There are many ideas rattling around the theoretical physics community that sound outlandish, and one stands out — the idea that our universe is actually a hologram. In this 12-minute episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln sketches the theory of the holographic universe.

One of the great unanswered questions of science is why the laws of the universe seem so carefully tuned to allow for the existence of stars, galaxies, even humans. Scientists, philosophers and theologians have long mulled over this mystery. In this 15-minute episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln talks about the multiverse, which is a highly speculative possible answer to the question.

The principle of supersymmetry has long been one that scientists thought might be the next big discovery in science. In this episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes what supersymmetry is and what problems it was intended to solve.

“What is the practical application of your research?” This question is frequently asked of particle physicists. In this talk, Fermilab scientist Jennifer Raaf presents a few practical medical applications that have been enabled by fundamental scientific research undertaken by Fermilab employees. In particular, the talk focuses on a novel ventilator called the Mechanical Ventilator Milano, which was developed for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Of the four known forces, one of them stands out as different. Gravity is much weaker than the other known forces, and nobody knows why. In this video, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes one possible explanation for the weakness of gravity — the existence of extra dimensions of space.

The ultimate goal of physics is to come up with a theory that describes all of creation – a theory of everything, or TOE. Subatomic Stories was designed to bring the viewer along, one subject at a time, so that they can have an informed understanding of how scientists try to develop a TOE and an appreciation of how we’ll make future progress. In this 13-minute episode, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln brings it all together and explains where we are and prospects for the future.

The universe seems eternal, but it has a future and an eventual death. In this video of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln talks about how the universe will expand and evolve.

Scientists have long called the expanding universe “the Big Bang,” but the term is confusing. Many people think the Big Bang is the name of the moment of the creation of the universe, but it’s really just the expanding phase. In this episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains some of the speculative ideas that have been proposed about the actual and literal moment of creation.

Albert Einstein spent the last decades of his life trying to work out a theory that would explain all known phenomena. He failed, but his vision has been pursued by generations of researchers, and there have been many popular science books and articles that imply that such a theory could be right around the corner. In this talk, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the current status in this timeless quest and give the audience a sense of the prospects for completing Einstein’s dream.