From The Atlantic, Nov. 17, 2019: Describing neutrino oscillations is notoriously tricky. The search for a shortcut by Fermilab physicist Stephen Parke, University of Chicago physicist Xining Zhang and Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist Peter Denton led to unexpected places. They ended up discovering an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math.

What began as an experiment in a nine-ounce cup of water has been developed into a full-scale technology that recently became a finalist for a 2019 R&D 100 Award. Achieving the honor was E-MOP™ — electromagnetic oil spill remediation technology — developed from patents owned by Fermilab. The technology uses materials that are environmentally safe, reusable and natural.

From Scitech Europa, Nov. 15, 2019: Researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK have been given a €7m grant from the UK Research and Innovation’s Science and Technology Facilities Council to support the university’s particle physics program for three years. The money supports, in part, participation in the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.

In October, leaders of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment met with a delegation in the country of Georgia to discuss possible collaboration on the experiment’s near-site particle detector at Fermilab.

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment, equipped with a novel light detection technology and water enhancement that distinguish it from other high-energy neutrino experiments, will start taking data next month.

From UC Davis’s Egghead, Nov. 15, 2019: On Nov. 14, Fermilab and international partners held a groundbreaking for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility at the Fermilab site. LBNF will send a beam of trillions of neutrinos straight through Earth to the underground detector in South Dakota, 800 miles away. LBNF provides the infrastructure for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.

For the last three decades, physicists have patiently waited for the next nearby supernova. Luckily, waiting is no longer the only option.
With an upgrade to the Super-Kamiokande detector, neutrino physicists will gain access to the supernovae of the past.

From Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 15, 2019: The book “At the Edge of Time” by Fermilab scientist Dan Hooper is a history of the universe, starting with the Big Bang. It’s named a “book with buzz” in this Chicago Sun-Times review.

Today Fermilab announces the launch of the Fermilab Quantum Institute, which will bring all of the lab’s quantum science and technology projects under one umbrella. This new enterprise signals Fermilab’s commitment to this burgeoning field, working alongside scientific institutions and industry partners from around the world. The laboratory will use particle physics expertise to kick-start quantum technology for computing, sensors, simulations and communication.

A series of joint NASA and ESA spacewalks four years in the making aims to extend the life of the AMS particle detector. On Nov. 15, astronauts took on a series of tasks ranging in difficulty from zip-tie-cutting to safely launching a piece of equipment into space, all while orbiting the planet at around 5 miles per second. The goal was to fix a component of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an international particle physics experiment, and to extend its study of cosmic rays, dark matter and antimatter for another decade.