The ICARUS detector will soon start a second life seeking perhaps the strangest particles physicists have dreamed up, oddballs called sterile neutrinos.
Many a promising innovation dies on its way from the research lab to the commercial market. But with help from government or industry, the survival odds increase.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will plumb a bigger volume of the universe than any survey before it, isn't just a challenge for astronomers. It also requires the expertise of high-energy physicists, who play key roles in advancing the flourishing field of survey astronomy.
Fermilab scientists are using what look like dime-store toys to polish specialized accelerator cavities, each of which costs about as much as a brandnew Maserati.
As physics lab environments go, one could do worse than sharing the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean or the animal-dotted ice shelves of Antarctica with 20 pancake-cooking, dart-playing Swedish sailors.
On Mount Aragats, the highest point in the Armenian landscape, atop a volcano ribboned with glaciers, lava-born fissures, and medieval fortifications, an early 20th century observatory is leading Armenian physics in new, 21st century directions.
Every summer weekend, several dozen CERN physicists gather to enjoy a beloved American tradition: They play for the Quarks and the Leptons in an international softball league.
It was my first morning in Tokyo. Carrying a camera, an offering of saké, and a note in Japanese that I hoped explained why I was there, I stepped into the sumo training hall to watch the days practice.
At 3:10 a.m. on October 13, 1985, scientists with the Collider Detector at Fermilab experiment informed the main control room that they had observed the Tevatron colliders first antiproton proton collision.