[kyawzazaw]

Chatting with national lab folks gave me a feel like this. Especially LANL.

I suppose Bell Labs might feel the same. I have a prof who goes to work there on summers occasionally taking a couple undergrads with him. He is one of the best teachers.

[peterburkimsher]

Yes, research labs like CERN have that culture. Startups, particularly those sharing incubator space, are often friendly. (I'm at a startup now, and we play table football every lunchtime).