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.
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.
Burton Richter’s group double-checked what they thought was a minor statistical inconsistency in their data. Using the Stanford Positron Electron Accelerating Ring (SPEAR), they probed electron-positron collision energies around 3.1 GeV.
Only detectors with the greatest precision capabilities will measure up to the machine seeking to explore supersymmetry, dark matter, the Higgs mechanism, and new physics that hasn't yet been imagined.
Louis Barrett, physicist at Western Washington University, drives a lot. His daily commute to the university, located in Bellingham, Washington, is more than 80 miles.
Almost in time with the rhythmic open-mouthed chewing and the occasional call for more ketchup during lunchtime at Fermilab's day care center comes the repeated mantra, "Careful of your milk."