From UChicago News, Oct. 15, 2019: Astronomers at the University of Chicago, MIT and elsewhere have used a massive cluster of galaxies as an X-ray magnifying glass to peer back in time, to nearly 9.4 billion years ago. In the process, they spotted a tiny dwarf galaxy in its very first, high-energy stages of star formation. Fermilab and University of Chicago scientist Brad Benson is a co-author of the study.
In the news
From Black Hills Pioneer, Oct. 10, 2019: Representatives from the British Consulate, Fermilab and Sanford Underground Research Facility were on hand for a dinner in Rapid City, South Dakota, in honor of the Red Arrows and the ongoing scientific and technological relations between the UK and the U.S. In 2017, the UK committed $88 million to the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer notes that the first science and technology agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom was driven by neutrino physics.
From Kane County Chronicle, Oct. 14, 2019: Fermilab at the Kane County Sheriff’s Office will conduct live gunfire tests of Fermilab’s on-site gunfire detection system from 9 p.m. to midnight Oct. 17.
From CERN, Oct. 7, 2019: The CMS collaboration has measured for the first time the variation, or “running,” of the top quark mass. The theory of quantum chromodynamics predicts this energy-scale variation for the masses of all quarks and for the strong force acting between them. Observing the running masses of quarks can therefore provide a way of testing quantum chromodynamics and the Standard Model.
From Rapid City Journal, Oct. 9, 2019: For the past 17 years, shovels, safety goggles, tramway cars and other remains of the defunct Homestake gold mine lingered in a closed-off tunnel under the city of Lead, South Dakota. Now the tunnel is alive with activity again, thanks to preparations for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.
From CERN, Oct. 9, 2019: Scientists working at CERN have started tests of a prototype for a new neutrino detector, using novel and very promising technology called “dual phase.” If successful, this technology will be used at a much larger scale for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted at Fermilab in the U.S.
From CNRS, Oct. 10, 2019: Les scientifiques de la collaboration ProtoDUNE au CERN ont commencé à tester un tout nouveau prototype de détecteur de neutrinos, en utilisant une technologie très prometteuse, appelée “double phase.” Si les premiers résultats obtenus se confirment, cette nouvelle technologie sera utilisée à une plus grande échelle pour l’expérience internationale DUNE aux États-Unis. Les scientifiques français du CNRS et du CEA jouent un rôle de premier plan dans le développement et la mise en route de ce détecteur innovant.
From Rapid City Journal, Oct. 10, 2019: Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer comments on British contributions to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment during an Oct. 8 event in which British air power and science were feted Tuesday in Rapid City, South Dakota. Honored guests included the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows Aerobatic Team, a British diplomat and a group of U.S. and international scientists associated with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.
From APS’s Physics, Oct. 3, 2019: Fermilab scientist Brian Nord imagines a future where machines test hypotheses on their own — and considers the challenges ahead as scientists embrace artificial intelligence techniques. Nord has begun applying AI to problems in astronomy, such as identifying unusual astronomical objects known as gravitational lenses. He spoke to Physics about his recent projects and how he thinks AI will change the way researchers do science.
From Sanford Underground Research Facility, Sept. 27, 2019: Several projects are under way at Sanford Underground Research Facility to improve the reliability of the facility’s infrastructure. Crews are improving the facility for its role as the far site for Fermilab’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility. The LBNF project recently completed an upgrade of the main ventilation fan for the underground facility.