Friday Flyer/News
Submitted by kcecire
on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - 12:53
Friday Flyer - April 14, 2017
Spotlight on International Masterclasses and Fermilab: International Masterclasses 2017 have officially ended, though there will still be some "off-shelf" masterclasses well into this month in places like Spearfish, South Dakota and La Plata, Argentina. The stats so far show that over 45 masterclasses had videooconferences with Fermilab with over 1,000 students from all over the world participating. Folks tell us that the Fermilab videoconferences were the best yet. We could not have done that without the dedication of the LHC fellows and the great work of our engaging Fermilab moderators. (Here they are!) If you participated and have any comments on how it went or pictures of your masterclass, please drop an e-mail message to Ken.
Whether your masterclass connected with Fermilab or CERN, coordinators Uta Bilow and Ken Cecire would like to express their thanks to all involved.
News from QuarkNet Central: International Muon Week . . . done. International Masterclasses . . . winding down. What now? We are pleased to announce the first-ever QuarkNet e-Lab Poster Challenge! Encourage your students to do meaningful studies and make posters in the Cosmic Ray e-Lab, the CMS e-Lab, or the LIGO e-Lab between now and the end of May. On June 1, the QuarkNet staff will look at all the posters registered in the competition and choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, judged based on the rubrics found in the e-Labs, the science, and how interesting it is. Prizes will be awarded accordingly. For more information, go to the QuarkNet e-Lab Poster Challenge web page.
Important remnder! QuarkNet staff and fellows are working to help support centers for workshops this summer. Your point of contact should be in touch to find out workshop dates and if you need any assistance. Keep in mind that QuarkNet Central can provide one of these workshops at your site, sending a staff member or fellow to lead the workshop. If you have questions or would like to schedule a QuarkNet Central-led workshop, contact Ken, Mark, or Shane.
Physics Experiment Roundup: Read about antimatter experiments at CERN in symmetry and about what happened while CMS hibernated in this CERN update. And now: the accelerators awaken.
Resources: Learn about physics collaboration in the Americas with this video by Carlos Escobar at Fermilab. Kudos to Don Lincoln, who has produced so many particle physics resources, for winning the APS Gemant Award.
Just for Fun: From XKCD this week, we have an extreme view of updates and the joy of wrong science.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - April 7, 2017
Spotlight on Rice University/University of Houston QuarkNet Center: As many of you know, this has been a very sad year for our colleagues, with the loss of mentor Marj Corcoran this past February. Marj was a great person, physicist, and was one of QuarkNet's star mentors. Under Marj's leadership, the center at Rice has been very active, hosting Saturday physics events, masterclasses for students, and engaging teacher workshops. In 2016, 25 students attended an all-day masterclass, and the summer teacher workshop included the analysis of CMS data, work on cosmic ray detectors, along with talks on topics from dark matter to medical physics. Moving forward, we are pleased to welcome Frank Geurts as the new mentor. He is currently planning the 2017 teacher workshop. We appreciate Frank's willingness to continue the strong QuarkNet tradition at Rice.
News from QuarkNet Central: Attention mentors and lead teachers: QuarkNet staff and fellows are working to help support centers for workshops this summer. Your point of contact should be in touch to find out workshop dates and if you need any assistance. Keep in mind that QuarkNet Central can provide one of these workshops at your site, sending a staff member or fellow to lead the workshop. If you have questions or would like to schedule a QuarkNet Central-led workshop, contact Ken, Mark, or Shane.
Physics Experiment Roundup: New results from CERN's ATLAS experiment
Resources: Learn more about dark matter wind and check out this art inspired by particle physics, both from symmetry.
Just for Fun: From Calvin and Hobbes: Calvin contemplates his place in the universe. And, from a completely different cosmic "grain of sand," guess what animal has been found to wash its food before consuming?
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - March 31, 2017
Spotlight on Purdue University Northwest QuarkNet Center: Purdue University Calumet and Purdue University Northwest have joined forces. Result: same great QuarkNet center, new name. Purdue Northwest is active both in summer workshops—last summer they took a dive into the LIGO e-Lab—and International Masterclasses. Their CMS masterclass is coming up on April 8. Mentor Neeti Parashar not only organizes and encourages an active teacher group, but is herself a masterclass videoconference moderator.
