First baby bison of the year born at Fermilab
On Saturday, April 20, baby bison season officially began. The first calf of the year was born in the early morning hours, and mother and baby are doing well. Fermilab is expecting between 12 and 14 new calves this spring, and all of our neighbors are welcome to come on site to see and photograph the newborns.
Fermilab is America’s particle physics and accelerator laboratory. Our vision is to solve the mysteries of matter, energy, space and time for the benefit of all.
Spinning new targets for accelerators
Fermilab scientists are preparing for future, high-power particle beams with a technological advance inspired by spinning sugar. It’s a new type of target — the material that beams collide with to produce other particles, such as neutrinos. The target is designed to be able to withstand the heat from high-intensity beams, expanding the potential of experiments that use them. Researching this new patent-pending technology already has led to a TechConnect Innovation Award and might have applications in the medical field.
Four students awarded prestigious DOE fellowships to do research at Fermilab
Four students have received the prestigious DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research fellowships to conduct their research at Fermilab. The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for STEM careers critically important to the Office of Science mission by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories.
Astrophysicists capture first image of a black hole
The Event Horizon Telescope—a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration—was designed to capture images of a black hole. On April 10, in coordinated news conferences across the globe, researchers revealed that they have succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow.
MINERvA successfully completes its physics run
On Feb. 26, a team on Fermilab’s MINERvA neutrino experiment gathered around a computer screen to officially conclude its data acquisition. Even with the data collection over, the work marches on. MINERvA now turns its attention to analyzing the data it has collected over the past nine years of its run.
Dark energy instrument’s lenses see the night sky for the first time
The optical lenses for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument have seen their first light. Fermilab contributed key components to DESI, including the corrector barrel and its support structures, along with vital software that ensures the instrument’s 5,000 robotic positioners are precisely aligned with their celestial targets.
Fermilab in the news
From the Chicago Tribune, April 23, 2019: Over the weekend, the first baby bison of the spring was born to the herd at Fermilab. Fermilab may be known for its cutting-edge scientific work, but its first director, Robert Wilson, always wanted to be reminded of his home in Wyoming where he lived before moving to Batavia, and so he brought bison with him.
From WBBM Newsradio, April 23, 2019: A baby bison was born Saturday at Fermilab — the first baby born this year. Fermilab expects between 12 and 14 new calves this spring. The new baby, and its mother, are doing well.
From Physics World, April 23, 2019: Fermilab Archivist Valerie Higgins discusses how the contributions of support staff should not be forgotten when it comes to celebrating scientific breakthroughs. Modern scientific research is often conducted through large organizational structures and thousands of participants. For archivists and others interested in the history of scientific research, developing a complete picture requires an understanding not only of the work that scientists and technical staff do but also the contributions of support staff too.