Fermilab Today

Monday, Sept. 22, 2008

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Monday, Sept. 22
2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Craig Hogan, Fermilab
Title: Quantum Indeterminacy of Geometry
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II

Tuesday, Sept. 23
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

Mostly Sunny
81°/57°

Extended Forecast
Weather at Fermilab

Secon Level 3

Monday, Sept. 22
- Smart cuisine: spicy beef & rice soup
- Corned beef reuben
- Smart cuisine: honey Dijon glazed pork loin
- Smart cuisine: vegetable lasagna
- Chicken oriental wrap pineapple
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Smart cuisine: Pacific Rim rice bowl

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Wednesday, Sept. 24
Lunch
- Southwest cornish hens
- Chipotle sweet potatoes
- Orange carmel flan

Thursday, Sept. 25
Dinner
- Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x4598 to make your reservation.

Fermilab Today
Result of the Week
Safety Tip of the Week
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Fermilab Today
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www.fnal.gov/today/

Send comments and suggestions to:
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Thursday: Documentary on Fermilab airs for employees

Movie poster for "Atom Smashers," which will air at Fermilab and on PBS.

Fermilab employees and users can get an early look at a PBS documentary on Fermilab’s race to find the Higgs boson and other physics beyond the Standard Model.

The Chicago-based directors of “Atom Smashers” will air their documentary in Ramsey Auditorium at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. The directors also will answer questions from the audience, such as why they chose to spend 3 ½ years chronicling life at Fermilab and why they think the general public will find the quest for discovery engrossing.

The film is built around the lives of eight scientists who work at Fermilab and interviews with legislators and science journalists. The free 75-minute director’s cut showing of the documentary is offered as a thank you to the Fermilab community. A 53-minute version will air on PBS Independent Lens Nov. 25.

To learn more about the film, see a previous symmetrybreaking story.

-- Tona Kunz

Illinois board approves second proton therapy center

From Chicago Tribune, Sept. 18, 2008

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board has approved a second proton therapy cancer treatment center in suburban Chicago.

The surprise vote Wednesday allows a facility to be built in Warrenville. That's just nine miles from the proton therapy center Northern Illinois University is building in West Chicago.

The board approved the university's $159 million project in February, then in April issued a preliminary denial of the project in Warrenville.

Small accidents mean big trouble for supercollider

From Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2008

Scientists expect startup glitches in the massive, complex machines they use to smash atoms.

But the unique qualities of the world's largest particle collider mean that the meltdown of a small electrical connection could delay its groundbreaking research until next year, scientists said Sunday.

Because the Large Hadron Collider operates at near absolute zero - colder than outer space - the damaged area must be warmed to a temperature where humans can work. That takes about a month. Then it has to be re-chilled for another month.

As a result, the equipment may not be running again before the planned shutdown of the equipment for the winter to reduce electricity costs. That means Friday's meltdown could end up putting off high-energy collisions of particles - the machine's ultimate objective - until 2009.

"Hopefully we'll come online and go quickly to full energy a few months into 2009 so in the long term, this may not end up being such a large delay in the physics program," Seth Zenz, a graduate student from the University of California, wrote on the site of the U.S. physicists working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN.

Distracted driving

Photo from Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) press release.

On Friday, Sept. 5, a driver entering Fermilab along Wilson Street became distracted while attempting to retrieve a cell phone that had fallen to the floor. As a result of the driver’s inattention, the vehicle struck the sand-filled barrels on the westside of the Wilson Street guardhouse. The officer in the guardhouse avoided injury by moving away when he saw the vehicle approach at a high rate of speed. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Damage was estimated at $5,000 for the guardhouse and $3,000 for the car. The driver received a citation from the Kane County Sheriff’s Department.

Traffic safety research has revealed that nearly 80 percent of crashes involve some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event. Distractions, such as reaching for a moving object or looking at something outside the vehicle, can increase that risk exponentially. These observations are in line with Fermilab's vehicle accident history.

Here are four suggestions to reduce your risk of a crash from distracted driving.

Secure everyone and everything that could become a distraction.
Do not drive when you are tired.
Do not perform tasks that require multiple glances in a short period of time, such as operating a computer or PDA or dialing or texting on a cell phone.
Use a hands-free device when talking on a cell phone.

To find out more about vehicle accidents on the Fermilab site, visit this Web site.

Sept. 17-19
- Three stores provided ~39 hours and 19 minutes of luminosity
- MTA survey work
- LRF5's PA replaced
- Velocity meter problems resolved

Read the Current Accelerator Update
Read the Early Bird Report
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts

Have a safe day!

Dark matter, dark energy talk in D.C
The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. will feature three prominent physicists in a discussion about dark matter and dark energy on Sept. 24. Fermilab theorist Joe Lykken and University of Chicago astrophysicists Rocky Kolb and Michael Turner will discuss upcoming research, including the use of accelerators, particle detectors and telescopes to unravel the mystery of what constitutes the 96 percent of universe that does not consist of known matter. Click here to learn more

Fermilab Management Practices Seminar available
The Professional Development Office has scheduled the Fermilab Management Practices seminar, (FMP), beginning in October. FMP, which is required for all new managers and supervisors, consists of the following courses: Managing Within the Law, Behavioral Interviewing, Interaction Management, Performance Review, Fermilab Functions. Please click here for more information.

Flu shot clinics for 2008 season
Use the east entrance of each building for the following clinics: Oct. 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Wilson Hall, ES&H training room; Oct. 14 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the Industrial Center Building's main floor lunch room; Oct. 21 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Wilson Hall, ES&H training room. Active full-time employees, term employees and temporary employees are eligible for the vaccinations. Not eligible are: contractors, family members of employees, visitors/experimenters, seasonal employees, dayworkers, on-call employees and retirees. Register online at the ES&H homepage or call ext. 3232. Bring your Fermilab ID card and a completed consent form from the ES&H homepage. Wear a loose-fitting shirt. Pregnant employees need a note from a doctor.

Microsoft Word, Excel classes
The Office for Professional and Organization Development will offer classes in Microsoft Word and Excel in early October. "Word 2003 Advanced" will take place on Oct. 7. Learn more and enroll. "Excel Advanced" will take place on Oct. 8. Learn more and enroll.

Classifieds
Classified ads were posted on Fermilab Today on Friday.

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