Fermilab Today Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009
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Have a safe day!

Wednesday, Nov. 18
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Fermilab Colloquium - One West
Speaker: Hasan Padamsee, Cornell University
Title: Superconducting RF, the History, Challenges and Promise

Thursday, Nov. 19
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Higgs Physics at the Tevatron and LHC workshop: the QCD Issues - One West
2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Rouven Essig, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Title: Probing Dark Forces with Low-Energy e+e- Colliders, New Fixed-Target Experiments, and Dwarf Galaxies
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Bill Ng, Fermilab
Title: Coupling Impedances of Accelerator Rings (Part 4 of 4)

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a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

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Take Five
Tune IT Up

H1N1 Flu

For information about H1N1, visit Fermilab's flu information site.

Weather

Weather Rain
48°/41°

Extended Forecast
Weather at Fermilab

Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Wednesday, Nov. 18
- English muffin sandwich
- Cajun-style lentil soup
- Cajun chicken ranch
- Braised pork chops
- Chicken parmesan
- Smoked turkey panini pesto mayo
- Assorted slices of pizza
- Chicken Alfredo fettuccine

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Nov. 18
Lunch
- Scallops with chipotle-orange sauce
- Yellow pepper rice
- Steamed broccoli
- Coconut cake with caramel sauce

Thursday, Nov. 19
Dinner
- Egg drop soup
- Asian braised beef short ribs
- Roasted new potatoes
- Sautéed spinach
- Lemon Napoleon

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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CMS Result of the Month

A gentle cosmic rain

Cosmic rays from space passing through the heart of the CMS detector help align the equipment to an accuracy that is nearly perfect.

Editor's note: This is the second article in a two-part series that describes the CMS experiment's successful cosmic ray run. Read the first part here.

As I stare out my window at the cold and dreary rains of autumn, it reminds me of the sleet and snow soon to come. I have to remind myself that rain can be a good thing. For instance, the early spring rains are crucial for making the flowers bloom. Indeed, rain is vital for growth.

The CMS collaboration has exploited another type of rain, this one the constant flux of cosmic ray muons that bathes the Earth. Protons accelerated across the cosmos hit the Earth's atmosphere, initiating a shower of thousands of particles that eventually turn into muons. Muons have the very convenient property that they interact relatively weakly and travel essentially in a straight line as they pass through matter. A few of them will travel through the 300 feet of rock above the LHC and pass directly through the CMS detector.

A large detector such as CMS needs all of its equipment to function properly, but the heart of CMS has very special requirements. The CMS collaboration made the bold choice to build a central tracker entirely of silicon. Silicon detectors can measure the path of particles traveling through it with extraordinary precision. However, to exploit this ability, scientists need to know the exact location of each component. This is because each piece of silicon hit by a muon electronically reports the particle's passage. By knowing which silicon detectors are hit and their exact location, scientists can reconstruct the path of the particle.

The CMS detector consists of 75 million bits of silicon, contained in more than 16,000 modules. This is the largest silicon detector in the world, containing 100 times more channels than the previous generation. By using more than 3 million cosmic ray muons that passed through the CMS silicon detector, scientists know the positions of the modules to a precision better than 10 times smaller than a human hair. This has essentially achieved the detector's ideal performance and is a striking achievement.

Don Lincoln

These junior physicists were responsible for aligning the CMS silicon systems to an accuracy that is literally as good as possible.
This group of young scientists made substantial contributions in keeping the CMS silicon systems operating reliably. The first step in making a detector work is stable operations.
Photo of the Day

Congressional staffers visit MINOS, New Muon Laboratory

On Friday, Nov. 13, Eleanor Bastian and Chris Schepis, two members of Sen. Roland Burris' office, visited Fermilab. Their visit included a tour of the 15th floor, the MINOS experiment and the New Muon Laboratory.

