English country dancing is a very accessible sort of set dancing done to music for all ages and energy levels. While some of the dances date from Shakespearean times, others are new creations in a revived and ongoing tradition. The dances use many of the figures familiar to barn and contra dancing or Scottish dancing, since they are indeed related.

All of the dances will be taught and walked through. Dancing will be done to recorded music, but interested musicians are encouraged to join the dancing and stay for a jam session afterwards, possibly in another location. There is no charge, but donations will be accepted.

International folk dancing takes place weekly on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at Fermilab's Barn. Always open to newcomers, this group often begins with dances appropriate for school-age children. Later on, there is teaching of more complicated steps and request dancing.

The Silk and Thistle Scottish country dancers meet every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. to offer the lively traditional social dancing of Scotland. Newcomers are welcome and are paired with experienced dancers to help them learn. No special clothing is needed and no one needs to come with a partner.

More information on English country, international folk and Scottish country dancing at Fermilab is available by calling (630) 584-0825 or (630) 840-8194 or e-mailing folkdance@fnal.gov.

Two years ago, a group of leading scientists from very different fields at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were in need of more computing resources. Instead of writing six different grants to fund six separate computing clusters, they joined together to create the Grid Laboratory of Wisconsin. Since then, GLOW has been used to advance research in several branches of physics, engineering, genomics and computer science.

"The computer scientists wanted to get more people involved in grid computing, and many of the researchers on campus needed more resources," says Sridhara Dasu, a particle physicist and the technical lead for GLOW. "We hoped that by pooling our talents and resources, everyone would benefit."
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Many children in rural schools throughout Nebraska are never given the chance to experience university-level science like those who attend larger, urban schools.

However, Ken Bloom, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is making it possible for children in rural schools to experience science in a new way.

Bloom received a $550,000, five-year Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant this year for integrating research and education. His mission is to bring physics to rural schools across Nebraska.

“Rural Nebraska is a bit of a fascination for me because it’s not what I grew up with,” said Bloom, who is originally from South Orange, N.J.

Bloom’s specialty is elementary particle physics. He does research in the form of particle collision experiments at the Fermi National Accelerator Lab near Chicago. These experiments circulate protons in opposite directions at tremendous speeds in the world’s largest and most powerful accelerator, a tunnel measuring 6.2 kilometers in circumference.
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