News from QuarkNet Central: The news is: There is not much news. International Muon Week wrapped up. Masterclasses are about 2/3 complete and humming along. (And we have the tweets to prove it, like this one and this one.) More coming for spring and summer? You bet . . . Stay tuned!
Physics Experiment Roundup: If two charged particles exchange one photon, then maybe they can exchange, um, two photons. And maybe we're observing it. The important Moriond physics conference is winding up; here are results presented by CMS.
Resources: We start with two videos from Fermilab: Our own Marge Bardeen (QuarkNet Spokesperson) gives an education and outreach history lesson and Don Lincoln has a strong take on the weak interaction. Don is also taking on even bigger questions with his article on a theory of everything in The Physics Teacher. In symmetry, learn how to make a discovery. (Easy! Fun! Free trip to Stockholm!)
Just for Fun: Perimeter Institute encourages us to tune our students into their How to Bake Pi webcast. (And at what temperature do you bake one pi? 180 degrees, of course.) And . . . are you smarter than a 7th grader? Check out the poster and plot made by Lancaster, Pennsylvania middle school student Gavin Wang for research done with a QuarkNet cosmic ray detector. Nice work, Gavin!
Hold it! What about April Fools' Day? It is tomorrow. Check your calendar app. Fermilab is, however, proactive as usual.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - March 24, 2017
Spotlight on the University of Oregon QuarkNet Center: Located in Eugene, the center hosted its 15th summer QuarkNet workshop in 2016. With LIGO's recent gravitational wave discoveries, the workshop focused primarily on this topic, giving teachers the chance to learn what is known about these waves, what might be learned in the future, and what similarities and differences exist between gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves. The workshop also gave teachers the opportunity to learn about LHC updates and provided time for teachers to share "cool projects," instructional ideas.
News from QuarkNet Central: International Muon Week 2017 wrapped up last week, with 47 sites participating in 10 countries. Participants continue to upload data to the e-Lab, and some groups were able to discuss results with Mark Adams this week via videoconference. As International Masterclasses 2017 continue, be sure to check out the action on Twitter and Facebook!
Physics Experiment Roundup: The NOvA experiment recently observed its first antineutrino at its far detector in northern Minnesota within a couple hours of the Fermilab accelerator complex switching to antineutrino delivery mode. The CMS detector at CERN gets an upgrade this month.
Resources: If an atom of anti-hydrogen annihilated in the room you currently occupy, would you notice? Could the strong glow of gamma rays in our neighboring galaxy signal the presence of dark matter? Learn more in symmetry's Q&A with astrophysicists Eric Charles and Mattia Di Mauro.
Just for Fun: Happy spring! With the arrival of spring this week, what better way to celebrate the new season than by watching this 12-second time-lapse video from NASA, demonstrating the reason for the changing seasons.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - March 17, 2017
Spotlight on Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: For QuarkNet, Fermilab is not only home for the Fermilab/UChicago QuarkNet Center but also one of our two major hubs. (The other is Notre Dame.) Three of our staff and our spokesperson call it home, and two staff are Fermilab users. The Fermilab Office of Education and Public Outreach offers vital support; for example, LaMargo Gill edits our documents, including this newsletter, for style. Gayle Millman schedules meeting rooms, handles travel and much more. Fermilab physicists provide vital help to moderate International Masterclass videoconferences. Add to this Data Camp and meetings at the Lab, and you can see that the Lab is really important to QuarkNet. And it is a great, exciting laboratory! If you have not brought your students to Fermilab, think about it!
News from QuarkNet Central: International Muon Week 2017 is wrapping up! Watch this space in coming weeks for results. International Masterclasses 2017 are in full swing! Check them out on Twitter and Facebook!
Physics Experiment Roundup: How strong is strong? Read what symmetry reports. What's next on the gravitational wave front? APS News gets the vibe from LIGO. And dentists ask, Do accelerators get cavities? Sort of, says symmetry.
This just in! We're a-twitter! Why? How about five new particles (or one new particle in five states) found in one discovery from LHCb? Read the CERN article, check it out at the LHCb website, and read the paper in arXiv!
Resources: How weak is weak? Don Lincoln has a video for that.
