Monday, April 21, 2014
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Monday, April 21

2 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Marc Kamionkowski, Johns Hopkins University
Title: Big B, Little B, What Begins with B? Bandits, B Modes, and Bispectrumese

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

4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topic: T-1036: High-Rate Pixel Detector for CMS

Tuesday, April 22

11 a.m.
Academic Lecture Series - One West
Speaker: Gabriel Perdue, Fermilab
Title: Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions

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

4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Ki Shin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: Study of SNS Front-End RF Structures (RFQ and MEBT)

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a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

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Secon Level 3

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Flags at full staff

Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, April 21

- Breakfast: blueberry crepes
- Breakfast: sausage, egg and cheese croissant
- Philly-style cheesesteak with peppers
- Smart cuisine: chicken creole
- Barbecue pork spareribs
- Spicy Asian chicken wrap
- Stir fry sensations
- Corn chowder
- Texas-style chili
- Assorted pizza by the slice

Wilson Hall Cafe menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, April 23
Lunch
- Grilled teriyaki shrimp kebobs
- Couscous
- Sugar snap peas
- Coconut flan

Friday, April 25
Dinner
- Mandarin orange and red onion salad
- Grilled mahi mahi with avocado and tomatillo salsa
- Thai rice pilaf
- Grilled asparagus
- Coconut cake

Chez Leon menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Feature

Nigel Lockyer to talk sticks, stones and physics - Friday

Nigel Lockyer

Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer isn't just a particle physics expert, he's a Benjamin Franklin aficionado.

On Friday, April 25, at 8 p.m., Lockyer will give a lecture titled "Sticks and Stones, Particles and Batteries: Ben Franklin Would Be Pleased."

Benjamin Franklin, ever inquisitive about how nature worked and how it affects us, would enjoy the science of particle physics of today and would be in wonder about how we got this far so fast. The rapid evolution of particle physics over the last century, from the discovery of the electron to the recent observation of the Higgs boson, has been matched by advances in technology and improvements in our standard of living.

Lockyer will discuss this perpetual progress as it relates to particles, their applications as tools and the role of energy.

Tickets to the lecture are $7. The talk takes place in Ramsey Auditorium.

Milestone

Carl Williams, Core Computing Division, retires Thursday

Carl Williams

For six years, Carl Williams has faithfully helped administer Fermilab's data storage systems and virtual services. Now he will retire. His last day at the laboratory is Thursday, April 24.

As a member of the Core Computing Division's storage area network team, Williams helped provide disk array storage and backup services for both the lab's scientific experiments and its information technology systems.

"Even though I've been at Fermilab for only six years, I'm capping off 30-plus years working in IT," Williams said. "I'm looking forward to retirement."

Now he will stop working with drives and start driving around in his fifth-wheel RV, traveling from one coast to the other — California, Illinois, Michigan and South Carolina — to visit his five children and five grandchildren. He also plans to volunteer on short-term mission trips with his church.

"We'll certainly miss Carl's vast experience in network storage, his organizational skills and willingness to take on any task that came his way," said CCD's Mike Rosier, Enterprise Services Operations head. "We'll also miss his sense of humor and good-natured friendliness."

In Brief

Used textbook collection at Fermilab takes place this week

This week for Earth Week, the Helping Hands Committee will collect textbooks in any condition and donate them to SCARCE (School and Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education). Current textbooks will be given to local schools for reuse; otherwise they will be recycled.

Please bring your used textbooks to either of the two drop box locations at the east and west entrances to the ground floor of Wilson Hall. If you have a large collection of textbooks and would prefer to take them directly to the storage area, bypassing the drop box, contact Teri Dykhuis at x3607.

If you are willing to help transfer books from the drop boxes to the storage area, transfer them from the storage area to vehicles or transport them to the SCARCE facility in Glen Ellyn, please contact Teri Dykhuis at x3607 or Sandra Charles at x4574.

The SCARCE mission is to "inspire people, through education, to preserve and care for the Earth's natural resources while working to build sustainable communities."

