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On Nov. 7, a Fermilab crew moved the cryostat vessel for the DUNE Near Detector Liquid Argon Demonstrator (DUNE ND-LAr) prototyping test stand, also known as ArgonCube 2×2, into the MINOS cavern 100 meters underground. From left to right: Matthew Brock, Thomas Olszanowski, John A. Trebe and Thomas Wicks II. Four prototype ArgonCube TPC modules will be installed in this cryostat in 2023. The prototype modules will undergo testing with the NuMI neutrino beam, powered by Fermilab’s Main Injector accelerator.

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.

Neutrinos are weird. Scientists didn’t expect them to change type as they travel, but they do! So how do we study this weird phenomenon of neutrino oscillation? On this episode, neutrino physicist Kirsty Duffy and special guest Anne Norrick will explore how to build a long-distance neutrino experiment.

The Fermilab particle accelerator complex set a record beam power earlier this year, thanks to the high-quality work of numerous teams and individuals. The successful completion of the NuMI 2020 shutdown work prepared the target facility for this achievement.

Richard Meaderdes Jr., BSS, took this nighttime photo of the NuMI construction site from Pine Street.

Neutrinos can easily make their way through the earth and rock between Batavia and a half-mile-deep mineshaft in Soudan, Minnesota, but physicists in the NuMI (Neutrinos at the Main Injector) experiment need the help of a $30.5-million, 20-month excavation effort to create some 4,000 feet of tunnels and other underground experimental areas at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.