Just for Fun: Here is a valuable, if odd, astronomy tip from XKCD. Taking a break from cool physics, here is warm physics . . . of sunsets.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - March 10, 2017
Spotlight on the Kansas State University QuarkNet Center: Located in "The Little Apple" (Manhattan, KS), the center is very active serving primarily teachers from rural Kansas. In March 2016, the center hosted a masterclass for 8 teachers and 27 students, with one more teacher and 18 tudents joining from a high school location. In addition to learning about the Standard Model and analyzing data, students toured the KSU nuclear reactor and participated in a hands-on demo show. In August 2016, thirteen teachers took part in the summer workshop, working with cosmic ray detectors, the Cosmic Ray e-Lab, and CMS e-Lab. Looking ahead to summer 2017, they plan to visit the LIGO detector in Louisiana for a tour and workshop.
News from QuarkNet Central:
International Muon Week 2017 is NEXT WEEK! If you have a cosmic ray detector, find out whether muon rates are the same all over the world. Collect data with us during International Muon Week, March 13–17, 2017. Check out the registration link and the detector set-up instructions. Videoconferences through Fermilab will be scheduled for the week after taking data so that you can discuss your results with other groups. Help is available in the Cosmic Ray e-Lab at the Help Desk (life ring). Contact Mark with any questions.
International Masterclasses 2017 are here! Fermilab-connected masterclasses start tomorrow (March 11), while masterclasses with a CERN videoconference continue, now in their second week. Be sure to check out how masterclasses are going via Twitter and Facebook!
Physics Experiment Roundup: How do you transport 70,000 tons of liquid argon a mile underground? Engineers at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) have a couple of ideas in mind. Learn more about the LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiment, also to be located a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility.
Resources: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . a supermassive black hole enjoys feasting on a single star . . . .for much longer than "normal!" Meanwhile, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope informs us about our "local" black hole's last meal. Have you seen symmetry's "ABCs of Particle Physics" yet? If not, it's worth checking out!
Just for Fun: Hear about the Monkee who recently paid a visit to Fermilab?
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - March 3, 2017
Spotlight on Upcoming Events: Spring is upon us! We have great March activities; read about International Masterclasses and International Muon Week below. Look for a CMS e-Lab Poster Challenge in April and May.
Plan for summer. It's not far away! Mentors, please be sure your responses to the RFP are in. Ask Shane or Ken for the link and any help you need. Start thinking about Data Camp; recruitment will begin before you know it. And since it is time for spring cleaning, don't forget any "dangling deliverables" such as annual reports from 2016 that were not quite finished and put up on the QuarkNet site.
Watch for announcements and, of course, check your Friday Flyer every week.
News from QuarkNet Central: International Masterclasses 2017 are here! Masterclasses started with CERN videoconferences on Wednesday and will continue into April. Fermilab-connected masterclasses start Saturday, March 11. Two last-minute circulars ran this week; one was about iso images for masterclass DVDs and the other was an important note about CMS masterclasses. (There have been changes, so CMS masterclass leaders should check out the circular.) Check out how masterclasses are going via Twitter and Facebook!
International Muon Week 2017 is around the corner! If you have a cosmic ray muon detector, find out whether muon rates are the same all over the world. Collect data with us during International Muon Week, March 13–17, 2017. Check out the registration link and the detector set-up instructions. Videoconferences through Fermilab will be scheduled for the week after taking data so that you can discuss your results with other groups. Help is available in the Cosmic Ray e-Lab at the Help Desk (life ring). Contact Mark with any questions.
Physics Experiment Roundup: How big is DUNE? This big. For a not-quite-as-big experiment, QuarkNet mentor Raul Armendariz shops components from Warehouse 2 at Fermilab.
Resources: Meet Fermilab great Herman White and, while at the lab, spend a minute with Keith Coiley at the data center. Physics is about big questions, so here's one: How do you build a universe? Easy! Follow this recipe from symmetry.
Just for Fun: Star Wars! Physics! Er...maybe not. And how big is the new astronomical image from Germany? This big.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - February 24, 2017
Spotlight on the University of Washington QuarkNet Center: In August of 2016, this center held a three-day cosmic ray studies workshop open to both teachers and high school students. During the workshop, the four teachers and 20 students in attendance had a chance to learn how the detectors work, collect and upload data, and analyze results. Check out the teachers and students as they work with the detectors. In addition to the summer workshop, the UW center hosted a masterclass last March during which 14 local high school students had the opportunity to learn about particle physics research, analyze CMS data, and participate in a videoconference.
