Friday Flyer - May 24, 2019
Spotlight on Summer 2019
Oh no! This is the last issue of Friday Flyer of the 2018–19 school year. We will resume in September just when you think it is safe to come out of the shade. This summer will have plenty of center activity. Plans so far include three neutrino data workshops, two ATLAS data workshops, four CMS data workshops, and a bunch of cosmic ray workshops. (These numbers may go up!) If your center hasn't made a plan for one of these yet, you may want to take a look at the National Workshops page to see what might work. The CMS masterclass development folks are particularly interested in offering CMS data workshops to test two versions of the new, exciting (as in four-lepton exciting) CMS masterclass. They offer a full two-day version and a one-day-or-less version for groups that only want to try the masterclass out.
Data Camp will have 24 teachers at Fermilab and QuarkNet, in collaboration with the University of Michigan RET program, will send three teachers each to the High School Teachers program and International Teacher Weeks at CERN. And many QuarkNet centers will have their own unique programs this summer.
However you participate, have a great QuarkNet experience at your center this summer!
News from QuarkNet Central
An important reminder to any teacher with a cosmic ray detector: You may have noticed the recent glitch in the GPS. To learn more and find out what do do, read the QuarkNet Cosmic Ray Detector GPS Alert. If you decide to max your tech points by handling the problem yourself, follow these "diy" instructions and good luck.
As this school year winds down, be sure to update your QuarkNet profile with any new school or contact information, or with your cosmic ray detector's DAQ number.
Physics Experiment Roundup
Discoveries continue at LHC. The CMS experiment has found evidence of quantum entanglement at the proton scale—a smaller scale than previously observed. LHCb is making new, better measurements of CP violation in particles with charm quarks. In old news combined with new, the European Physical Society has made an award to the CDF and DZero collaborations at Fermilab for the 1995 discovery and subsequent studies of the top quark.
Resources
How do you define a unit of mass? Here is the latest on the definition of a kilogram. How do you define work, that is, the work that physicists do? We get two views from symmetry: one on physicists becoming data scientists (but aren't they already?) and the other on words physicists use. Fermilab contributes a video on their conductor wrapping machine and a minute with a research associate.
Just for Fun
Listen to the Radiolab Bit Flip podcast on how cosmic rays almost ruined an election and more (tip of the hat to Stephanie Metz-Miller of the Syracuse center).
Soon we will be in those long, hazy days punctuated only by a distant train whistle or the crack of a bat—which makes us think of the physics of baseball. And what can better get us into that summer beach spirit but SURF and surfing for physics?
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu