Fantastic Science Facilities I'd like to visit

I was watching an old episode of BBC Horizon the other day about the search for extraterrestrial life and was reminded of the Keck Observatory. This is the closest you can get to space; perched on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii's tallest volcano, is an array of some of the best sky-probing equipment on Earth. As if that isn't awe-inspiring enough, when I looked into visiting the centre, I came across this advice:"The summit of Mauna Kea at nearly 14,000-feet altitude, presents unique challenges to visitors. Visits to the summit require a 30 minute acclimatization stop at the 9,200-foot Onizuka Visitor’s Center, warm clothing for the summit, sunscreen for protection from excessive UV radiation, and water. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required beyond the 9,200 foot level as the air is too thin to adequately cool a vehicle’s brakes upon descent."

So, for those that work there, even reaching the office is an adventure. Then there's the work itself. In it's own words, the vision of the Observatory is: "A world in which all humankind is inspired and united by the pursuit of knowledge of the infinite variety and richness of the Universe." Sometimes scientists can be real poets. Actually, in their core, most scientists are poets, driven on by the very innocent emotion of wonder, and the desire to question.

As you can tell, the childish wonder also fills me sometimes! (This is probably also due to my reading of The Lost World right now, the old sci-fi is always the best in my view, only they can be so romantic about geology and astrophysics). So, I'm slowly compiling a list of Fantastic Science Facilities I'd like to visit - hopefully if I get to be a half-decent science journalist I can summon up the charm to convince someone to send me to them.

The Keck Observatory is at the forefront of research, making ever newer and bigger discoveries about the universe we live in. But not all big science buildings are for research. One place that has fascinated me for many years is the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard. This colossal undertaking was pioneered by the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre and built by the Norwegian Government, and consists of a giant vault in an old abandoned mine in the remote Arctic capable of holding 2.25 billion seeds. It's mission is simple; "Preserving seed from food plants is an absolutely essential part of the work of preserving the world’s biodiversity, adapting to climate change and global warming and thereby ensuring food for the world’s population for the foreseeable future." Gene banks of the sort exist around the world, but many are vulnerable to natural disaster, war or lack of finance, and all are smaller than this latest project. The Global Seed Vault aims to be the most permanent resource for crop seeds in the world, it's location and building design picked so carefully as to be cold without electricity (thanks to the permafrost) and even to avoid any possible sea level rise due to climate change.

Finally (for now) there's one Fantastic Science Facility I've already visited. Our school ran a trip to CERN in Switzerland when I was 17, and we toured the place, led by a classically eccentric Germanic professor. The problem was that it was a combined Geo/Physics trip that included the day before a wonderful time in the Chamonix Valley; and I was in it for the 'geo'. I had no idea what CERN was, and after all the travel and excitement, no particular enthusiasm to find out either (although I did learn one thing, that protons, neutrons and electrons are made up of even smaller bits, but I'm sure I'd have known that already if I actually took A-level physics). Now the whole world knows what CERN is about, and I'm left cursing my 17-year-old self for not paying attention (even though everyone, including the teachers, fell asleep when they turned down the lights and showed us a physics film).

Ah well, it's on this list, it will be visited!