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Accelerator in a bowl

Todd Johnson likes to build things. From automated scarecrows to acoustic sundials, Johnson has created numerous gadgets and devices.

His job as an accelerator specialist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, involves working with the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the Tevatron. To explain to people how the Tevatron accelerates protons and antiprotons, Johnson built his own accelerator using a ping-pong ball, a bowl, strips of copper, and a DC power source.