Particles with two heavy quarks are predicted by the Standard Model theory of particle physics, but this is the first time scientists have been able to confirm they exist.
Nearly 700 physicists from around the world met in Snowmass, Colorado, to advance plans to create an International Linear Collider, a next generation machine that would answer the most fundamental questions about the universe.
Like climbers assessing a new route before making the ascent, physicists have been looking for footholds on a vertiginous new terrain. These footholds contain important information for trekking to TeV heights (the lofty trillion electron volts energy scales of future colliders).
After darkness sets in each night, a wall of TV monitors in the control room of Apache Point Observatory continually displays the telescope's view of the heavens.
Public participation is a critical issue for planners of the proposed International Linear Collider. The recent Snowmass conference included a daylong session titled, "Workshop on Public Participation in the ILC," sponsored by the US Linear Collider Communication Committee.
Believe it or not, most of Fermilab's power comes from pi. Electrical power, that is, as the shape of the lab's power poles is modeled after pi, the symbol for the famous number.
Few facets of nature are more mysterious than the quantum world. Particles that appear and disappear from nothing, interactions governed by probability, and intrinsic uncertainties are enough to baffle even the most experienced scientist.
