Comments on: The last proton

By: Bob Allan

Bob Allan — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:18:42 +0000

I have repaired obsolete equipment from FermiLab, while residing in Chicago, for a second hand shop. This refurbished equipment was reused in Universities. I feel a personal loss of the TeV.
Good Bye!!!

By: Nalliah Thayabharan

Nalliah Thayabharan — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:55:38 +0000

Incompetence of the US in managing science & space programs is the sign of the decline of USA. Voters are more interested in watching Bachelor and Desperate Housewives and Dancing with the Stars than science and space programs. Politicians are more interested in getting re-elected than science and space programs.
Nalliah Thayabharan

By: Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:21:06 +0000

Pete, the conservatives won’t be satisfied until they strangle the last proton with the G.U.T. of the last string theorist.

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:30:46 +0000

Just wait. In a few months, you’ll be able to buy neutrinos at Walmart.

By: Pete

Pete — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:49:29 +0000

Final chapters are often sad, especially at the loss of the protagonist. But why must it be closed? Is it cost? Is there no benefit for training new physicists and engineers? At a time when the US needs more scientifically and technologically competent people, loss of this facility seems a waste. Couldn’t it be used to explore new energy technologies as well? Materials research? Defense? Given the “workload” of LHC, it’s location, should the US divest itself of significant resources like the Tevatron? Can it be upgraded? Will it be moth-balled for historical purposes? I assume the “pros” have analyzed this, can that be shared so we don’t feel like the decision is short-sighted?

By: RT

RT — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:45:30 +0000

Just to support what John Conway said. While it’s sad to see the Tevatron shut down finally, those of us in neutrino physics at Fermilab are just getting started. MINOS and a lot of other experiments are still running, and there are big plans for a lot of neat experiments and physics in the future (NOvA, MicroBooNE, LBNE, etc.). And that’s just one field of physics. The LHC and the Tevatron are sexy, but there’s still a ton of awesome stuff going on everywhere!

Just as long as, you know, they don’t cut the funding. Sigh.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:28:02 +0000

First the space shuttle, now this. So sad.

By: Pat

Pat — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:22:04 +0000

To X:
Actually that last proton, after the collision with an antiproton, would nicely warm a few micrograms of your morning coffee.

I, on the other hand, would love to have the picture they take of the collision mounted on my wall so that when my friends ask what it is I can explain what an antiproton is over and over and over again.

By: chimpanzee

chimpanzee — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:18:15 +0000

Tchaikovsky/Pletnev (V. Rudenko pianist) summarizes the “grandeur” of the FNAL (CDF & D0):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UciyQlMd2M

FNAL needs a musical component in their Outreach, their existing multimedia of pics/videos is too much A) Information (inherently dry). Need the B) Entertainment componenet, especially Music..a universal language. I.e., a composite A+B model, an area I’ve been dabbling in for STEM (Science Technology Entertainment Math) Outreach.

A partnership with an existing musician (piano or violin), conductor, etc would be great. Many of the new upcoming young talent are Tech savvy, & are have Youtube channels, Twitter accounts, FB accounts. Hilary Hahn (American violinist), Rachel Barton Pine (American violinist based in Chicago), Vitaly Pisarenko (Russian pianist, winner Franz Liszt Piano Competition/2010):

http://www.youtube.com/user/hilaryhahnvideos?ob=5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTz9eWen77o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JziHtRSG9WM

I’m friends with Vitaly on FB & subscribe to Hilary’s Youtube channel (she does interviews while on tour, great stuff!)

By: Dr. Rob Snihur

Dr. Rob Snihur — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:52:52 +0000

Chicago artist Maria Scileppi and I made a video to commemorate
today’s closing of
the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab.
We used bicycles and her Living Brushstroke software to visualize our GPS data.
Check it out and share or tweet it far and wide please!
http://vimeo.com/29704725
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfpPomnHShc

A blog entry about the video is at
http://mariascileppi.com/section/259898_Tevatron.html

By: StanSki

StanSki — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:49:19 +0000

Another “Made In USA” hittin the skids. Why not continue to use it? So what if CERN is the big dog right now? The more opportunities for research, right?

By: X

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:38:29 +0000

Can somebody save that last proton for me? I’d like to put it on my desk somewhere. Maybe mounted in a water molecule or something…

By: LabCAD

LabCAD — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:25:44 +0000

Your aerial view of Fermilab is upside down. Which may well be fitting this afternoon. Bye Tev, we’ll miss you, especially your anti-protons.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:48:19 +0000

It’s the FNAL countdown.

By: John Conway

John Conway — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:10:05 +0000

Patrick, the MINOS experiment gets its neutrinos from the other accelerators at Fermilab, particularly the Main Injector (hence the MI in the name). That machine will continue to operate, delivering proton beams for years to come. With the energy frontier at CERN, the future of Fermilab is now the “high intensity” frontier, with a suite of experiments done at lower energies, but huge numbers of protons on target. Eventually the lab hopes to build what they are presently calling Project X, a proton linear accelerator that will provide feed these very high rate experiments with beams.

We’ll know, based on data in hand, the answer from MINOS about the superluminal neutrinos in a few months. Stay tuned!

By: Patrick M Dennis

Patrick M Dennis — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:19:48 +0000

Is the MINOS experiment now therefore offline also? I thought it was gonna shed some, well, light on the question of v>c neutrinos.

By: Low Math, Meekly Interacting

Low Math, Meekly Interacting — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:56:38 +0000

Nice reminder of what was. Sad evocation of what should have been.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:49:24 +0000

This is a great BBC article actually which I would recommend anyone with passion for this to read. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15079119. ACTUALLY a really good read albeit depressing, but it does seem to hit the nail on the head quite nicely while summing up American science in general.

On my behalf, RIP from your
British Friend

By: George

George — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:31:28 +0000

It is only because I am a bit saddened by this milestone that I feel compelled to comment.

Formerly an aspiring physicist, a goal of mine was to earn an appointment as a research fellow at Fermilab and witness, firsthand, a collision in excess of 1 TeV. Despite that dream ending long ago, I would have been disappointed had this upcoming afternoon passed without my timely observance. I’m just grateful to be aware.

By: Yvette

Yvette — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:14:15 +0000

RIP Tevatron 1983-2011

There’s no way for me NOT to be sad about this, and I’m amazed at how much it’s affecting me actually.