universe

From The Big Think, July 16, 2022: Fermilab’s Don Lincoln writes about the evolution of new exotic forms of matter known as tetraquarks and pentaquarks. By studying these particles, it can help scientists understand the strong nuclear force inside atoms and provide insights into the early Universe.

From the Finding Genius Podcast, May 4, 2022: The Muon g-2 project led by Fermilab holds the potential to reveal some of the universe’s inner workings. Chris Polly joins the Finding Genius Podcast to explain his work on the Muon g-2 project, how the experiment studies muons and what the results mean relative to the Standard Model of particle physics.

From Popular Mechanics, April 9, 2022: New research shows the W boson is heavier than scientists expected with the discovery going against the Standard Model of particle physics. Recently, a 400-person team announced the results of data they carefully sifted through of more than four million collisions from the Collider Detector at Fermilab.

From The Hamden Journal, January 16, 2022: With the Standard Model explaining the fundamental physics of how the universe works, experimental physicists are constantly probing for cracks in the model’s foundations. So far, it has remained the model of fundamental physics despite many experiments in 2021 that probed the Standard Model 2021 like Muon g-2.

From Wired, December 5, 2021: Years of conflicting measurements have led physicists to propose a “dark sector” of invisible particles that could explain dark matter and the universe’s expansion. Now, four analyses released yesterday by the MicroBooNE experiment from Fermilab and another recent study from the IceCube detector at the South Pole both suggest that these more complex neutrino theories may be on the right track—though the future remains far from clear.

From CNN, November 4, 2021: Fermilab’s Don Lincoln examines the astronomical measurements recorded from a laboratory at the South Pole to explain one of the theories of, “How did the universe come into existence?”

From DOE, October 29, 2021: Dark Matter Day was October 31, and the Department of Energy’s national labs are dedicated to studying the dark energy and dark matter that makes up the unknown part of our Universe.

From CNN, October 12, 2021: Yesterday, William Shatner, otherwise known as Capt. James Tiberius Kirk, soared into space 100 kilometers above sea level to the Kármán line recognized as the international boundary between Earth and space. As Fermilab’s Don Lincoln explains, while Shatner’s brief visit to space is historic, it is also an inspiration to all regardless of age.

From National Geographic, September 28, 2021: Recently, Fermilab ran over 200 computers to analyze Dark Energy Survey images that helped identify a new comet called the Bernardinelli-Bernstein. It is estimated the nucleus of the comet is about 93 miles wide, the biggest size estimate for a comet in decades.

From Phys.org, August 24, 2021: Using the powerful 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera (DECam) created and tested by Fermilab for the DES, astronomers have discovered an asteroid with the shortest orbital period of any known asteroid in the Solar System.