edited by Leah Hesla

Leah Hesla is a science writer at Argonne National Laboratory and former senior writer in the Fermilab Office of Communication.

Researchers are wielding quantum physics, technologies and expertise to develop a proposed Illinois Express Quantum Network, which would stretch between Fermilab and Northwestern University’s Evanston and Chicago campuses. The metropolitan-scale, quantum-classical hybrid design combines quantum technologies with existing classical networks to create a multinode system for multiple users.

In their ongoing search for the mysterious dark matter that makes up 85% of our universe, the particle physics community turns its sights to particles of low mass. The Department of Energy announced that it is providing funding for two Fermilab initiatives to develop experimental designs for experiments that will be highly sensitive to the smallest particles of dark matter. Following the development of the experimental designs, the next phase of funding will be subject to additional reviews and approval.