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.
Experiments in particle physics have decades of experience as thoroughly international collaborations. Can the giant accelerators that power these experiments make the leap to go global as well?
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.