Monday, March 11, 2013
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Have a safe day!

Monday, March 11

THERE WILL BE NO PARTICLE ASTROPHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

THERE WILL BE NO ALL EXPERIMENTERS' MEETING THIS WEEK

Tuesday, March 12

10:30 a.m.
Research Techniques Seminar - Hornet's Nest, W8HXO
Speaker: Clarence Chang, Argonne National Laboratory
Title: Superconducting Technology and Measuring the Cosmic Neutrino Background

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Sergei Nagaitsev, Fermilab
Title: Fermilab ASTA Proposal

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Secon Level 3

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Flags at half staff

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, March 11

- Breakfast: Oatmeal raisin pancakes
- Bourbon Street gumbo
- The Fermi burger
- Veal parmesan
- Smart cuisine: Country baked chicken
- Classic club sandwich
- Assorted pizza
- Buffalo chicken tender ranch salad

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, March 13
Lunch
- Enchilada de mole with chicken
- Spanish rice
- Refried beans
- Lemon mousse

Friday, March 15
Dinner
- Mussels with white wine and thyme
- Grilled lamb chops
- Mushroom risotto
- Pear tart

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Feature

Who gives a hoot? Fermilab does

FESS' Will Alvarez and Steve Whiteaker rescued this injured owl near the Industrial Center Building. Photo: Marie Herman, TD

Last month a handful of Fermilab employees took part in the laboratory's first owl rescue.

It began one afternoon when the Industrial Center Building called the Roads and Grounds Department to report that an owl had been hanging around the building all morning.

"It's very uncommon to see an owl out during the day," said FESS' Dave Shemanske. "That was the first clue that something was wrong."

So Will Alvarez and Steve Whiteaker of FESS brought a net and box to the building with hopes of catching the owl to check its health. They found the owl easily enough sitting on the ground, but catching it was a different story—especially since this was a great horned owl, one of the larger owl species.

"Will tried to sneak up behind the owl while I distracted it," Whiteaker said. "But owls can turn their heads almost completely around, so we couldn't catch it from behind because it kept flying away when it saw either of us."

Because it was injured, the owl could only fly a distance of 40 to 50 feet at a time. Since it never went too far to follow, Whiteaker and Alvarez continued their pursuit.

"It was like when you drop a piece of paper on a windy day and you go to pick it up and the wind blows it away," Whiteaker said.

After half an hour, the owl cornered itself between two buildings, giving Whiteaker and Alvarez the opportunity they needed. Careful of the owl's large, sharp talons, they caught the bird. Alfonso Castillo of the Transportation Services Department took the owl to the Willowbrook Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Willowbrook discovered that the owl was malnourished, dehydrated and suffered from a broken pelvis—in other words, it was in need of treatment.

"Everyone out here at Fermilab seems to be aware of the environment and wildlife," Shemanske said. "If it weren't for the people who first reported the owl's location, we would not have rescued it."

The owl is now on the road to recovery at Willowbrook and showing great promise: It is eating well, perching well and flying in longer spurts. Shemanske said that it will soon be ready for release into the wild, and he's asked Willowbrook to return the owl to Fermilab. That way he can release it back into Big Woods—the wooded region close to where Whiteaker and Alvarez caught the bird.

"Some of the lab's bird monitors noticed a pair of great horned owls in the same area this bird was found, and so we think it might be part of that pair," Shemanske said. "Therefore, we'd like to release the bird back to familiar territory where it may have a partner awaiting its return."

Jessica Orwig

Once FESS' Will Alvarez and Steve Whiteaker rescued the owl, they gave it a comfortable box in which to rest. Alfonso Castillo, Transportation Services Department, transported it to the Willowbrook Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Photo: Steve Whiteaker, FESS
In the News

World's largest magnet in design at Barc

From The Times of India, March 5, 2013

MUMBAI: Unknown to many, the world's largest magnet, weighing 50,000 tonnes, is being designed at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) at Trombay these days. It will be several times bigger than the one in the Compact Muan Solenoid detector at CERN in Geneva.

The magnet will play a major role in the Rs 1,500-crore India-based Neutrino Observatory coming up 4,300 ft below a cave in a mountain not far from Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

Vivek Datar, head of Barc's nuclear physics division, told TOI on Monday that in terms of sheer dimensions the magnet being designed at the Trombay centre would be the largest in the world. "It will be iron-based, weighing 50,000 tonnes, while the weight of the one at CERN ranges between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes." Other sources indicated the magnet's weight was 12,500 tonnes.

Read more
Tip of the Week: Health

Over the top

Take a lesson from tennis players when reaching overhead: Dip the shoulder opposite the reaching arm to reduce neck and shoulder strain. Photo: GavinZ

Baseball and tennis season is beginning, and whether you play or not, you can take away from the field and court tips to make your life safer and healthier.

Have you ever noticed pitchers and serving tennis players tilt their shoulders so that the shoulder opposite the ball or tennis racket is dipped? There is an advantage to that form. Observation shows that in dipping the shoulder, the space between the neck and raised arm is widened when compared to raising the arm overhead with shoulders level. This dipped position leads to less pressure on the nerves of the neck. Some physicians believe that this position also places less strain on the rotator cuff, the series of tendons attached about the shoulder socket. This same position also can more effectively stretch the neck and shoulder muscles during warm-up.

So how do you put this tip from athletes into practice? Although you should try as much as practical to engineer things so you don't need to reach overhead, if you must, dip the shoulder opposite your reaching arm. This may save you some wear and tear.

And if you do find yourself throwing or serving a ball, using the shoulder tilt will help the shoulder blade more effectively put the brakes on the shoulder joint as you complete your motion. This can help prevent the shoulder ball joint from crashing against the cartilage rim socket that keeps that joint in place.

Most of us are not destined for the major league, but with a simple move we can avoid major pain.

Brian Svazas, M.D., M.P.H.

Photo of the Day

Bench warmer

Visiting scientist Richa Sharma from Panjab University, India, made this little snowman on a bench in the Fermilab Village. Photo: Jack Hawkins, BSS
In the News

Searching for a twist in neutron spin axis, IU physicists find nothing - and that's something

From Indiana University News Room, March 6, 2013

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Besides understanding how much dark matter and dark energy there is -- about 95 percent of the universe -- scientists also want to know more about what dark matter and dark energy are not, as opposed to what they are. Indiana University's Mike Snow, a nuclear physicist who specializes in precision measurements using low energy neutrons, now has another "what they are not" to add to the list.

Read more
Announcements

Today's New Announcements

Employee Art Show reception - March 22

Hiring managers: submit summer personnel requisitions by April 12

Monday golf league

Book fair - today

FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) seminar - March 12

Walk 2 Run - March 14

Abri Credit Union member appreciation - March 14

Healthcare spending account deadline - March 15

Fermilab Lecture Series: The Believers (documentary) - March 15

Job Descriptions and Employment class - March 22

Fermilab Arts & Lecture Series: ScrapArtsMusic - March 23

DOEGrids certificates to be decommissioned - March 23

Nominations open for 2013 Tollestrup Award - through April 1

Writing for Results: E-mail and More - May 3

Fermilab Management Practices courses now available for registration

Scottish country dancing meets Tuesday evenings in Kuhn Barn

Indoor soccer