In the news

From WGN9, July 23, 2020: The future of the internet is being designed right here in Chicago, as some of the top scientists in the world unveiled their plans to research and build a “quantum internet” on July 23. Fermilab, Argonne, University of Chicago, Northwestern, and University of Illinois have already laid some of the groundwork.

From the Department of Energy, July 23, 2020: Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar writes about the world of new possibilities and opportunities that the quantum internet will open, summarizing the blueprint unveiled on July 23.

From Inside HPC, July 23, 2020: The Department of Energy unveiled on July 23 a strategy for the development of a national quantum internet intended to bring “the United States to the forefront of the global quantum race and usher in a new era of communications.” Earlier this year, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago entangled photons across a 52-mile “quantum loop” in the Chicago suburbs, “successfully establishing one of the longest land-based quantum networks in the nation,” according to DOE. That network will be connected to Fermilab, establishing a three-node, 80-mile test bed.

From Black Hills Pioneer, July 22, 2020: Since late 2019, work has been underway on the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility conveyor system at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. The system will carry more than 800,000 tons of rock excavated from the site of the international, Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment 4,850-feet below the surface. A major milestone for the project was met on July 20 as the 120-foot section of the truss, which will house the conveyor, was erected above the highway.

From The Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2020: The network, which uses quantum principles to more securely transmit data, could be functional in about a decade. Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago established in February a quantum network of 52 miles’ worth of entangled photons running on unused telecom fiber in the Chicago suburbs. In about a year, the network is expected to be connected to Fermilab, creating an 80-mile quantum internet test bed.

From CERN Courier, July 23, 2020: Fermilab scientists Steve Brice and Sam Zeller and University of Minnesota scientist Marvin Marshak authored this article on the Neutrino 2020 conference, in which 4,350 people from every continent, including Antarctica, participated. The online program, hosted by Fermilab and the University of Minnesota comprised eight half-days over two weeks, four poster sessions with both web-based and virtual-reality displays, and the use of the Slack platform for speaker questions and ongoing discussions.

From University of Wisconsin, July 21, 2020: The Institute for Hybrid Quantum Architectures and Networks has been named a National Science Foundation Quantum Leap Challenge Institute. HQAN’s partnerships include Fermilab. The five-year, $25 million institute helps establishes the Midwest region as a major hub of quantum science.

From New Scientist, July 15, 2020: Two sets of measurements to estimate the rate of expansion of the universe — described by the Hubble constant — conflict with one another, which may be a sign that our basic understanding of the cosmos is wrong. Two new attempts by astronomers to solve this problem have complicated things further. Fermilab scientist Antonella Palmese and her colleagues have used measurements of gravitational waves to calculate an independent value of the Hubble constant.

From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 15, 2020: An eyewitness excerpt from Fermilab founding director Robert Wilson is one many offered in this new retelling of the Trinity test, woven entirely from words that more than a dozen of the project’s protagonists first published in the Bulletin.

From Wired, July 14, 2020: Companies and universities have long relied on seminars to reduce racism, despite lackluster results. Maybe institution leaders can salvage the format. Fermilab scientist Brian Nord weighs in on the value of certain diversity-centered activities at academic institutions.