Ask a Scientist

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Over the years, people have sent questions to Fermilab on subjects from why the sky is blue to the speed limit of the universe. Here are a selection of the most interesting questions and informative answers. If you have a question for Fermilab, email us. When submitting a question, please provide your age or profession. It helps our scientists to write a better response. Fermilab also offers an in-person Ask a Scientist program for onsite visitors. Register for an Ask a Scientist tour.


Physics Questions People Ask Fermilab

Particles and their properties

Quarks, leptons and bosons, spin and mass, antimatter.

Forces and interactions

Strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational, particle-wave dualism.

Particle theories

Quantum fields, superstrings and all that.

Accelerators

Bringing particles to almost the speed of light.

Particle detectors

Capturing the tracks of particles.

Physics of the universe

From the big bang to black holes, extra dimensions, space and time.

Special and general relativity

Physics at the speed of light.

General physics

From very cold to very hot — and everything in between.