In the news

The Chicago Plan Commission approved plans for a quantum computing research park on the vacant U.S. Steel South Works site, advancing a project that could transform Chicago’s South Side into a national technology hub. The park will be managed by a University of Illinois-led organization in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab and other regional institutions.

Is there a fifth force of nature?

In the quest to understand the fundamental forces that govern our universe, the Standard Model of particle physics has long stood as the cornerstone. Recent experimental discrepancies like those from Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment, have stirred the physics community, suggesting that the muon’s behavior under magnetic fields might not fully align with Standard Model prediction.

DOE announced nearly $150 million in funding for dozens of energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities, including Argonne and Fermilab. The funds will support the Fermilab Resilience and Efficiency Project, an initiative that works toward achieving net-zero facilities at the lab by implementing energy conservation measures across 23 buildings and developing renewable energy generation.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science recently awarded the contract to manage and operate Fermilab to a consortium named Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC. It includes Amentum, a market leader in energy and environmental engineering solutions. Amentum has extensive experience in managing complex scientific facilities.

Journalists were recently invited to tour JUNO, a $300 million science facility designed to measure neutrinos. The U.S.-based DUNE project will also measure neutrinos. If JUNO explains the story of neutrino masses before DUNE comes online, the Fermilab-led project would then be able to measure the question differently and confirm JUNO’s results.

Dr. Kevin J. Kelly, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University and a former postdoc at Fermilab, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the American Physical Society’s Henry Primakoff Award for Early-Career Particle Physics in recognition of his contributions and promising career potential in fundamental particle physics and cosmology.