An experiment that will contribute vital knowledge about something deceptively simple – a proton’s spin – will soon come online at Fermilab. The experiment may either begin to validate the “potato salad” model of proton spin or force scientists to develop a new model entirely.

No aspect of Fermilab, past or present — the accomplishments of the Tevatron, the popular Arts and Lecture Series, the education efforts, the world-leading neutrino program — would be what it is today without the contributions of women. This International Women’s Day, we honor their contributions.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Fermilab engineers Mayling Wong-Squires and Farah Fahim share their experience taking part in the laboratory mentorship program. Their ongoing mentor-mentee relationship has bridged the gap from colleague to friend, and that perhaps even wider chasm — from electrical to mechanical engineering.

From the Department of Energy, Feb. 25, 2021: Jennifer M. Granholm was sworn in on Feb. 25 as the 16th U.S. secretary of energy. She is only the second woman to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.

From UChicago News, Feb. 26, 2021: The University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees has named Paul Alivisatos as the university’s 14th president. An accomplished leader in higher education and a world-renowned scientist, Alivisatos is currently executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a professor and the former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Asymmetry in the proton confounds physicists, but a new discovery may bring back old theories to explain it.

The prodigious amount of data produced at the Large Hadron Collider presents a major challenge for data analysis. Coffea, a Python package developed by Fermilab researchers, speeds up computation and helps scientists work more efficiently. Around a dozen international LHC research groups now use Coffea, which draws on big data techniques used outside physics.

A Fermilab scientist and his team have developed a new way to make antireflective lenses, enabling big discoveries about the cosmic microwave background radiation and the fabric of the universe.

The observatory has made detailed information about an initial selection of its recorded cosmic-ray events available for outside scientists to use.

Roshanda Spillers is a lifelong student. With five academic degrees under her belt and more to come, she’s one of the vital lab staff who make sure that the experiments’ electronics are in working order and that the particle accelerators are well-maintained. A new grandmother who’s learning piano while going to school, she encourages those who love science to pursue their dreams relentlessly.