On Thursday, Oct. 17, from approximately 9 p.m. to midnight, Fermilab and the Kane County Sheriff’s Office will conduct live-gunfire tests of Fermilab’s on-site gunfire detection system. These tests will be conducted safely, using bullet traps – no live rounds will be fired into the air or into the ground, and there will be no danger to the public or wildlife. However, the sound of gunfire may be heard in neighborhoods near Fermilab on Thursday evening.

Advances in subatomic physics heavily depend on ingenuity and technology. And when it comes to discovering the nature of some of the most elusive particles in the universe, neutrinos, scientists need the best and most sensitive detector technology possible. Scientists working at CERN have started tests of a new neutrino detector prototype, using a very promising technology called “dual phase.”

From Rapid City Journal, Oct. 9, 2019: For the past 17 years, shovels, safety goggles, tramway cars and other remains of the defunct Homestake gold mine lingered in a closed-off tunnel under the city of Lead, South Dakota. Now the tunnel is alive with activity again, thanks to preparations for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.

From CERN, Oct. 9, 2019: Scientists working at CERN have started tests of a prototype for a new neutrino detector, using novel and very promising technology called “dual phase.” If successful, this technology will be used at a much larger scale for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted at Fermilab in the U.S.

On Oct. 1, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette and members of the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board visited Fermilab to see first-hand its world-class facilities for exploring particle physics, accelerator science and technology, and quantum science.

In the last few decades, Argentina and Chile have proven themselves prime spots for astronomical observation — a status that has been a boon in many ways for both countries.

From CNRS, Oct. 10, 2019: Les scientifiques de la collaboration ProtoDUNE au CERN ont commencé à tester un tout nouveau prototype de détecteur de neutrinos, en utilisant une technologie très prometteuse, appelée “double phase.” Si les premiers résultats obtenus se confirment, cette nouvelle technologie sera utilisée à une plus grande échelle pour l’expérience internationale DUNE aux États-Unis. Les scientifiques français du CNRS et du CEA jouent un rôle de premier plan dans le développement et la mise en route de ce détecteur innovant.

From Rapid City Journal, Oct. 10, 2019: Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer comments on British contributions to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment during an Oct. 8 event in which British air power and science were feted Tuesday in Rapid City, South Dakota. Honored guests included the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows Aerobatic Team, a British diplomat and a group of U.S. and international scientists associated with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.

Look out, oil spills. The concept of using floating magnets for cleaning up oil spills, which started as a demonstration in a 9-ounce cup, is now a full-scale prototype — thanks to an agreement between Fermilab’s Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer and Natural Science LLC.

Many researchers from Latin America can trace their entry into experimental particle physics to an initiative started by former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman.