Secretary of Energy Steve Chu to speak at noon today

Secretary of Energy Steve Chu will address the national laboratories and the Department of Energy via satellite at noon today. Fermilab will broadcast his remarks in Ramsey Auditorium beginning at noon CST.

Open house opens
minds to science

A girl participates in a hands-on acceleration experiment at the Fermilab Family Open House on Saturday, Jan. 17.

About 3,500 guests, many of them children, accepted Fermilab's invitation to bring their questions and curiosity to Fermilab's Family Open House on Saturday.

"This is primarily for kids," said Spencer Pasero, an education program leader at Fermilab. "We want to let them have some fun and learn some science."

Docents and volunteers with Fermilab's Education Office led children in hands-on experiments and crafts in Wilson Hall. Guests also watched demonstrations about the physics of static electricity or spinning tops or the amusing properties of liquid nitrogen.

"We try to tie everything we're doing into the lab," Pasero said. At the Open House, he demonstrated how a particle accelerator works by using magnets to accelerate steel ball bearings around a ring to smash a walnut.

Physicists stationed on the 15th floor of Wilson Hall took on the most complicated questions parents and kids brought to the Open House.

Fermilab scientist Herman White said some parents asked about the benefits of particle physics research. But the most common question from both kids and adults was: "What do you do here?"

In giving kid-friendly answers, you have to take a chance sometimes, and explain something that might seem too complicated for a child to comprehend, White said. "They may not understand everything, but you can engage their enthusiasm."

Perhaps the seeds planted on Saturday will blossom into an interest in the pursuit of scientific knowledge for children like 6-year-old Sophia Ciatti.

Sophia isn't sure what she wants to be when she grows up, but she said has liked science since she was a baby.

Sophia's dad, Stephen, a mechanical engineer at Argonne National Laboratory, said he appreciated the opportunity to encourage Sophia's interest.

"She's very bright," he said. "These are the sorts of things I want to make sure she sees."

-- Kathryn Grim

A family at the Fermilab Family Open House on Saturday, Jan. 17, digs into balls of clay with paperclips. The activity demonstrated that you do not need to see what you are looking for to identify it.

C2ST present bioterrorism lecture Jan. 27

As the threat of an infectious disease outbreak becomes more pronounced, the need for the development of preventative vaccines and dynamic national policies becomes more urgent. On Jan. 27, learn about the latest research and evolving solutions from Olaf Schneewind, director of the Great Lakes Regional Center of Excellence, and a selected panel for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research during a lecture and panel discussion titled: "Bioterrorism, Pandemics and Vaccines." The event will take place in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. Seating for this free program is limited. Register by e-mail or call Science Chicago at (773) 947-3150.

Completed 3.9GHz cavity string moved from clean room

From left: Marco Battistoni, Mark Chlebek and Brian Smith work to move the completed 3.9GHz cavity string out of the clean room at MP9 on Tuesday. The cavity string will undergo module assembly, and then will be shipped to DESY for use in the FLASH free-electron laser.

Nation's largest science meeting comes to Chicago Feb. 12-16

From University of Chicago,
Jan. 20, 2009

Scores of researchers from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are among the speakers who will address an array of crucial and timely issues at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The theme "Our Planet and Its Life: Origins and Futures," recognizes 2009 as the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the publication of his landmark book on evolution, The Origin of Species. The meeting will convene from Feb. 12 to 16 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and will include participants from 56 countries and hundreds of members of the national and international news media.

The University manages Argonne and co-manages Fermilab for the U.S. Department of Energy. Together, the three institutions attract more than $1.3 billion dollars in annual research funding.

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