Friday Flyer - November 5, 2021
Spotlight on Rice University/University of Houston QuarkNet Center
In June at Rice University, teachers and physicists met wearing extra-big smiles, excited to be back working in person once again. Lead teacher Mary Yarbray and mentor Frank Geurts worked with QuarkNet staff to organize a jam-packed, five-day workshop that included cosmic ray, CMS, and STEP UP components. Two QuarkNet fellows were able to join—Nate Unterman to help with the cosmic rays and Mike Wadness to help with the CMS and STEP UP. Each day, faculty and scientists from both Rice University and the University of Houston provided talks on a variety of topics, including MediPix, medical physics, CMS updates, hot nuclear matter, and dark matter. Also, teachers shared lessons, strategies, tools, and other "tricks of the trade" during the share-a-thon.
News from QuarkNet Central
We at the FF would like to introduce Marcia Faye (click for more!) to all of our readers. Marcia was recently hired as the new remote-based editor with the Fermilab Office of Education and Public Engagement. One of Marcia's duties is to edit QuarkNet documents, including the Friday Flyer. We welcome Marcia aboard and look forward to working with her!
The AAPT Winter Meeting 2022 (January 6-8) will be held virtually, which means you can attend from the comfort of your own home and without travel expense. Several QuarkNetters will be presenting on a variety of topics at this meeting. Early bird registration is now open through December 9.
Keep an eye on these upcoming events and dates:
- The 10th annual International Cosmic Day is next Wednesday (November 10). Check out the ICD website for more information, and here is a poster to help promote the event.
- The sixth World Wide Data Day (W2D2) will be held on December 1. Registration is now open! Want to find out more? Good! Check out W2D2 Memo 0 (New...just out today!) and the W2D2 page, or contact Shane or Ken.
- The Fermilab videocon schedule for IMC 2022 (New!) is now available. Stay tuned, as the next IMC 2022 circular will come out next week with links to Doodle registration polls.
- Spencer Pasero reports from Fermilab that Saturday Morning Physics is up and running, and is going strong. Since it is online, high school students from anywhere and everywhere can participate. Registrations for this autumn are already closed, but spring 2022 registrations are now open.
Physics Experiment Roundup
The MicroBooNE experiment recently cast doubt on the existence of sterile neutrinos. Read all about it in symmetry, ScienceNews, and this BBC article.
Got a question about the Muon g-2 experiment? Check out Fermilab's virtual Ask-A-Scientist event this Sunday (November 7). Here is a link to the registration.
Over at CERN ... experiments at the LHC continue the transition from Long Shutdown 2 to Run 3, even as they analyze data from Run 2. CMS recently observed three J/Psi particles emerge from a single proton-proton collision, and ATLAS will reprocess its entire dataset (nearly 18 PB of data!) from Run 2 using an upgraded analysis software.
Resources
Don Lincoln addresses the question, "Where did the Big Bang happen?" in this recent video. Also, Don wrote an opinion article for CNN on the problem with the Big Bang theory, reminding us that models in science are constantly being checked and rechecked.
The Zooniverse platform is described as "...the world's largest and most popular platform for people-powered research," with access to nearly 100 projects. One of these research projects is the New Particle Search at CERN (H/T Marge Bardeen), in which participants help ATLAS scientists look for new physics!
You may be familiar with sites such as OpenStax, which offer free access to several peer-reviewed resources. SCOAP3 offers open access to a growing number of entries as well--many specific to particle physics--including journals and books.
Just for Fun
Already planning ahead for carving next year's pumpkin? (Probably not.) But just in case, ATLAS has a few ideas for you! This FF author gave it try (see below) last weekend. Many can see room for improvement, but Adam LaMee was kind enough to call it "quite gourd-geous."
Before we leave this Halloween theme, here's a little "paranormal" humor (H/T Kathy Race)!
Check out this mind-bending LEGO sculpture (H/T Marge Bardeen). Want more? Here ya go!
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Spencer Pasero: spasero@fnal.gov
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu