Fermilab Today Monday, Nov. 17, 2008
Search
Calendar

Monday, Nov. 17
2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Adam Lidz, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Title: Future Probes of Hydrogen Reionization, Current Probes of Helium Reionization
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topics: Pinged Extracted Beam from the MI; T-980 Crystal Collimation Tests in the Tevatron
Tuesday, Nov. 18
12 p.m.
Special Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Thomas Hott (DESY)
XFEL and Collaboration with ILC SCRF
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: James Volk, Fermilab
Title: Permanent Magnet Work at Fermilab 1995 to Present

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

Weather

WeatherChance of snow
37°/18°

Extended Forecast
Weather at Fermilab

Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, Nov. 17
- Spicy beef & rice soup
- Corned beef reuben
- Honey dijon glazed pork loin
- Vegetable lasagna
- Chicken oriental wrap pineapple
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Pacific Rim rice bowl

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesdsay, Nov. 19
Lunch
- Asian grilled flank steak with rice noodles and vegetables
- Coconut caramel cake

Thursday, Nov. 20
Dinner
- Steamed mussels with white wine & thyme
- Grilled marinated lamb chops
- Mushroom risotto
- Sautéed spinach
- Mocha soufflé

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

Archives

Fermilab Today
Result of the Week
Safety Tip of the Week
ILC NewsLine

Info

Fermilab Today
is online at:
www.fnal.gov/today/

Send comments and suggestions to:
today@fnal.gov

From Computer Security

Red Teams are phishing

Mark Leininger, Fermilab's computer security manager, wrote this column

Mark Leininger

Red Teams are groups of cyber security experts who work directly for, or are under contract to, the Department of Energy. They are charged with testing whether federal cyber security standards are followed within DOE, including the national laboratories.

Red Teams have been active at other laboratories recently, and it is likely that Fermilab will see activity soon. To make sure you are practicing good cyber security, follow these tips:

  • Lock your screen or log out of your computer if you leave the room. Red Teams may look for unattended login sessions.
  • Make sure to ask people you don't recognize for identification. Red Teams often appear in person to try to bypass defenses. They may come to your office and claim to be your new system manager. They may go into wiring closets to try to install their own equipment. They may search your monitor and desk for written user names and passwords.
  • Stay alert while reading your e-mail. Look for suspicious e-mail addresses, and don't click on any links from questionable sources.

Although we are unaware of what form Red Team activities will take, e-mail messages such as the one sent to SLAC earlier this year are likely. The message, which security experts believe was sent by a Red Team, was intended to compromise the recipients' computers and record whether they fell for this scam. These types of test messages also record whether the recipients read their e-mail in html format. While not a violation of laboratory policy, reading e-mail in html format is strongly discouraged. It is much safer to read e-mail with html and image display disabled.

Each computer user at Fermilab is the first line of defense against phishing exploits; please be careful.

In the News

New theories may shed light on dark matter

From Scientific American, Nov. 10, 2008

The stuff of mystery may be more than meets the eye

If current theories prove correct, ordinary matter-all that we can see, smell and touch-makes up just a fraction, maybe four percent, of the universe. The rest comes from the so-called dark sector: dark matter and dark energy, a mysterious and pervasive energy that is suspected of speeding the universe's expansion. Dark matter, so known because it refuses to emit or interact with light in a way that we can see, is nearly six times as prevalent as ordinary matter. But, for all its ubiquity, it is often tagged as being fairly bland, a sort of galactic deadweight that only reveals itself through its gravitational pull.

New theories about the hidden life of dark matter aim to shed this dull image once and for all. Whereas dark matter may not mix much with the ordinary kind, it may tango with other dark matter particles via some new force-one outside the purview of the Standard Model of particle physics.

A group of researchers at the California Institute of Technology proposes that dark matter could have its own force analogous to electromagnetism-mediated, naturally, by "dark photons". Just as in regular electromagnetism, the force would act over long ranges, and the photon (the discrete unit of light energy) would be massless. As noted by study co-author Sean Carroll, a Caltech physicist, on the blog Cosmic Variance, the theory opens the door to a rich, as yet unseen world of dark radiation, even dark magnetic and electric fields.

Read more

Safety Tip of the Week

Attentiveness


Even when performing routine tasks, cats continually watch for dangers, a habit that would also help humans in the workforce. Image courtesy of "hagit" at www.sxc.hu

Repetitive tasks on a job can increase the risk of injury. As people become comfortable with the task, they establish mental shortcuts to selectively block out unnecessary information. While this reduces stress and improves efficiency, it can also block information necessary to prevent accidents.

Simply urging people to pay more attention seldom has a significant or lasting effect. Here are some suggestions that are more likely to improve attentiveness.

Selection - People vary in their ability to deal with information presented to them. Select workers whose skills correlate with the task at hand.

Mental workload - Try to balance the mental workload. Too much work can tax abilities, while too little can create complacency.

Avoid interruptions - Any sudden change could startle a person, breaking their concentration. Try to avoid making loud noises.

Rest - Lack of sleep can decrease reaction time, shorten attention spans and disturb a person's ability to process information.

Diminished abilities - Poor health, major life events or use of medications can adversely affect one's attentiveness to the task at hand.

Fitness - Overall fitness correlates with improved mental abilities. Participate in regular aerobic exercise, healthy eating and activities that stimulate the brain.

Accelerator Update

Nov. 12-14
- Two stores provided ~34.7 hours of luminosity
- Operations and controls expert resolve database errors
- Linac experts discover phase errors causing trips
- TeV quench near end of store setup
- Cryo experts fix stuck Kautzky valve

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

Announcements

Have a safe day!

Join Fermilab volleyball, training

NALWO Thanksgiving feast Nov. 17

Annual enrollment Nov. 17 - Dec. 10

Scottish Country Dancing Nov. 18

International Folk Dancing, Nov. 20

Fermi singers perform Thursday, Nov. 20

English Country Dancing, Nov. 23

Director's volunteer award Nov. 25

Exciting Explorations! child care program offered Nov. 24-26

 
Additional Activities

Submit an announcement

Fermi National Accelerator - Office of Science / U.S. Department of Energy | Managed by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC.
 
Security, Privacy, Legal  |  Use of Cookies