From left: Fermilab's Mike Andrews, Sen. Roland Burris staffers Eleanor Bastian and Chris Schepis, Department of Energy's Brian Quirke, and Fermilab's Elizabeth Clements and Peter Shanahan stand 350 feet underground in the MINOS tunnel.

In the New Muon Laboratory, Fermilab's Sergei Nagaitsev (right) allowed congressional staffer Eleanor Bastian (center) to cross the yellow barrier for a closer view of the first cryomodule to be constructed in the United States. Chris Schepis (left) observes.

From the ES&H Section

Take the "Take 5" challenge

Nancy Grossman, head of the ES&H section, wrote this week's column.

Nancy Grossman

Our Take 5 campaign is five months old, and we are working on freshening it up.

Today we are launching our "Tell Us About Your Take 5 Moment" challenge. Share a time when taking five minutes to think about what you were doing was a good decision. Use this Web form. We will post submissions on the Take 5 Web page. On Dec. 16, at the laboratory-wide potluck party, we will randomly choose five entrants and award each of them a Fermilab fleece sweatshirt.

Here are a few more highlights of the updated Take 5 campaign:

  • Check out our Take 5 Tools page with information for work and home. Watch the video on the new cut-resistant gloves in the stockroom, and read information on electrical safety at home – just in time for the holidays. We have also added a link to the Recreation Office, which offers many activities that will help you stay fit during the winter.
  • Winter is around the corner. Please take five moments while getting in and out of your car and crossing the parking lot. Always assume the surface is slippery. Wear appropriate footgear. Keep in mind that snow often hides tripping hazards: If possible, keep both hands free for balance. As you enter a building, realize that your wet shoes could slip on non-carpeted surfaces.
  • Our cafeteria has switched to bio-based recyclable carry-out dishware and has re-implemented the refillable coffee cup discounts program. It is up to you to take five seconds before you go to the cafeteria: Bring a reusable cup for your coffee and water and recycle dishware if possible.
  • Fermilab is also helping its neighboring cities with their leaf disposals. We allow local municipalities to bring leaf collections on site, where the leaves are incorporated into our agricultural tracts. This is a good example of taking five and finding a better solution. The municipalities save on transportation costs by using our site, and we end up with soil enriched with organic material.

These are some examples of ways that taking five moments or seconds can help to keep you safe and successful. I encourage you — at work and at home — to always ask: Is there a safer or more environmentally sound way to do this? And remember: Submit your personal Take 5 moment before Dec. 16.

In the News

Big Bang machine nears restart after repairs

From the Associated Press,
Nov. 17, 2009

Scientists have repaired the world's largest atom smasher and plan by this weekend to restart the machine that was launched with great fanfare last year before its spectacular failure from a bad electrical connection, a spokesman said Tuesday.

This time the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is taking a cautious approach with the super-sophisticated equipment, said James Gillies. It cost about $10 billion, with contributions from many governments and universities around the world.

Read more

Safety Update

ES&H weekly report, Nov. 17

This week's safety report, compiled by the Fermilab ES&H section, includes two first-aid injuries. We have now worked 26 days since the last recordable injury. Find the full report here.

Safety report archive

Announcements

Diabetes Awareness Lunch & Learn - today

Book Fair ends today

Become the speaker and leader you want to be - Toastmasters today

Free Webinar on the Roth IRA Conversions in 2010 - today

Process Piping (ASME B31.3) class begins today

Argentine Tango at Fermilab meets tonight

International folk dancing Thursday evenings at Kuhn Village barn

Register for your TurkeyDate

2010 entertainment discount book available online

Lederman Science Center holiday hours

Consider a car or van pool this winter

"The Night Before Christmas Carol" at Fermilab Arts Series - Dec. 5

Wilson Hall stocking stuffer holiday sale - Dec. 9-10

Fermilab Management Practices seminar - Feb. 11

Discount movie tickets available

Chicago Blackhawks discount tickets

Thai Village restaurant discount

Additional activities


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