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Illustration of a W boson among a pattern of masks

Explain it in 60 seconds: W boson

09/10/24

Josh Bendavid and Sarah Charley

Meet the short-lived particle that helps the sun shine.

Four people pulling on four corners of a space blanket

08/01/07

Dark energy

Dark energy, the weirdest and most abundant stuff in the universe, is causing the expansion of the universe to speed up.

08/01/07

The particle physics life list

Bird watchers have "life lists" of species they hope to see in their lifetimes. Why shouldn't particle physics fans do the same? With that in mind, in our April issue we asked readers to help us put together the first particle physics life list.

08/01/07

What, no popcorn?

Though scientists are skeptical of the suggested particle's existence, the results from Legnaro need to be checked, says Chou, who strayed from his usual area of researchcosmology to help put the project together. "It's unlikely but not impossible.

07/01/07

First users’ meeting

In 1967, 400 enthusiastic scientists met at Argonne National Laboratory to discuss plans to build a new 200 GeV accelerator and a national laboratory to house it.

07/01/07

Speed: It’s not just for particles

In pursuit of high velocities, a group of Fermilab physicists has found an unusual outlet: They race a dragon boat.

07/01/07

Pesky invaders

An overgrown zebra mussel population at Fermilab received a rude awaking when operations engineers treated the lab’s water cooling system in early June to remove nearly 4000 pounds of mussels.

07/01/07

Secrets of a heavyweight

A dozen years after it first appeared on the world stage, the top quark is still one of the hottest topics in particle physics. Why is it so much heavier than any other particle? And what can it tell us about the origin of mass and other quantum mysteries?

07/01/07

Particle event

Scientists call the particle collisions and interactions they study “particle events.”

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