can be writing about Type 3 secretion systems, earthquakes, multi-ferroic materials, who knows. And perhaps this is what I do best, writing about science for scientists, but also for the general public, trying to demonstrate how exciting the scientific life can be. I am just a bit sad not to be a part of it any more…
So where’s the link?!
Same old www.diamond.ac.uk. But if there are any mistakes I don’t want to know!
Hi Sara – the new site looks really nice. Didn’t spot any problems there but I think the link in your comment is broken – people can get to Diamond by clicking here.
Yes, you’re right, somehow I managed to include my blog URL. Doh.