latest news

Conceptual illustration of a pie with a lattice crust

Explain it in 60 Seconds: Lattice QCD

07/25/24

Sarah Charley

Lattice gauge theory, or lattice QCD, is a calculation method that helps scientists make predictions about the behavior of quarks at low energies.

09/01/06

Making science "K'nex"tions

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center librarian Lesley Wolf needed a creative idea for the next library display. Ten-year-old Connor Reed had lots of free time this summer and an extensive set of K'nex, the flexible equivalent of Lego.

09/01/06

New life for a linac

How the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is transforming the world's longest linear accelerator into a novel X-ray laser.

09/01/06

Shop-vacs to the rescue

In creating neutrinos for the MINOS experiment at Fermilab, the NuMI focusing horn delivers batches of protons using intense magnetic fields generated by 200,000-ampere pulses of electric current.

09/01/06

The rise and fall of the pentaquark

Although initial results were encouraging, physicists searching for an exotic five-quark particle now think it probably doesn't exist. The debate over the pentaquark search shows how science moves forward.

09/01/06

E=mc($$$)

With his genius and his unmistakable appearance, Albert Einstein is an icon of both science and culture. Since his passing Einstein has inspired films, books, and even an opera, Einstein on the Beach. Not surprisingly, his popularity pays off handsomely.

09/01/06

Packing it in

Globe-traveling physicists put some of their best thinking into strategies for their bags–all carry-ons, of course.

09/01/06

Theorist dreams big and wins $4 million

"Since middle school, I've always had plans to get rich," says Michael Binger, a theoretical particle physicist at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. On August 11, 2006 his dream came true: Binger placed third at the World Series of Poker Championships in Las Vegas.

09/01/06

Robert Straight: Toroids and plaids

Pick a number: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113 and so on and on and onand on. Get the picture?

View full archive