A reasonable question of physics is whether there is a smallest possible size and shortest duration. Some scientists have claimed that there are: the Planck length and Planck time. In the 20th episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the truth of the Planck constants. It’s not what you think.

Black holes live up to their name. They emit no light and they’re usually very far away. This makes it hard to take pictures of them, and indeed, some people claimed that they might not exist. But that’s no longer true. In episode 19 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln tells us how we are quite sure that black holes are real.

What is dark matter made of? Scientists at Fermilab are using ultrasensitive devices to look for the elusive particles that would explain the nature of dark matter. In this 3-minute video, physicist Javier Tiffenberg explains how a new detection technology, based on sensors known as skipper charge-coupled devices, or CCDs, provides a new way of looking for dark matter particles.

Black holes seem to be timeless, lurking in the cosmos, forever eating and growing. However, astronomers believe that there is a way for black holes to shrink in size and eventually evaporate away. In episode 18 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln talks about Hawking radiation, the ultimate fate of black holes.

This 4-minute animation takes you on a flight that starts on Earth and travels one billion light years into space and back. It features data recorded by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey collaboration. Using the data recorded over the last 20 years, the SDSS collaboration has created the most detailed three-dimensional maps of the universe ever made, with deep multicolor images of one third of the sky, and spectra for more than three million astronomical objects.

Black holes are locations where gravity is so strong that it bends space and slows time. In episode 17 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln gives a sense of what it’s like to approach a black hole. It wouldn’t be fun.

General relativity makes many incredible predictions, but one of the most amazing is how matter can warp space. Rapidly moving heavy objects like black holes can even cause ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. In this 13-minute episode of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln tells us all about them.

In this 5-minute video, Fermilab Deputy Director of Research Joe Lykken discusses the future of quantum computing and science – including the role organizations like Fermilab will play.

Black holes are one of the most perplexing phenomena in the cosmos. There are many misconceptions in the popular press about their properties. In episode 15 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln begins a several-episode miniseries talking about this fascinating phenomenon.

Of the known fundamental forces, gravity stands out. Rather than being caused by force-carrying particles jumping between matter particles, gravity can be explained as the bending of space and time. In episode 13 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln briefly sketches Einstein’s theory of general relativity — our current theory of gravity — and mentions some tests that prove that it’s right.