Photo of the Day

Wide-angle view of Industrial Building Complex and IARC

This wide-angle shot, taken by an action cam mounted on a bicycle, emphasizes the IARC OTE Building's horizontal lines. Photo: Dan Bollinger, AD
In the News

Quarks bonding differently at LHCb

From The Guardian, April 13, 2014

While fundamental particles famously require the Higgs boson in order to acquire their masses, most of the visible mass in the universe is in the form of hadrons, which are not fundamental. Hadrons, such as the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei, consist of quarks bound together by the strong force. The vast majority of the mass of these hadrons comes from the energy involved in binding the quarks together. You might think this was a good motivation to understand this binding energy. You'd be right, but it is not easy. This new LHCb result tells us something qualitatively new and interesting about it.

The strong force is rather special. Even though we have a theory for it — QCD — which is part of the Standard Model of particle physics, it is very hard to calculate how the binding of quarks works. This is mainly because the force is strong, and most of our techniques for calculating things in particle physics rely on perturbation theory, which only works for relatively weak forces.

Read more

Tip of the Week: Safety

What could possibly go wrong?

Consider all the possibilities when you start a task. Image courtesy of lilesnet

When most people start a new task, they tend to assume that things will go right. It is natural be optimistic and focus only on how things will get done rather than think about what could go wrong. You consider the task and develop a set of actions that will drive you to the goal.

Unfortunately, life is seldom this simple. Murphy's Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Although the "law" isn't a hard and fast rule of nature, it's good to keep in mind. If you don't think about what could go wrong before you start a task, you risk discovering the weaknesses along the way — and often too late. This is often a major source of accidents, delays, increased costs and compromised quality. Take five and consider the following to identify potential problems:

  • Deficiencies: Do you have all the necessary materials, equipment, training, experience, knowledge and information?
  • Control: Are you dependent on someone else to provide something?
  • Concurrence: Are there areas in which key players disagree?
  • Time: Is there enough to do the job well enough?

Fermilab policy requires a pre-work review for all activities carried out by Fermilab employees (FESHM 2060) or service subcontractors (FESHM 7020). Its purpose is to identify the associated ESH&Q hazards and specify the controls needed to minimize the probability of an accident. A written hazard analysis may be required in some cases, such as for complex jobs, unfamiliar hazards, high hazards or participation by multiple organizations. In addition, a written hazard analysis is required for all construction work, regardless of who performs the work (FESHM 7010).

Fermilab has begun an initiative to deploy a human performance improvement program as part of our efforts to improve efficiency, productivity and ESH&Q. HPI is a powerful tool that helps us step back, look at the big picture and make fundamental improvements in processes — both physical and mental. Our main effort is to employ these ideas in hazard identification and mitigation, incident assessments and procedures.

We have integrated HPI into FESHM 3020, which is on incident investigation and analysis, to investigate injuries and near misses. We encourage people to use HPI to look at their daily work and, certainly when something goes wrong, to to improve the process. An HPI database has been developed to standardize the HPI investigation process and to better identify incidents' root causes and their corrective and preventive actions.

J.B. Dawson

In Brief

Fermilab Arbor Day event, lunch provided - tomorrow

Plant a native tree or shrub along Road C tomorrow for Arbor Day. Photo: Fermilab Roads and Grounds

The 45th annual Fermilab Arbor Day event takes place tomorrow, April 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (The rain date is April 23.) A hot dog lunch will be provided. Please bring work gloves and a shovel.

Participants will plant native shrubs under the oaks along Road C, just northeast of the Industrial Building Complex. Parking is available along the east side of Road C; view a map of the area. Please take a taxi, or carpool if possible.

Call Roads and Grounds at x3303 with questions.

We have come a long way since Robert R. Wilson and employees first planted conifers in the Village! This planting is made possible thanks to Fermi Research Alliance and Fermilab Natural Areas.

Announcements

Today's New Announcements

Zumba Fitness Open House on April 22

Fermilab Lecture Series: Nigel Lockyer gives talk on April 25

Change in tax practice may affect some visitors

Zumba Toning registration due April 22

Pre-retirement planning Lunch and Learn - April 23 and May 7

Earth Week Fair - April 24

Zumba Fitness registration due April 24

Three-on-three basketball tourney - starts May 1

Fermilab Time and Labor URLs changing

On sale now: Fermilab Natural Areas hats and shirts

A Smart Cuisine purchase earns you 10 bonus points

2014 Fermilab Golf League season is upon us

Wednesday Walkers

Scottish country dancing meets Tuesday evenings at Kuhn Barn

International folk dancing meets Thursday evenings at Kuhn Barn

Indoor soccer