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An Innovative Proposal

The other day I finally emerged from a very stressful push to submit two grant applications to...

On Progress

The human race has made huge progress in the past few thousand years, gradually improving the living...

The Night Sky From Atacama

For the third time in 9 years I am visiting San Pedro de Atacama, a jewel in the middle of nowhere...

On A Roll

What? Another boring chess game?Buzz off, this is my blog, and if I feel like posting a chess game...

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Tommaso DorigoRSS Feed of this column.

Tommaso Dorigo is an experimental particle physicist, who works for the INFN at the University of Padova, and collaborates with the CMS and the SWGO experiments. He is the president of the Read More »

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When The Attack Plays Itself

When The Attack Plays Itself

Apr 15 2025 | comment(s)

After a very intense day at work, I sought some relaxation in online blitz chess today. And the game gave me the kick I was hoping I'd get. After a quick Alapin Sicilian opening, we reached the following position (diagram 1):


As you can see, black is threatening a checkmate with Qxg2++. However, the last move was a serious error, as it neglected the intrinsic power of my open files and diagonals against the black king. Can you find the sequence with which I quickly destroyed my opponent's position?

1. Qc2! 
Toponium Found By CMS!

Toponium Found By CMS!

Apr 10 2025 | comment(s)

The highest-mass subnuclear particle ever observed used to the the top quark. Measured for the first time by the CDF experiment in 1994, and subsequently confirmed by CDF and D0 in 1995, the top quark is the heaviest elementary particle we know of, and it is a wonderful physical system per se, which has been studied with momentum in the past thirty years at the Tevatron and at the LHC colliders. 
The top quark
The Problem With Peer Review

The Problem With Peer Review

Apr 02 2025 | comment(s)

In a world where misinformation, voluntary or accidental, reigns supreme; in a world where lies become truth if they are broadcast for long enough; in a world where we have unlimited access to superintelligent machines, but we prefer to remain ignorant; in this world we are unfortunately living today, that is, the approach taken by scientists to accumulate knowledge - peer review - is something we should hold dear and preserve with care. And yet...
Interna

Interna

Mar 29 2025 | comment(s)

In the past few years my activities on this site - but I would say more in general, as the same pattern happened also on social media - have progressively shifted away from pure casual blogging and reporting of personal matters to a more focused discussion of scientific topics, always lingering around my research interests. 
The Probability Density Function: A Known Unknown

The Probability Density Function: A Known Unknown

Mar 18 2025 | comment(s)

Perhaps the most important thing to get right from the start, in most statistical problems, is to understand what is the probability distribution function (PDF) of your data. If you know it exactly -something that is theoretically possible but only rarely achieved in practice- you are in statistical heaven: you can use the maximum likelihood method for parameter estimation, and you can get to understand a lot about the whole problem. 
Summer Lectures In AI

Summer Lectures In AI

Mar 04 2025 | comment(s)

Winter is not over yet, but I am already busy fixing the details of some conferences, schools, and lectures I will give around Europe this summer. Here I wish to summarize them, in the hope of arising the interest of some of you in the relevant events I will attend to.