From Scientific American, June 9, 2020: Dark matter researchers are reassessing theories about how dark matter particles lighter than a proton might appear in their detectors. In a recent paper, Fermilab scientists Noah Kurinsky and Gordan Krnjaic propose that a detector could find plasmons — aggregates of electrons moving together in a material — produced by dark matter.
In the news
From DOE, June 4, 2020: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions has announced new resources for innovators to combat COVID-19 through its Lab Partnering Service and the COVID-19 Technical Assistance Program. These initiatives will allow America’s innovators to readily access vital resources and connect and partner with experts at DOE’s 17 national laboratories in the fight against the virus.
From The Great Courses Daily, June 2, 2020: Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln writes about modern science: how it is a process for fitting facts into some interconnected whole, for a bigger picture, why it’s an extremely powerful tool and the different terms for the meaning of basic scientific methods.
From Physics Today, June 1, 2020: Somewhere in the laws of physics, particles must be allowed to behave differently from their antiparticles. If they weren’t, the universe would contain equal amounts of matter and antimatter, all the particles and antiparticles would promptly annihilate one another, and none of us would exist. Fermilab’s NOvA neutrino experiment and the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab, are pinning down CP violation, the property that could explain the imbalance.
From Physics Today, June 1, 2020: Fermilab’s Chris Quigg and University of Chicago’s Mel Shochet recount the extraordinary career of Fermilab physicist and National Medal of Technology recipient Alvin Tollestrup, who died on Feb. 9.
From WGN9, May 27, 2020: Fermilab scientist Jen Raaf is featured in this four-minute segment on the Mechanical Ventilator Milano, which arrived to Chicago’s Stroger Hospital last week from Italy. Physicists have been troubleshooting the design at the hospital.
From University of Cincinnati News, May 26, 2020: Fermilab physicist and UC alumna Jennifer Raaf is part of an international team of scientists and engineers who won federal regulatory approvals for a simple ventilator that could be produced quickly with common parts.
From Sanford Underground Research Facility, May 26, 2020: Unwilling to ignore flaws in the Standard Model, physicists are looking for a new, more perfect model of the subatomic universe. And many are hoping that the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab, can put their theories to the test.
From DOE, May 20, 2020: Lee C. Teng is now 93 years old. The internship that bears his name was created jointly by Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory and the U.S. Particle Accelerator School in 2007. He started work at Fermilab in 1967 and spent the next 22 years working in high-energy physics. After a two-year leave of absence that started in 1983, he picked up again at Fermilab, working until 2004, when he retired.
From Nature World News, May 20, 2020: Two studies have shown evidence of how a larger satellite galaxy can draw smaller ones into them as they get “trapped” into orbiting the Milky Way. Such an arrangement can inform astronomers and researchers about the nature of the formation of galaxies as well as insights into dark matter and its nature. Fermilab scientist Alex Drlica-Wagner is featured.