 | Friday, March 18, 2005 |
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Friday, March 18 3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over 4:00 p.m. Joint Experimental Theoretical Physics Seminar - 1 West Speaker: D. Zieminska, Indiana University Title: Lifetime Difference and A Limit on Mixing in the Bs System from DZero
Sunday, March 20
Monday, March 21 |
 Mostly Cloudy 43º/35º
Extended Forecast |
Secon Level 3 |
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Friday, March 18 Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup Blackened Fish Filet Sandwich Mediterranean $4.75 Style Baked Fish $3.75 Casserole Florentine with Italian Sausage $3.75 Eggplant Parmesan Panini $4.75 Pizza Supreme $2.75 Baked Potato Bar w/ Chili $4.75 The Wilson Hall Cafe now accepts Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express at Cash Register #1.
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu |
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Dark Matter Search Marks
Return of Bubble Chamber | ||
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A team of Fermilab and University of Chicago scientists have resurrected an
old particle detection technique and created a bubble chamber to find
elusive dark matter. "If this goes as planned, we could have one of the
best dark matter detectors in the world," said Juan Collar, principal investigator
at the University of Chicago for the project, called the Chicagoland
Observatory for Underground Particle Physics.
The bubble chamber, roughly the size of a soccer ball and filled with a common halide CF3I, will attempt to find dark matter by nuclear recoil events caused by WIMPs, weakly interacting massive particles that are less massive and less reactive than neutrinos. The WIMPs physically slam against the superheated CF3I nuclei and move it, starting a domino effect in the compressed liquid that quickly grows to visible size. The detector, which "has an exquisite level of sensitivity," according to Collar, is scheduled to be lowered into the MINOS gallery sometime next week, with usable data after a few weeks and an overall run time of a few months.
Trial runs at the University of Chicago have been quite successful.
"It has surprised us at every turn," said PPD Mechanical Department
head Mike Crisler. "It has worked like gangbusters from the start."
The current model is a prototype for a bigger one that will be placed
in an even deeper chamber. Roger Hildebrand, who made the first bubble
chambers in the 1940's and is now in his 90's, has helped with the guidance
and inspiration for this recent reincarnation.
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The Luck of the Irish | ||
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FYI: AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News, March 17, 2005 Key Hearings on DOE Science Request Focus on FY 2006 Budget Tradeoffs Last Wednesday was both a busy and important day on Capitol Hill for Ray Orbach, Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science. At 10:00 a.m., Orbach testified at a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water. Later that day he appeared on the other side of Capitol Hill at the Senate's counterpart subcommittee. read more |
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University of Chicago, Press Office, March 17, 2005 Robert Rosner named Director of Argonne National Laboratory The University of Chicago has appointed Robert Rosner to the directorship of Argonne National Laboratory effective April 18. His appointment was approved by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman. read more |
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'Wonders' Amaze Local Kids | ||
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The 18th annual "Wonders of Science" event drew a sellout crowd
to Ramsey Auditorium last Sunday, March 13th. The show,
aimed at kids 7-12, featured physics and chemistry demonstrations
from the "Weird Science" team of teachers. When audience volunteers
were requested, hundreds of small hands shot into the air.
Fermilab's Education department, which organized the event, hoped to entertain and teach kids about science. "We wanted to show that science can be fun, that it is a class to look forward to, and something they can do later in life," said Education's Spencer Pasero. "Science is not something done by a stodgy guy in a lab coat holed up in his lab since 1962." A beach ball suspended in midair by leaf blowers demonstrated Bernoulli's Principle of pressure differences. A fire extinguisher-powered car, like the one seen on "The Late Show" with David Letterman last month, illustrated Newton's third law of motion that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Even the Linac was represented by a ball bearing accelerator. Mary Jo Murphy, a docent for the Education office, helped design the show.
Each child left the show with a take-home kit filled with ideas for home science experiments with simple household items. "It's great to see the kids get their kit and instantly start looking through it," said Pasero. "They can't wait to get home and try it."
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New Classifieds Posted on Fermilab Today New classified ads have been posted on Fermilab Today. A permanent link to the classifieds is located in the bottom left corner of Fermilab Today.
Building Better Bones
Fermilab Folk Club Barn Dance
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