The article on Fermi’s magnet (symmetry, Dec 2006) included the quote, “When it became superconducting, it was ugly and took weeks and weeks to come online.”
Several years ago I earned my black belt in jujitsu. Before tying the belt around my waist, the grand master had me don my old white belt, which designates a beginner.
In 2023, the ALICE experiment was ready for their best year yet, until a mysterious signal threatened everything. As the LHC wraps up its 2025 lead-ion run, physicists recall how they worked together to solve the puzzle.