Physicists, often regarded as having their heads in the clouds, will take their stereotype literally during an aerial experiment in the early morning of Sunday, July 8 at Snowmass, Colorado when they lift off in a hot-air balloon to re-create the 1912 discovery of cosmic rays by Austrian physicist Victor Hess.

The scientists and science educators taking part in “Snowmass 2001: A Summer Study on the Future of Particle Physics” have made children a priority in the three-week conference, June 30-July 21 at the Snowmass Conference Center.

“Snowmass 2001” will bring more than 500 of the country’s leading physicists together in the Rocky Mountains to look beyond the horizon.