The behavior of matter can constantly amaze people, especially when extreme conditions are involved. In this video, Fermilab’s Don Lincoln describes what happens when a charged particle travels through a transparent material faster than light travels through that same material. When that happens, blue and violet light is emitted. This light is called Cerenkov light. This video tells you everything you need to know.
The idea of time crystals burst across the media, with ludicrous hopes of time travel and ridiculous rumors of time portals at big international labs around the world. The reality of time crystals is a fascinating scientific advance, but doesn’t rise to the level of the hype. Fermilab’s Don Lincoln explains the truth.
The ICARUS detector, one of the largest liquid-argon neutrino hunters in the world, makes the last leg of its international journey into its new home at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The detector was shipped to Fermilab in two modules in 2017. One year later, over a week in August 2018, it was carefully lowered into a specially built vessel that scientists will use to cool the detector in preparation for its new role: searching for a theoretical fourth type of neutrino. For more information, please visit icarus.fnal.gov.
One of the most difficult things in learning particle physics for the first time is to understand all of the various names. There are dozens and dozens and sometimes many names can apply to one particle or a single name can apply to many particles. It’s all very confusing. Luckily, Fermilab’s Don Lincoln made this video to help you sort it all out.
The inability of scientists to create a theory of quantum gravity arises from long-standing tensions between general relativity and quantum mechanics. There have been few approaches with any success. Don Lincoln explains one of the few promising ideas, called loop quantum gravity, in this 9-minute video.
Fermilab is upgrading its accelerator complex under the upcoming Proton Improvement Plan II, or PIP-II. The heart of the project is a superconducting linear accelerator, which will help generate intense proton beams for the lab’s experiments. Follow the PIP-II beam as it accelerates to higher energies.
There are a few people in the history of physics who have made insights that have revolutionized our understanding of the interactions of math and physics and given us real insights into the meaning of our theories. Don Lincoln tells us of the tale of Emmy Noether – one of the most significant geniuses of the last century.
Fermilab and Northwestern University’s new collaboration, CAPST, focuses on the science and applications of superconductivity, with expected advances in the fields of particle physics, solid-state physics, materials science, medicine, energy and environmental sciences.
In this installment of the LBNF/DUNE Global Participation series, Director Ron Shellard of the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (Centro Brasiliero de Pesquisas Fisicas, or CBPF) discusses Fermilab’s role in kickstarting experimental particle physics in Latin America, and the participation by scientists from Brazilian institutions in the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.