I was doing my PhD when the LHC was being designed. It was interesting to listen to the discussions about signal and data management for the detections closest

I was doing my PhD when the LHC was being designed. It was interesting to listen to the discussions about signal and data management for the detections closest to the vertex. The rate was so incredible that the triggers were incredibly optimized to get rid of the noise and keep the fist wave of useful data (it was then processed several times down the road). The other interesting thing was to see how people were fighting for real estate in the detector, to be able to place their elements somewhere interesting. I crawled once under one of the detectors (ATLAS) and imagining the several thousand tons above me was frightening.