Archive

12/21/12

Holiday characters take over the physics lab

Ever wonder if a particle collider could give you a faster way to cook your turkey, or how much antimatter it would take to power your holiday lights? Rudolph, Frosty and the gang invade the laboratory to find the answers.

12/19/12

US-CERN partnership to accelerate neutrino research

US institutions are working with the SHINE experiment at CERN to better understand the particle interactions that produce neutrinos.

12/18/12

Backstory: Jay Wacker, Theoretical Particle Physicist

Jay Wacker, theoretical particle physicist at SLAC and one of the driving forces behind the development of simplified models, talks about what drew him to physics, the puzzle of dark matter, and ho

12/18/12

A model partnership

Bucking the “ivory tower” stereotype, particle theorists dive into Large Hadron Collider experimental searches and come up with a new way to look at the data.

12/13/12

Ironing out an astrophysics problem

Using an X-ray laser, scientists unravel the longstanding conundrum of why extreme plasmas in space look different than expected.

Illustration of the neutrino beam for the proposed LBNE experiment would travel through to a far detector in Lead, SD

12/12/12

DOE grants CD-1 approval to LBNE project

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment took another step forward, receiving approval from the US Department of Energy for the first phase of the project.

12/11/12

Fundamental Physics Prize recognizes Higgs hunters

The Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation will honor leaders at the Large Hadron Collider and its CMS and ATLAS experiments with a special $3 million prize.

Illustration of grid of blue and purple squares 5X3 with coin stacks inside

12/11/12

Decay channel

When particles decay, they transform into lighter particles. Physicists can predict how often a particle will decay into certain end products.

12/10/12

Zombies invade the LHC in student-made horror film

Decay, a low-budget horror film starring PhD students and postdocs at CERN, has been released online.

12/07/12

‘Human calculator’ Wim Klein advanced physics, inspired others

Math whiz Wim Klein, born a century ago, moved physics forward with his calculations as computer developers worked to catch up with him.

12/06/12

Budget woes force rethink of proposed flagship physics experiment in Italy

The Italian government has withdrawn funding for a high-profile proposed experiment. Scientists are now brainstorming other ways to advance particle physics.

12/05/12

Scientists propose new projects to unravel dark energy secrets

Scientists have risen to the challenge to design an experiment that will make measurements of millions of galaxies to probe dark energy in new ways.

Illustration purple space, sea-foam green galaxies, planet in center, yellow telescope coming out of orange circle eye inside

12/03/12

Complex simulations: a driving force for LSST

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the world’s largest sky survey, will rain a monsoon of data onto the astrophysics community. Simulations prepare scientists for the approaching storm.

12/03/12

Crystals show promise as particle pilots in LHC

Scientists are exploring using tiny crystals to remove rogue particles from the world's most powerful collider.

11/30/12

Physics education program QuarkNet develops global reach

A professional development program created in the United States to help teachers explain particle physics has caught on across the world.

11/27/12

Stellar black widows entrap companion stars

Of the hundreds of objects in the universe emitting gamma rays, two look to be "black widows," ancient stars extending their lives by sucking in material from companion stars. Stanford physicist Roger Romani is hot on the trail of these extreme stars.