Friday Flyer - May 22, 2015

Spotlight on the Cosmic Fellows: Got a cosmic ray detector? Use the e-Lab? Jeff Rodriguez opines, "If there's something weird and it don't look good, who you gonna call? Cosmic Ray fellows." This team, under the leadership of Bob Peterson, facilitates cosmic ray workshops; answers help desk requests; assists colleagues; and acts as a "cosmic advisory board" for QuarkNet. They are: Martin Shaffer at Cowley College in Kansas, Jeff Rodriguez from Cincinnati, Elisa Gatz from Northern Illinois, Nathan Unterman, Jeff Rylander, and Steve Grosland from the University of Illinois Chicago, Chris Gosling from Buffalo, Robert Franckowiak from Idaho State, Jim Stith from Black Hills State, Rose Emanuel from the University of Washington and Kevin Martz from Johns Hopkins. Not a small group; not a small job.

BIG News from QuarkNet Central: The news today is from the "help is on the way" department. Shane Wood, whom many of us know well, has agreed to join the QuarkNet staff. You may well be seeing him soon at a workshop near you or at AAPT this summer. Fellow staffers Bob and Ken have both known and worked with Shane for a long time and are enthusiastic about having him on board. Shane reflects, "I've been fortunate enough to be involved in QuarkNet since 2002, primarily working with the Minnesota QuarkNet center and with the LHC fellows. Now, joining the staff, I'm excited for the opportunity to work with more centers, teachers, mentors, and students from around the country and beyond." Look in the flyer next week for contact information for Shane. We are also fortunate to have the help of Teaching and Learning Fellow Jeremy Smith, who has agreed to step forward and take the lead on Data Camp along with his fellow T&Lers. He is also reviewing new QuarkNet activities as part of the approval process. Jeremy's contribution has already been very valuable. Thanks, Jeremy and Shane!

Physics Experiment Roundup: From LHC Run 1, the Standard Model gets further validation, but does it get much love? In LHC Run 2, collisions at record energies. Meanwhile in space, we learn that giant spirals may explain our existence. (No big deal.) Back on Earth, a new collider?

Resources: Scientific American 60-second video - The Loneliest Place in the Universe

Just for Fun: L'accélérateur des particules dans le Louvre! At xkcd, a sort of dimensional analysis

QuarkNet Staff Teachers:
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Bob Peterson: rspete@fnal.gov
Shane Wood

Go to http://www.rockthelhc.com/.