News from QuarkNet Central:
Announcing International Muon Week 2017! If you have a cosmic ray muon detector, find out whether muon rates are the same all over the world. Collect data with us during International Muon Week, March 13–17, 2017. Check out the registration link and the detector set-up instructions. Videoconferences through Fermilab will be scheduled for the week after taking data so that you can discuss your results with other groups. Help is available in the Cosmic Ray e-Lab at the Help Desk (life ring). Contact Mark with any questions.
From our Notre Dame center, a recent picture of Rolf-Dieter Heuer (former director of CERN, pictured in center) visiting the Nothre Dame Digital Visualization Theater. During the visit, Ken Andert (pictured on far right) and his student Zoe (second from right) gave a brief presentation on a project they've been working on that introduces CERN and particle physics to general audiences.
Physics Experiment Roundup: Meet MiniCHANDLER, the first mobile neutrino detector in the U.S. Learn how the use of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) technology is driving the development of particle accelerators.
Resources: Find out how spinning black holes could fling off clouds of dark matter. With the approach of the spring equinox, you and your students can take part in Eratosthenes Experiment March 2017, an international effort for students to collect and submit data and collaborate in order to determine the circumference of Earth. Learn about the Modeling Instructional approach at one of over 60 summer modeling workshops, including the use of modeling in high school physics, chemistry, and physical science.
Just for Fun: Watch as a fish steers its own robotic fish tank. This robotic tank built by some students at Carnegie Mellon University uses the fish's position in the water relative to the tank to determine the speed and direction of the tank's movement.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - February 17, 2017
Spotlight on Idaho State: The Idaho State University QuarkNet Center is very involved in and dedicated to cosmic ray studies. They spent just about their whole summer 2016 workshop on plateauing, taking data, running experiments, and getting ready for classroom work with the detectors. (Well, they did visit the nearby Idaho Accelerator Center.) They made some great posters about time of flight, shower studies, muon flux, and more. Perusing their posters can give us some great ideas.
News from QuarkNet Central: Do you want to learn more about the CMS masterclass measurement? (It is changing, with new features and more data.) Connect to CMS Question Time on Wednesday, February 22, at 11:00 AM U.S. Central Time. What about ATLAS? ATLAS Question Time is on Monday at 10:00 PM Central.
HST applicants! Hang on; a decision is coming soon!
Physics Experiment Roundup: Astrophysicists can use gravitational lensing to measure the Hubble constant and SURF is getting a new, advanced dark matter detector. At CERN, they are finding that protons are stranger than we thought.
Resources: What is an engineering physicist? Spend a minute with Jerry Zimmerman of Fermilab to find out. But, you might reply, spring training has begun! What will interest our more baseball-minded students? Try this video by Jared Adelman, a QuarkNet mentor at Northern Illinois University. And if you want another fun neutrino video, ask symmetry.
Just for Fun: Take the last train to Weston? A Monkee visits Fermilab. While you're at the lab, Roger Dixon can share a story.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu
Friday Flyer - February 10, 2017
Spotlight on Summer Workshop Opportunities at Centers: QuarkNet Central provides several two- to three-day workshops available to our centers. These are facilitated by staff or fellows, and focus on a variety of topics, including data analysis from ATLAS, CMS, LIGO or cosmic ray muon detectors. Each workshop provides teachers the opportunity to wear their "student hats" (deepen their own understanding), and their "teacher hats" (discuss and plan for implementation into their own classes). More information is provided on the workshop description page, including a sample agenda for each workshop. Mentors and lead teachers contact Ken, Mark or Shane with questions or if you would like to schedule one of these workshops at your center.
News from QuarkNet Central: Have you registered your masterclass group for an orientation or an update? Please do so! Check out the orientation page, then register for an orientation or update with the orientation registration form. Advertise too! Masterclass posters, logos and media templates are available for download and printing. In addition, check out the latest IMC circular.
Physics Experiment Roundup: Learn who is a part of the DUNE collaboration in the short video, "We Are DUNE." Read about smashing gold ions at Brookhaven National Lab in this Science News article.
Resources: Symmetry explores the experiments that may help us learn more about what ended the "dark ages" in the early universe. See how math concepts relate to one another in this poster and video. (This math poster/video is similar to the physics version that was shared a few weeks ago.)
News from our Houston/Rice Center: We are very sad to report that one of our mentors, Marj Corcoran of Rice University in Houston, Texas, recently passed away. Marj was a very dedicated mentor and will be greatly missed by many. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the the Rice center, and to all of Marj's family and friends. You can read more about Marj in her obituary and in this announcement from Rice.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu