Diana Kwon is a freelance science writer.
Imagine an instrument that can measure motions a billion times smaller than an atom that last a millionth of a second. Fermilab’s Holometer is currently the only machine with the ability to take these very precise measurements of space and time, and recently collected data has improved the limits on theories about exotic objects from the early universe.
Last week the first SRF cavities of Fermilab’s superconducting test accelerator propelled their first electrons. Photo: Reidar Hahn The newest particle accelerators and those of the future will be built with superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities, and institutions around the world are working hard to develop this technology. Fermilab’s advanced superconducting test accelerator was built to take advantage of SRF technology accelerator research and development. On Friday, after more than seven years of planning and building by scientists and engineers, the…
Dave Peterson works on high-level radio-frequency systems for the Accelerator Division. Photo: Reidar Hahn How long have you been at Fermilab? I’m coming up on 31 years. What brought you to Fermilab? I was working in electron beam lithography at IBM in upstate New York, but my wife and I are both from the Chicago area and we wanted to get back here. There was an opening at Fermilab and I applied. It was the early days of the antiproton…
The South Pole Telescope scans the skies during a South Pole winter. Photo: Jason Gallicchio, University of Chicago Down at the South Pole, where temperatures drop below negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit and darkness blankets the land for six months at a time, the South Pole Telescope (SPT) searches the skies for answers to the mysteries of our universe. This mighty scavenger is about to get a major upgrade — a new camera that will help scientists further understand neutrinos, the…
Mandy Rominsky Below the iconic corrugated steel roof of the Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF), hundreds of researchers come and go, testing their detectors on one of the two test beams. Many hands are needed to keep this facility running smoothly, and Mandy Rominsky will play an essential role as its new manager. The FTBF is unique, being the only one in the United States that allows scientists from all over the world to come test their detectors with high-energy…
Julie Whitmore The new year brings new additions to Mu2e, an experiment at Fermilab that aims to detect the direct conversion of a muon into an electron in search of physics beyond the Standard Model. Along with the appointment of a new deputy project manager, seven institutions have joined the effort. Mu2e scientists are currently at the stage of finalizing experimental design. With the strong recommendation from the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) in 2014, the project is now…
Steve Krave works on magnetic coils in Industrial Building 2. Photo: Reidar Hahn How long have you been at Fermilab? I’ve been here about a year and a half as a regular employee. What brought you here? I grew up in Aurora, so this was always one of those cool places to go as a kid. Visiting was always fun, and I used to think, “Oh, that’s so cool, I want to work there.” Then I ended up getting a…
Artist Meghan Beitiks makes physicists the objects of study through video projections of their daily tasks in patterns based on neutrino data sets. An exhibit of her work, based on interviews with Fermilab scientists, is on display at Water Street Studios in Batavia. Photo: Georgia Schwender, OC When artist Meghan Moe Beitiks came to Fermilab to explore the laboratory’s neutrino projects and the physicists who pursue them, she left with an observation perhaps as elusive as the neutrino itself —…