Monday, Nov. 12, 2012
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Have a safe day!

Monday, Nov. 12

2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar (NOTE LOCATION) - Curia II
Speaker: Tim Linden, University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Understanding High Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Galactic Center

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

THERE WILL BE NO ALL EXPERIMENTERS' MEETING THIS WEEK

Tuesday, Nov. 13

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

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Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, Nov. 12

- Breakfast: oatmeal raisin pancakes
- Bourbon Street gumbo
- The Fermi Burger
- Veal parmesan
- Smart cuisine: country baked chicken
- Classic club sandwich
- Assorted pizza
- Cantonese sweet and sour chicken

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Nov. 14
Lunch
- Grilled flank steak
- Sautéed spinach with lemon
- Orzo with pine nuts and parmesan
- Chocolate pecan tart

Friday, Nov. 16
Dinner
Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Feature

American Legionnaires, scouts spruce up Pioneer Cemetery

Members of American Legion Post 342 and Boy Scout Troop 33 take time out of their weekend to clean up Pioneer Cemetery. Photo courtesy of Larry Miller

Pioneer Cemetery, situated just off old Batavia Road on the Fermilab grounds, serves as the final resting place for the area's early settlers, as well as a general who served in the War of 1812.

A few months ago, when former American Legion Post 342 Commander Larry Miller visited the burial ground, he noticed that the trees' lifeless, low-hanging branches kept sunlight from making its way across the roughly quarter-acre plot. So he decided to call in the troops to help spruce up the cemetery.

"It really needed some attention," Miller said.

Over one weekend in late October, members of the St. Charles, Ill., post of the American Legion and of Boy Scout Troop 33, along with a few parents, tended to Pioneer Cemetery, giving it some TLC before Veterans Day. They raked leaves, hauled out dead wood, re-layered the ground with wood chips and replaced the fence rails.

"We couldn't have done this without the scouts' help," Miller said. "They did all the muscle work. If it were just the Legion members, we would've broken our backs."

But the Legionnaires didn't simply stand by while the scouts cleared the plot. They not only volunteered their time and energy to the project, they also footed the bill for the cleanup, purchasing equipment they didn't have on hand and providing the doughnuts, hot chocolate and pizza to keep everyone upbeat and happy.

It was an opportunity to give back, they said.

"Batavia's my hometown—I grew up here," said Post 342 Commander John Westphall. "Cleaning up the cemetery was a worthwhile community project for us and for the scouts."

After the work was done, the group treated themselves to a view of the bison.

"I appreciate the American Legion's enthusiasm and all the hard work the scouts put into the cemetery," said David Shemanske of Roads and Grounds. "They deserve all the credit for making it look as nice as it does now."

Leah Hesla

Pioneer Cemetery now looks as nice as it does thanks to the efforts of American Legion Post 342 and Boy Scout Troop 33. Photo: David Shemanske, Roads and Grounds
Press Release

Fermilab photo contest winners chosen; will advance to international competition

Stan Kirschner of Mundelein, Ill., took the winning photograph in Fermilab's Photowalk contest.

The judges have spoken, and the winners have been chosen in this year's Fermilab Photowalk competition.

On Sept. 22, the Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., invited 50 amateur and professional photographers to take pictures in five high-tech areas of the lab, areas not part of the public tour. The photographers, chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, were then asked to submit their best shots to a panel of five local Photowalk judges.

Earlier this month, the judges selected their favorites from the 234 submissions. Their choices range from close-up shots of machinery to depictions of the iconic Wilson Hall, some in color and others in stark black and white. The judging process was spirited, requiring several rounds of voting to arrive at the 25 favorites.

The winning photo was taken by Stan Kirschner of Mundelein, Ill. Kirschner has been a photography enthusiast since he was 13, when his parents bought him his first camera—a Kodak Baby Brownie Special. He has taught photography at the University of Vermont and is active in two camera clubs.

"I feel very honored to be a participant in Fermilab's 2012 Photowalk," Kirschner said. "What a wonderful opportunity and experience to learn about particle physics and be able to look for creative images to photograph."

Read more

Tip of the Week: Safety

Caution with laser pointers

Both of these laser pointers look the same, but only one of them meets the 5-milliwatt-maximum requirement. Photo: ES&H

There are potentially significant hazards associated with laser pointers. High-power laser pointers can cause permanent eye damage in less time than it takes to blink. To avoid injuries, people should use laser pointers with a power output of 5 milliwatts or less.

Unfortunately, anyone can buy a laser that exceeds 5 mW thinking he or she is getting an FDA-compliant device. The higher-power devices look like, are marketed as and can be priced like lower-power laser pointers. It is easy to find a 50-mW green-laser pointer on the Internet for $10. At this power, even a quick sweep across an eye can be hazardous.

Manufacturers often use the same external hardware for a range of laser products. The device on the left in the above picture is an FDA-compliant laser pointer with an output of 1 mW. The one on the right is a portable handheld laser rated at 200 mW. Even at Fermilab, several laser pointers labeled as having less than 5 mW of laser power were discovered to exceed the 5-mW limit.

The Fermilab Stock Room stocks Class 2 red-laser pointers that have been approved by ES&H. The stock number is 1375-2300, and the cost is $15.69.

Here are some ways to prevent eye injuries from laser pointers:

  • Inform the laboratory's laser safety officer if you intend to use a laser at Fermilab that exceeds 5 mW.
  • Be sure to get proper training on laser pointers and an eye exam.
  • Maintain minimum distances between the beam and the audience. See Fermilab ES&H Manual chapter 5062.1.
  • Only purchase products from reputable vendors to ensure the quality of the product.
  • Read manufacturer specifications to make sure you're purchasing a product with the proper output.
  • Do not stare into the beam.
  • Be sure that children are supervised by an adult when using laser pointers.
  • Do not point the beam at people, vehicles or shiny objects. The beam's reflection can cause damage.
  • Do not point a laser at aircraft of any kind. It is a federal crime.

Visit this page for more information on crimes involving laser pointers.

If you want to check the power on your laser pointers, I'm available to help. As your laser safety officer, I can measure laser's power and answer any questions you may have about laser safety. You can reach me at mquinn@fnal.gov or x5175.

Matt Quinn, ES&H laser safety officer

In the News

Time-reversal asymmetry in particle physics has finally been clearly seen

From Physics Today, November 2012

When it was discovered in 1957 that the weak interactions of elementary particles are not symmetric under the parity operation P, theorists retreated to the seemingly safe presumption that the combined operation CP remained an inviolate symmetry. (The charge-conjugation operation C replaces all particles by their antiparticles.) But seven years later came a second rude awakening: The decay of neutral K mesons revealed a minuscule but undeniable violation of CP symmetry. So particles viewed in a mirror don't behave exactly like their antiparticles.

Read more

In the News

Inside the largest simulation of the universe ever created

From Popular Science, Nov. 8, 2012

Imagine being asked to solve a complex algebra problem that is roughly 95 percent variables and only five percent known values. This is a rough analogy perhaps, but it paints a fairly accurate picture of the task faced by modern cosmologists. The prevailing line of thinking says that the universe is mostly composed of dark matter and dark energy, two mysterious entities that have never been directly observed or measured even though the cosmological math insist that they are real. We can see their perceived effects, but we can't see them directly—and thus we can't seen the real structure of our own universe.

Read more

Announcements

Today's New Announcements

Calling all veterans - today

Artist reception - Nov. 16

Deadline for UChicago Tuition Remission Program - Nov. 26

Windows 8 at Fermilab

Indoor soccer

Professional development courses

Fermilab employee discounts

Atrium work updates