The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment will tackle some of the biggest mysteries in physics — and to do so, it will need the most intense high-energy beam of neutrinos ever created. Engineers are up to the complicated task, which will need extreme versions of some common-sounding ingredients: magnets and pencil lead.
The cryostat for Berkeley Lab’s LUX-ZEPLIN experiment — the largest direct-detection dark matter experiment in the U.S. — is successfully moved to its research cavern. This final journey of LZ’s central detector on Oct. 21 to its resting place in a custom-built research cavern required extensive planning and involved two test moves of a “dummy” detector to ensure its safe delivery.
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 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 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.
With an increasing underground workforce, the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility has undertaken multiple projects to ensure worker safety. Working closely with Sanford Lab staff, LBNF recently completed an upgrade to emergency systems, including areas of refuge and evacuation capabilities.
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.
Reliability projects are under way at Sanford Lab, and crews are improving the lab for its role as the far site for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility. The LBNF project recently completed an upgrade of the Oro Hondo fan, the main ventilation fan for the underground facility. This upgrade, completed with the support of Sanford Lab and four local contractors, ensures dependable ventilation in the underground spaces at Sanford Lab.
From SDPB Radio, July 26, 2019: Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer’s full interview for “Morning Fill-Up” is now available on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting site. In the 58-minute recording, Lockyer discusses neutrinos, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Sanford Underground Research Facility and his own journey in science.
From SDPB Radio’s “In the Moment: Innovation,” July 26, 2019: In this 18-minute radio piece, Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer discusses experimental particle physics, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and the partnership with the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota.