edited by Leah Hesla
Leah Hesla is a science writer at Argonne National Laboratory and former senior writer in the Fermilab Office of Communication.
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.
The inaugural Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellowship program aims to promote collaboration between national laboratories and academic institutions. One of only five scientists awarded the fellowship, Frieman will use the funds to stimulate synergies between Fermilab and the University of Chicago in cosmic frontier research.
Two students have received the prestigious DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research fellowships to conduct their research at Fermilab. The goal of the program is to prepare graduate students for STEM careers critically important to the Office of Science mission by providing graduate thesis research opportunities at DOE laboratories.
The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, which announced the first image of a supermassive black hole in April, has won the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Fermilab scientists Bradford Benson and Alexandra Rahlin are among a large group of scientists who share the prize for their contributions to the achievement.
Esquivel is one of 125 women from across the United States who will serve as high-profile role models for middle school girls through the AAAS IF/THENĀ® Ambassador Program. The program highlights women in STEM who contribute to the many fields influenced by science, technology, engineering and math.
The funding supports initiatives in the rapidly evolving field of quantum computing. Fermilab scientists and engineers are simulating advanced quantum devices that will in turn improve particle physics simulations. They’re also developing novel electronics to work with large arrays of ultracold qubits.