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A first-person view of physics history

10/15/24

Michael Riordan has spent decades ruminating on the history of physics, including events he participated in himself.

07/23/09

Antimatter from bananas

The average banana produces a particle of antimatter roughly once every 75 minutes.

07/01/09

In 1991, James Cronin travelled to Leeds, England, to visit Alan Watson, an expert on cosmic-ray physics. Cronin, a Nobel Prize winner in physics who had worked on accelerator-based particle physics experiments, wanted to discuss ideas for cosmic-ray projects.

07/01/09

This family tree has physics branches

Who is the grandfather of particle physics? Some might argue he is Otto Mencke, a German philosopher and scientist who received his doctorate from Leipzig University in 1688.

07/01/09

Growing a diverse workforce

When it comes to training, hiring, and retaining women and members of ethnic minorities, particle physics lags far behind other fields of science. Staffers at three national labs Fermilab, SLAC, and Brookhavenare attacking the problem at every level.

07/01/09

Unharmed in quake, Gran Sasso lab goes to the rescue

When an earthquake flattened buildings in a number of towns across central Italy, physicists turned their focus from research to rescue and rebuilding.

07/01/09

Dark Energy Camera scans ancient skies

Gazing into space, scientists wonder why the universe is expanding ever faster. What mysterious force is at work? By recording the light from hundreds of millions of galaxies from a mountaintop in Chile, they hope to find out what's going on.

07/01/09

Helium's shrinking bubble

Helium is the lifeblood of large particle accelerators. As the worlds supply dwindles, the particle physics community must take steps to preserve this precious commodity or learn to live without it.

07/01/09

Virtual particles

Virtual particles’ existence is fleeting, but their effects are real.

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