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The prodigious amount of data produced at the Large Hadron Collider presents a major challenge for data analysis. Coffea, a Python package developed by Fermilab researchers, speeds up computation and helps scientists work more efficiently. Around a dozen international LHC research groups now use Coffea, which draws on big data techniques used outside physics.

From Berkeley Lab, Feb. 17, 2021: Fermilab is part of a team of national labs that designed, built and fully tested a prototype magnet for today’s and tomorrow’s light sources. These light sources let scientists see things once thought impossible. They can use these visions to create more durable materials, build more efficient batteries and computers, and learn more about the natural world.

From Forbes, Feb. 17, 2021: Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln contextualizes the accomplishment of researchers working at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, or J-PARC. They have made an atomic nucleus that contains an unstable particle called the hyperon, or cascade particle. This could help in understanding neutron stars.

From CNN, Feb. 17, 2021: Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explores what NASA’s Perserverance robot will land and what it could discover on Mars, including evidence of Martian life.

From UChicago News, Feb. 12, 2021: Fermilab scientist Yuanyuan Zhang discusses the implications of the studies she led on intracluster light using Dark Energy Survey data, which may include a new way of measuring dark matter.

A Fermilab scientist and his team have developed a new way to make antireflective lenses, enabling big discoveries about the cosmic microwave background radiation and the fabric of the universe.

From Forbes, Feb. 12, 2021: In June 2020, results from an experiment located in Italy suggested that dark matter may have been directly observed. Another experiment, conducted in China, has announced consistent data. Has dark matter been discovered? Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains why we’ll only know in retrospect using the next generation of detectors.

Scientists in Latin America recently published the first coordinated plan for the region’s research in high-energy physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Fermilab scientist Marcela Carena was part of the group that collected input for the report. Here, she weighs in its significance.

The observatory has made detailed information about an initial selection of its recorded cosmic-ray events available for outside scientists to use.

Roshanda Spillers is a lifelong student. With five academic degrees under her belt and more to come, she’s one of the vital lab staff who make sure that the experiments’ electronics are in working order and that the particle accelerators are well-maintained. A new grandmother who’s learning piano while going to school, she encourages those who love science to pursue their dreams relentlessly.