To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the periodic table, the UN General Assembly and UNESCO have declared 2019 the International Year of the Periodic Table. Fermilab gathered a group of scientists to discuss the importance of the periodic table of the elements in their daily lives, to science, and to humankind.
The size and age of the universe seem to not agree with one another. Astronomers have determined that the universe is nearly 14 billion years old, and yet its diameter is 92 billion light-years across. How can both of those numbers possibly be true? In this 10-minute video, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln tells you how.
Aaron Sauers is a bridge between Fermilab and industry. As Fermilab’s patent and licensing executive, he works with the lab’s inventors to find ways that their innovations can help tackle problems and improve our everyday lives. By exploring areas of common interest between the lab and private companies, universities and other labs, he identifies R&D that benefits everyone. For Sauers, finding new uses for lab-developed technologies is the fun puzzle he gets to solve.
The elusive neutrino is the most difficult to detect of the particles of the Standard Model. The story is more complex than that. When a neutrino actually interacts, it is easy to detect. At the same time, they interact only rarely. In this 10-minute video, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln discusses the trials and tribulations of neutrino hunters.
Meet Harry Ferguson, who has a long history at Fermilab and now runs the Remote Operations Center – West. This room is the central control hub for the lab’s neutrino experiments and sees about 10,000 visitors every year. Ferguson likes the international nature of the lab and the opportunities to stretch and try new things.
The motion of light depends crucially on the material in which it is traveling. When light passes from one medium to another, an unexpected thing happens: The direction of travel changes. There are many explanations out there for why this happens, and many of those explanations are wrong. In this 14-minute video, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the reason.
In this 2-minute video, electrical engineer Luciano Elementi and company show us how superconducting cable is wrapped for the Mu2e experiment. Mu2e will search for a previously undiscovered process: a muon converting solely into an electron. The cables will help power the experiment when it comes online.
Sam Posen is a Fermilab associate scientist who is improving particle accelerator technology, focusing on ways to make superconducting radio-frequency accelerating cavities more efficient. One way is through the use of new materials such as niobium-tin. When he’s not experimenting with new ways to coat cavities, Posen enjoys breaking out of escape rooms, playing complex board games and planning his upcoming wedding.
Neutrinos are notorious for not interacting with anything and yet scientists are able to make beams of neutrinos and point them in very specific directions, hitting targets many hundreds of miles away. In this 5-minute video, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the simple and clever technique researchers use to make this happen.
Meet Anne Schukraft, a neutrino scientist at Fermilab. Schukraft is a member of the Short-Baseline Near Detector experiment, which will investigate ghostly particles called neutrinos. SBND will also help the lab prepare for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab. In her spare time, Schukraft likes to swim and cycle. She appreciates Fermilab’s collaborative atmosphere and believes it creates a positive environment for current and future generations of scientists.