Neutrinos are neutral, meaning the magnets in a particle accelerator can’t manipulate them. So how can scientists make a dense beam of neutrinos for their experiments? Neutrino physicist Kirsty Duffy and Fermilab accelerator operator Laura Bolt explain the power of protons and how teams can generate intense beams of neutrinos using particle accelerators.
Physics students often ask how it is that a massless photon can have momentum. In this video, Don Lincoln shows that the question arises from a misuse of equations and also shows that, when you think about it, it’s not surprising at all.
Watch highlights of the popular cryogenics show for kids and adults with Fermilab’s Mr. Freeze: cool demonstrations with liquid nitrogen to explore the properties and effects of extreme cold.
Using neutrino experiments at Fermilab as an example, Jorge Morfin explains the path of a large physics experiment from inspiration through the proposal process to approval. The lecture is part II of the virtual lecture series, “How to do big science,” hosted by the Fermilab Arts & Lectures At Home Series.
“Why is the sky blue?” is a natural question, asked by many people, children and adults alike. In this video, Don Lincoln answers the question and even reveals the surprising fact that it should really be purple.
Neutrinos are powerful tools for better understanding how the universe works and improving our theories, like the famed Standard Model. But what else are neutrinos good for? Neutrino physicist Kirsty Duffy explains some of the (mostly not-so-practical) ways we might use neutrinos.
In this lecture, Marcela Carena, head of the Theory Division at Fermilab and professor of physics at the University of Chicago, talks about “The unseen universe: Challenges for theory and experiment.” She explains how theorists think about the Higgs boson, neutrinos, dark matter and the exciting results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment announced last year, and how these ideas can lead to new experiments and discoveries.
The cosmic microwave background has been a treasure trove of information about the universe, as well as a source of questions that have not yet been resolved. In this video, Don Lincoln describes two unsolved mysteries of the CMB. The first makes you ask if the solar system has a special place in the universe, and the second is a giant cold spot that could be the signature of a giant void or, much more unlikely, of colliding universes.
For Fermilab, 2021 was a momentous year that included major science results, construction progress, record-setting equipment, and more. Get a quick recap of some 2021 milestones in this video, which features drone and timelapse footage from around the lab.
The cosmic microwave background is the fossil remnant of the fireball of the Big Bang. Aside from demonstrating that the Big Bang happened, it can tell us how big the universe is and how much dark matter and energy the universe contains. In this video, Fermilab’s Don Lincoln guides you through this interesting topic.