Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will begin a projected five-year experiment in early February, 2005 by sending the first batches of subatomic particles called neutrinos on a path through the earth from the laboratory, about 40 miles west of Chicago, to a detector located in the historic Soudan iron mine a half-mile underground in the northeastern corner of Minnesota, about 450 miles away.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory announced that the laboratory is allowing additional public access to the site as of Monday, January 24.

Astronauts and comic book superheroes command (or contradict) the laws of physics with equally spectacular results, and the Department of Energy’s Fermilab Colloquium Series will explore the roles of both in the next two talks: “Beyond ‘Tang:’ The Hidden Benefits of the Space Program,” on Wednesday, January 5; and “The Uncanny Physics of Superhero Comic Books,” on Wednesday, January 12.