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Have a safe day!
Wednesday, April 27
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO FERMILAB COLLOQUIUM THIS WEEK
Thursday, April 28
2 p.m.
LHC Physics Center Topic of the Week Seminar - Sunrise, WH11NE
Speaker: Michael Albrow, Fermilab
Title: Diffraction and Exclusive Interactions (Including Exclusive Higgs) – Part 1
2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Chiu Man Ho, Vanderbilt University
Title: Non-Static Extra Dimensions
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.
Upcoming conferences
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Wednesday, April 27
- Breakfast: English muffin sandwich
- *Chicken noodle soup
- Steak sandwich
- *Maple Dijon salmon
- *Mongolian beef
- California club
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Chicken pesto pasta
*Heart healthy choice
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu
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Wednesday, April 27
Lunch
- Gingered flank steak
- Sake glazed vegetables
- Rice pudding
Friday, April 29
Dinner
- Caribbean grilled scallop salad
- Orange glazed pork medallions
- Spiced celery pilaf
- Cinnamon phylo nest w/ caramelized pears
Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.
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Administrative Professionals Day celebration - today
Fermilab will celebrate the contributions of its administrative professionals today in One West. A continental breakfast will be served at 9:30 a.m. in the dining area near One West and Young-Kee Kim, Fermilab deputy director, will present a talk titled "Hello, All You Beautiful People!" at 10 a.m. in One West. All administrative and clerical employees are invited to attend. |
Tom Skilling's 30th tornado seminar at Fermilab April 30
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| WGN meteorologist Tom Skilling greets fans during his annual Tornado and Severe Weather Seminar in 2010. This Saturday, April 30, marks the 31st year of the seminar and the 30th year that the event is taking place at Fermilab. The seminar is free and open to the public. Space fills up fast, so seating is first come, first serve. More information on this year’s seminar is available online. |
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Earth Day seminar: Fermilab Natural Areas’ recent efforts
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| Ryan Campbell worked with conservationists from the Chicago Academy of Science’s Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to release a new species of butterflies, the Baltimore checkerspot, into Fermilab’s prairies in 2009. Photo: Reidar Hahn |
Fermilab’s grounds crew has been striving to increase biodiversity and restore natural habitats on site for years. Recently, Fermilab Natural Areas has been taking part in these projects.
Ryan Campbell, consulting restoration ecologist at Fermilab and volunteer with FNA, gave a talk on Friday, April 22, where he highlighted the not-for-profit organization’s efforts to restore natural habitats and native species to the area.
“Overall, our goal in restoration ecology at Fermilab is to increase biodiversity,” Campbell said.
Fermilab is well known for habitat restoration projects, most notably for the project initiated by the late Bob Betz 38 years ago that has resulted in more than 1,000 acres of tall grass prairie, an ecosystem which was essentially extinct in 1975, Campbell said.
“This didn’t just happen overnight on its own,” Campbell said. “A lot of people have been putting in a lot of effort to restore and recreate this endangered habitat at Fermilab.”
FNA members have also been working to conserve rare plants, such as the Eastern Wahoo and prairie lily, and to reintroduce native species, including Baltimore checkerspot butterflies and barn owls.
An important part of restoration ecology is restoring disturbance to ecosystems, Campbell said. Examples of disturbances include tornadoes, tree falls, floods, grazing, insect outbreaks and fire.
While it may not be intuitive, a certain level of disturbance is necessary to prevent invasive species from taking over and inhibiting biodiversity, Campbell explained. In prairie ecosystems, many invasive species have shallow roots and are destroyed by fire, while native grasses and wildflowers with deeper roots are able to survive.
Campbell encourages people to come out and experience all the life that Fermilab has to offer.
“That means getting out in nature and experiencing different ecosystems, even if it’s just taking a walk or taking pictures of a pretty flower,” Campbell said.
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| The prairie lily, also known as the wood lily, is one of the rare plant species that FNA is working to conserve. Photo: Reidar Hahn |
— Christine Herman
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Unlocking secrets of the universe part of Endeavour's last mission
From Bay News 9, April 21, 2011
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - It's fitting shuttle Endeavour's final mission is once again to the International Space Station, as its cargo includes a tool to find potential origins of the universe.
The project is truly an international effort, and the largest scientific instrument ever to be installed on the orbiting outpost.
It's called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and it's already stowed inside Endeavour's cargo bay, awaiting its chance to begin the search for dark matter and antimatter far away in the universe. Dark matter is unseen, unlike the stars, and makes up 90 percent of the universe we know so far.
Read more
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Reviewing a year of service
Barbara Brooks, deputy head of WDRS, wrote this column.
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Barbara Brooks
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Fermilab’s Human Resources Department has been busy. During the past two years, we’ve made many changes in order to increase our services to you. A few of those changes include a new website, increased communication and HR generalists in your workplace. You can learn about all of the services that our section provided in our FY10 report.
Here are some of the highlights:
- 13,941 online resumes were submitted
- 94 percent of job offers were accepted
- 372 new hires attended New Employee Orientation
- 30 students participated in minority summer programs
- More than 5,400 customer service requests were handled in the Benefits Department
- 21 mentors provided professional development support to employees and users through FermiLINK
- 255 employees received non-base performance awards
- More than 1,400 data requests were completed
- 698 employees completed internal courses
- 61 employees completed 143 courses through the Tuition Assistance Program
- 208 vacation days were donated to other employees for emergency purposes
- 299 employees attended service recognition luncheons
- More than 1,900 employees were confirmed legally employable through E-Verify
- More than 2,500 visitors came to the Users Office
- 2,805 employees participated in fitness and wellness programs, athletic leagues and clubs
- 10,237 tickets to 40 Arts Office events were sold
The HR FY10 Report is a snapshot of WDRS activities and accomplishments. It describes our efforts on behalf of you, our customers and partners, to keep Fermilab successful. We hope that you will find it informative and perhaps even surprising. Employees and users connected to the Fermilab computing networks can read the full report online.
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ES&H weekly report, April 26
This week's safety report, compiled by the Fermilab ES&H section, includes one recordable incident: An employee suffered a small, second degree burn when the hot oil the employee was handling splashed onto his or her wrist.
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RHIC physicists nab new record for heaviest antimatter
From InterActions.org, April 24, 2011
Newly discovered antihelium-4 could be heaviest stable antinucleus detectable for decades to come
UPTON, NY - Members of the international STAR collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider - a particle accelerator used to recreate and study conditions of the early universe at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory - have detected the antimatter partner of the helium nucleus: antihelium-4. This new particle, also known as the anti-alpha, is the heaviest antinucleus ever detected, topping a discovery announced by the same collaboration just last year.
The new record will likely stand far longer, the scientists say, because the next weightier antimatter nucleus that does not undergo radioactive decay is predicted to be a million times more rare - and out of reach of today's technology.
Read more
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