Friday Flyer - March 11, 2016

Spotlight on the University of Cincinnati QuarkNet Center: Cincinnati had a very active 2015. Students and teachers spent much time working with cosmic ray detectors by performing studies at their school, participating in International Muon Week, and by bringing a set of detectors to Fermilab for calibration. This calibration involved using muons produced near the Lariat experiment at Fermilab's Test Beam, which occur at a higher rate than cosmic ray muons, resulting in a better calibration. Here is a look at some data before calibration vs. after calibration. In addition to detector work, the Cincinnati center hosted a masterclass for nearly 30 high school students, and hosted four high school students for a six-week summer research internship during which students analyzed MINOS and LHCb data.

News from QuarkNet Central: We are coming up on our last full week of masterclasses for 2016! Don't forget to follow or contribute to masterclass via social media including Twitter, @physicsIMC and #LHCIMC16, and Facebook.

Physics Experiment Roundup: Results from CERN's LHC may hint at a flaw in the Standard Model; read about this discrepancy involving the B meson. A new simulation that takes into account Einstein's theory of general relativity could help in understanding dark energy and the expanding universe.

Resources: Why does particle physicist Sowjanya Gollapinni love neutrinos? See why in this YouTube video. See images from Fermilab's Art of Darkness exhibit featuring celestial objects from Dark Energy Survey's Dark Energy Camera.

Just for Fun: Planning to see the new release of Ghostbusters this summer? Here's a little fact-checking of the particle physics in the movie trailer, with an actual physicist! Miss the recent total solar eclipse? No problem! See highlights in this video, courtesy of the San Francisco Exploratorium.

QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu