Archive

11/16/21

Catherine Heymans shines as Astronomer Royal for Scotland

Heymans, the first woman to be appointed to the role, hopes to give kids and others the chance to appreciate the stars.

11/09/21

The problem-solver: Cosmic inflation

Just over 40 years ago, a new theory about the early universe provided a way to tackle multiple cosmological conundrums at once.

Conceptual illustration of birds and fish

11/02/21

From physics to fisheries

Students in the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program hope to use skills they developed at Fermilab to benefit Indigenous communities.

A MicroBooNE electron neutrino event showing an electron shower and a proton track.

10/27/21

MicroBooNE experiment’s first results show no hint of a sterile neutrino

Four complementary analyses by Fermilab’s MicroBooNE show no signs of a theorized fourth kind of neutrino.

Photo of the BICEP3 telescope at the South Pole

10/26/21

BICEP3 tightens the bounds on cosmic inflation

A new analysis of the South Pole-based telescope’s observations has all but ruled out several popular models of inflation.

Illustration: Telescopes in space, telescopes on the ground

10/19/21

Eyes on the sky

There’s no one best way to build a telescope.

Illustration of hot, warm, and cold dark matter particle marble run

10/12/21

Is dark matter cold, warm or hot?

The answer has to do with dark matter’s role in shaping the cosmos.

Illustration showing runners behind a pattern representing magnet quenches

10/05/21

How to train your magnet

New accelerator magnets are undergoing a rigorous training program to prepare them for the extreme conditions inside the upgraded Large Hadron Collider.

Illustration of a lab where scientists are surrounded by computers and writing equations on a chalkboard

09/28/21

The coevolution of particle physics and computing

Over time, particle physics and astrophysics and computing have built upon one another’s successes. That coevolution continues today.

Illustration of people accessing a conference individually on floating conference badges

09/21/21

How COVID made physics more accessible

Accommodations necessitated by the global pandemic made participation in academic conferences easier for physicists with and without disabilities.

Illustration showing the many facets of a scientist

09/14/21

Bringing the whole self to science

The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science helps students and professionals find community.

Illustration: a kid is stuck on the top of a teeter-totter with a mysterious object holding the other side

09/07/21

Curious physics results could shed light on dark matter

Even experiments that aren’t looking for dark matter directly could give us hints about the mysterious substance that permeates our universe.

Photographer Samuel Hertzog, in an orange construction-site uniform, stands among heavy equipment in the tunnel

08/31/21

Photographing the HL-LHC

A CERN photographer and videographer writes about his experiences documenting the ongoing upgrade that will turn the Large Hadron Collider into the High-Luminosity LHC.

Diagram of the progress of a muon through the CMS detector

08/26/21

Teaching a particle detector new tricks

Scientists hoping to find new, long-lived particles at the Large Hadron Collider recently realized they may already have the detector to do it.

08/24/21

Video: Simulated QGP

A simulation shows the formation of quark-gluon plasma.

Courtesy of Chistopher Plumberg

Still from a video showing a simulation of the formation of quark-gluon plasma

08/24/21

Can light melt atoms into goo?

The ATLAS experiment at CERN sees possible evidence of quark-gluon plasma production during collisions between photons and heavy nuclei inside the Large Hadron Collider.