Field Trip to Gran Sasso National Laboratories

Campus Life Update

This week leading up to Lent at CatholicTech has certainly been one to remember. Last Friday, students were able to visit the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, which is the largest underground laboratory for research in neutrinos and astrophysics in the world. They were guided by Massimo Manarelli, a nuclear physicist, around the different experiments that were taking place at the underground lab. The experiments ranged from XENONnT, a large xenon tank aimed at detecting dark matter, to LEGEND or CUPID, both with the intent of searching for and documenting neutrinoless beta decay.

One of the materials that the lab used was quite a surprise, especially for a historian. The lab has a large number of lead chunks from sunken Roman ships. Initially, the students all found this a little surprising, but once their function was explained, it made perfect sense. Lead is one of the best materials at absorbing radiation, but as it absorbs it, it eventually becomes radioactive itself. Water is also great at absorbing radiation, and when putting the lead underwater, its radioactive parts split, and so these old Roman artifacts become nearly radiation free; they are now perfect for any additional shielding that the lab might have a need for, such as protecting the researchers from any radioactive materials they are using.

With this weekend being the last one before Ash Wednesday, it was time for Carnevale! Carnevale is an Italian holiday, centered in Venice but celebrated to a lesser degree all over Italy, which provides one last period of celebration before Lent. It is similar to the American celebration of Mardi Gras or the more widely known concept of Fat Tuesday, except that it spans an entire week or more before Lent, instead of just the day before; there is even a period known as “pre-carnevale.” Some students went down to check out the Carnevale celebrations down by the local lake and see what it was all about, and were able to enjoy the different foods that locals had prepared for the weekend.

On Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, to go into Lent with a bang, students made a nice assortment of Italian sweets and American foods. While sitting around and relishing the last night before the fasting began, they enjoyed zeppole, a fried dough pastry, and chiacchiere, a large flat pastry that looks similar to a ribbon. Later, once they all had an appetite again, they made fries and potato pancakes with cheese and bacon. Having eaten their fill, the community was now ready to enter the somber yet joyful season of Lent.