Friday Flyer - April 4, 2025
Spotlight on North Carolina A&T
North Carolina A&T State University has made history as the state’s first QuarkNet Center, kicking off its program with a successful workshop on March 1, 2025. The event brought together ten teachers new to QuarkNet from five North Carolina counties, fostering collaboration through hands-on activities, a talk by astrophysicist Dr. Charlotte Wood, and discussions on future initiatives. Enthusiastic about the program, many teachers are already planning to integrate QuarkNet activities into their classrooms. Experienced QuarkNet teachers Charlie Payne and Megan Alvord from the Virtual Center also played a key role in facilitating the day’s events. Under the guidance of mentor Dr. Hallie Trauger, NCAT’s QuarkNet Center has identified two lead teachers (Robyn Allaway and Daniel Kemp) who will conduct summer research with Dr. Wood. Looking ahead, the group is set to reconvene in the fall for another workshop and to plan for future activities.
Welcome aboard, North Carolina A&T!
News from QuarkNet Central
Update on International Muon Week 2025: IMW 2025 took place from March 3-7, with 20 high school groups from six countries investigating cosmic ray muon flux and its potential correlation with Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) events from the sun. Although no major CMEs occurred during that week, most groups continue to operate their detectors, collecting muon data in anticipation of the next event. To explore more about the project, including a global map of participants, visit the IMW 2025 website.
Teacher Research Associates (TRAC): TRAC is an eight-week program that provides outstanding science, mathematics, computer science and technology teachers with professional summer research experience. Visit the TRAC website for more information, including how to apply. Applications are due April 19.
QuarkNet Summer Camps 2025: We’re excited to share details about our 2025 QuarkNet Summer Camps for Teachers. Note that the information below is the same as was sent to the teacher listserv last week.
- Data Camp 2025 will take place at Fermilab from July 13-18. To learn more and to apply, please visit the Data Camp page. Applications are due by the end of day Monday, April 14, 2025.
- Coding Camp 1 will be held virtually from July 21-25, 2025. Stay tuned for application details in this section of upcoming Friday Flyers.
- Coding Camp 2 will be on hiatus for summer 2025 but will return in summer 2026.
Fermilab-based International Masterclasses 2025 Videoconferences: It's a busy time for masterclasses, with several institutes meeting today and tomorrow. Please check out the Fermilab-based videoconference schedule to confirm the date and time (in US Central Time) of your masterclass videoconference.
Center mentors and lead teachers: QuarkNet has begun sending out award letters to centers. Now is a good time to think about dates and topics for teacher workshops this coming summer. Remember that QuarkNet has several National Workshops that QuarkNet staff and/or fellows can bring to your center. New offerings include workshops on Cosmic Watches and on AI. If you have any questions, please contact your QuarkNet staff member.
Physics Experiment Roundup
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) enters the 25th and final run. (Scroll down, and you will see Frank Geurts, one of our Rice University QN mentors!)
Sterile neutrinos are still a "no show" according to the latest data from the NOvA experiment. Symmetry looks back at the discovery of the top quark 30 years ago. Also from Symmetry: The LHCb experiment at CERN has observed a fundamental asymmetry in the behavior of baryons, providing new insights into matter-antimatter differences.
The CMS collaboration at CERN's Large Hadron Collider has detected an unexpected excess of top-quark pairs, suggesting the possible existence of a novel composite particle. (Symmetry also has something to say about this.)
From Live Science: space tornadoes!, and from the BBC: Spaghetti Science (H/T Marge Bardeen)
(For more spaghetti fun, check out Homegrown Spaghetti in the Just for Fun section below!)
Resources
Perimeter will host an event, "How Will AI Change Education?" on April 7 at 7pm ET. This in-person event will also be live-streamed on Perimeter's YouTube channel. Physics magazine explores how AI could make grading exams more consistent and transparent.
The PoLS-T Network has a couple of upcoming events on Zoom, including Modeling Instruction in High School Physics on April 12 and a Coffee Hour on April 17, which will be an open physics ed discussion. Both of these events are free, but require registration.
Don Lincoln posted a new video recently...this time on how scientists handle antimatter. Also from Fermilab's YouTube channel: "What is Quantum Science?"
Learn about how a trio of Fermilab Lederman Fellows are using quantum technology. From APS News: "Lights, Camera, Physics Simulations!" And lastly, The Particle Physics Opera (H/T Marge Bardeen).
Just for Fun
April 1st recently happened. And on that special day, CERN scientists reported that they found evidence of quantum entanglement in sheep. (Be sure scroll down and check out theoretical physicist John Ellis' "sheep diagram," not to be confused with the original "penguin diagram.")
Other April Fools' Day hoaxes from the archives: Instant Color TV (1962, Sweden), Smellovision (1965, UK), the winner (according to this one representative of the FF editorial board): Homegrown Spaghetti (1957, BBC).
We'll end with Decay Chain and some cosmology "news" from xkcd.
Have a great weekend!
QuarkNet Staff
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Spencer Pasero: spasero@fnal.gov
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu