Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois has a challenge: how will it maintain its central role as a place where particle accelerators produce groundbreaking discoveries in physics?
In August, the International Linear Collider reached an important milestone when two huge documents were presented to the international particle physics community at a meeting in Daegu, Korea.
The world of particle physics is changing. In a few years time, most large particle colliders will have closed; the only one left operating will be the Large Hadron Collider at CERN outside Geneva, Switzerland.
Atomic element 94 was named “plutonium” after Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun (now demoted to “minor planet” status.) By tradition, plutonium should have been assigned the symbol “Pl,” but co-discoverer Glenn Seaborg gave it the symbol “Pu” as
Many readers of symmetry are undoubtedly familiar with the Dan Brown novel Angels and Demons, which is staged partially at CERN. One of the characters, physicist Vittoria Vetra, is described as "CERN's resident guru of Hatha yoga."
While reading symmetry (May 2007), I came across an article about Katie and Adam Yurkewicz moving from Fermilab, Batavia, to CERN, Switzerland. I was floored when I realized that the home they were leaving (424 Blaine St) is the home I grew up in.
With regard to your story on dark energy (May 2007): Please explain the amount of known energy there is in the universe. If there is a small percentage of known matter, what is the percentage of known energy?
Did you find last month's sudoku tough? Word from our readers is that the puzzle in the Jun/Jul 07 issue of symmetry was much more difficult than a regular sudoku.
Our readers live in all parts of the globe, from Alaska to Wyoming; from Argentina to Zimbabwe. But when a copy of symmetry lands in a mailbox, that's often not the end of its journey.
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.
When Aaron Chou heard about an experiment in Italy that suggested the existence of an exotic particle as a candidate for dark matter, he was intrigued enough to go looking for it. His first stop: the Fermilab cafeteria.
Supercomputers can play chess, map DNA, and aid in the study of dark energy. But recently they were unleashed on a bold new frontier: optimizing the production of potato chips.
