Friday Flyer on Monday - April 8, 2019
Spotlight on the University of Oregon QuarkNet Center
Ray Frey serves as this center's lead mentor, which held its 17th summer workshop for teachers in June of 2018. Though Ray is the lead mentor, he has a lot of help from his department; this past year, seven other UO Center for High-Energy Physics faculty participated in QuarkNet-related activities as well. During the 2018 workshop, teachers heard updates on current physics research from LIGO and ATLAS and were presented research and professional development opportunities available to them through UO STEM-CORE and UO's Pine Mountain Observatory. Participants were treated to physics demonstrations from the multimedia performance Tesla: Light, Sound, Color, a major production that "blurs the lines between education and entertainment." Teachers were also able to benefit from each other's experiences during the teacher-led, idea-sharing "cool projects" segment of the workshop.
News from QuarkNet Central
A reminder for teachers: We have been recruiting for QuarkNet Data Camp, to be held at Fermilab, July 14–19. Data Camp is the national flagship workshop for QuarkNet, and if you have not gone yet, you should throw your hat in the ring. Data Camp participants are nominated by mentors (1–2 per center), so, if you are interested, let your mentor know. Learn more from the Data Camp flyer.
International Masterclasses (IMCs) is nearing the end of its 2019 season. A reminder that IMC is on social media...Please keep checking @physicsIMC on Twitter and tweeting with #lhcimc, or use #neutrinoimc if involved in the MINERvA neutrino masterclass.
Physics Experiment Roundup
Read about highlights from the Moriond conference where CERN physicists present their most recent results. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI ) captures its "first light" image as it gears up for operation later this year. At Fermilab, the MINERvA neutrino experiment successfully completes its final run of data collection. Though MINERvA is no longer collecting data, there is a lot of data yet to be analyzed.
Resources
Physics Today marks the 150th anniversary of the periodic table by taking a look at the first published version of this now ubiquitous table of elements. Also from Physics Today, a disagreement that gravitational waves may be able to settle within the next decade.
Check out the YouTube channel Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell where you can find videos like String Theory Explained, What if there was a black hole in your pocket?, Nuclear Energy Explained, and a whole bunch of other animated educational content.
Just for Fun
Looking for ways to improve your golf game this summer? Perhaps this rocket-powered golf club can help!
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu