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Have a safe day!
Thursday, April 30
THERE WILL BE NO PHYSICS AND DETECTOR SEMINAR THIS WEEK
2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: William Detmold, College of William and Mary
Title: Many-Body Lattice QCD
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Marina Putti, University of Genova/Florida State University
Title: Radiation Effects on MgB2: A Review and a Comparison
with A15 Superconductors
Friday, May 1
12 p.m.
Traffic Safety Seminar - One West
Video Presentation: "Matt's Law"
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Joint Experimental-Theoretical Physics Seminar - One West
Speaker: Vladimir Shiltsev, Fermilab
Title: When Will We Know A Muon Collider Is Feasible?
Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information. |
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Thursday, April 30
- Santa Fe black bean
- Steak tacos
- Chicken wellington
- Chimichangas
- Baked ham & Swiss on a ciabatta roll
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Crispy fried chicken ranch salad
*Carb restricted alternative
Wilson Hall Cafe menu |
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Thursday, April 30
Dinner
- French onion soup
- Filet mignon w/ cabernet sauce
- Buttermilk mashed potatoes
- Asparagus
- Marzipan cake w/ chocolate sauce
Wednesday, May 6
Lunch
- Smoky bacon and blue cheese
- Chicken salad pitas
- Apple walnut salad
- Lemon blueberry pound cake
Chez Leon menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation. |
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Concerned about swine flu?
Like everyone else, Fermilab staff members are watching reports of the 2009 H1N1 influenza (swine flu) and making plans for dealing with a potential widespread infection. So far, we know the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of seasonal flu including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have also reported symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. Also, like seasonal flu, underlying medical conditions can worsen swine flu symptoms.
The most important measures you can take to prevent infection are:
- thorough and frequent hand washing;
- covering coughs and sneezes;
- not touching eyes, nose and mouth;
- and staying home when ill.
Care should also be exercised when travelling to or from areas where there is an active infection risk. As of April 29, the Center for Disease Control recommends that U.S. travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico. See http://www.cdc.gov/travel/ for updates. If you return from an affected area and you believe you were exposed to someone infected with swine flu, or are experiencing symptoms consistent with swine flu, you should immediately report your illness to your personal health care provider.
State and local health departments will determine the need for additional public health measures. For the latest information please see:
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Shirley Ann Jackson appointed to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
Shirley Ann Jackson, a world leader in science, has been appointed to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Jackson, who currently heads the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, began her career as a postdoc in Fermilab's Theory group in 1973, and worked as part of the group from 1975-1976.
Jackson was the first African American woman to earn her Ph.D. from MIT. She is the University Vice Chairman of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, a former Chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and chairs the New York Stock Exchange Regulation Board. She is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Read a FermiNews article on Shirley Ann Jackson
Read a press release from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, April 27, 2009
Read the official White House PCAST membership press release.
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Star Wars comes to Fermilab
Characters dressed as storm troopers stand in front of the west stairwell in the Wilson Hall atrium on Sunday, April 26. The troopers are part of "Star Wars Forgotten Realm" a "Star Wars" fan movie produced by Fermilab physicist Darren Crawford.
| Fermilab accelerator physicist Todd Johnson dressed as a character for "Star Wars Forgotten Realm," a "Star Wars" fan movie being filmed at Fermilab. |
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Today's Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration postponed
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| Plant a tree on April 30. |
The Earth Day/Arbor Day tree planting and celebration that was scheduled for Thursday, April 30, has been postponed due to wet ground conditions. Roads and Grounds staff plan to hold this event on Tuesday, May 5, at 11:30 a.m., weather permitting. Please check Fermilab Today for updates.
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Living physics
From Science News, posted April 26, 2009
From green leaves to bird brains, biological systems may exploit quantum phenomena
Until a century or so ago, nobody had any idea that there even was such a thing as quantum physics. But while humans operated for millennia in quantum darkness, it seems that plants, bacteria and birds may have been in the know all along.
Quantum effects, human researchers have only recently discovered, may explain how the first steps of photosynthesis convert light to chemical energy with such high efficiency. Other studies suggest that quantum tricks may enable migratory birds to navigate using Earth's magnetic field lines.
Through studies like these, scientists are beginning to understand how quantum mechanics - weirdness supposedly confined to the realm of subatomic physics - affects everyday biology.
Read more
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The highest-energy collisions ever recorded
The DZero collaboration analyzes events in which two jets were produced, such as the one shown above. In this picture the beams collide in the center of the circle. The red and blue rectangles show the energy of the jets, while the curving black lines show the passage of the particles. Experimenters counted the number of collisions as a function of the collision energy. The precision of these measurements is unprecedented.
When a proton and antiproton collide in Fermilab's Tevatron, many things can occur. The most common thing that happens is that a quark or gluon (collectively called partons because they are part of a proton) from one beam hits a parton from the other beam and they get knocked sideways like two billiard balls. These partons then turn into jets of subatomic particles that are measured in a detector. While you might think that something so common might be well studied, it is not true in this case because of how difficult it is to study the reaction.
DZero physicists have recently announced a new measurement that is a noteworthy improvement over earlier results. They investigated collisions of record-setting energy between partons. The fact that we see such violent collisions is directly attributable to the Fermilab Accelerator Division's extraordinary ability to improve and operate the Tevatron at record efficiencies. The delivery of extra beam increases the chances of seeing these extreme collisions. Improvements over seven years in the collaboration's understanding of its detector have increased the accuracy of measuring these extreme collisions. The collaboration's understanding has allowed them to cut the uncertainty of the measurement in half. This new measurement certainty, combined with doubling the angular range over the measurements taken, is a significant improvement over previous results.
Because they involve the most violent collisions ever recorded, measurements like these are attractive for searches of new physical phenomena. DZero physicists can consider many ideas for new phenomena, including looking for particles inside quarks, finding new and heavy particles that decay into jets and looking for extra dimensions. While the measurements of partons show good agreement with the Standard Model, their precision also allows us to study new phenomena by looking for small and subtle deviations from predictions. If we find anything, Fermilab Today's ROW readers will be among the first to know.
-- Don Lincoln
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These analyzers played a crucial role in this analysis. |
The DZero run coordinators are responsible for facilitating the efficient day-to-day operations of the experiment. After 14 months of service in this role, Marc Buehler is stepping down and Stefan Gruenendahl is joining continuing run coordinator Bill Lee. Left to right: Fermilab's Stefan Gruenendahl and Bill Lee, and University of Virginia's Marc Buehler.
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