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Using paper and pencil, theorists have captured new ideas, revealed intricate mathematical relations and carried out page-long calculations. But times have changed. For many applications, physicists now prefer to attack their models and equations with the best computers available. The Fermilab theory group became one of the top players in the area of computational physics with the installation of a supercomputer called ACPMAPS in 1989.

Collider Run II at Fermilab's Tevatron officially began on March 1, 2001. Since Tevatron operations resumed in November, 2001, after a two-month shutdown for accelerator and detector upgrades, luminosity has increased more slowly than hoped for. Fermilab has in place a plan to raise the luminosity to the desired levels by the end of 2002.

Researchers from Bell Labs, NEC Research Institute, Inc. and Argonne National Laboratory have created an image of antiferromagnetism within a solid material, using a new technique that could lead to more cost-efficient evolution of advanced magnetic recording materials and technologies. Complete results of the research are published today in Science magazine.

The basic purpose of reactor safety is to protect the public and plant workers from harmful radiation exposure. The goal of modern safety design is to provide this protection by relying on the laws of nature, rather than on engineered systems that require power to operate, equipment to function properly and operators to take correct actions in stressful emergency situations. To achieve this, you have to remove decay heat, contain radioactive materials, and maintain a proper balance between heat generation and heat removal.

In 2003, Argonne scientists will analyze solar wind--single atoms and electrically charged particles from the sun--samples from NASA's Genesis mission in an effort to better understand how the planets formed and how the sun works. If successful, Genesis will become the first mission to return a sample of extraterrestrial material from beyond the moon. These samples will allow a precise measure of the elemental and isotopic composition of our most important star - the sun.

Antimatter is arguably the rarest stuff Mother Nature provides here on earth. Created in high-energy particle collisions, antiparticles quickly disappear by reacting with ordinary matter. Using powerful accelerators, physicists have learned to produce and control tiny amounts of antimatter. Scientists at Fermilab are now taking a new approach to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for antimatter: they will recycle antiprotons.

What are electrons, protons and neutrons, how do we define them, how do they fit into the theory of elementary particle physics, the Standard Model—and how do we use them to explore the subatomic world?

Experimenters at Fermilab's NuTeV (Neutrinos at the Tevatron) experiment measured the ratio of two types of particles—neutrinos and muons—emerging from high-energy collisions of neutrinos with target nuclei.

If we learned anything from the year 2001, it is the impossibility of predicting what the next twelve months will bring. Nevertheless, at least one thing seems certain: 2002 at Fermilab will see unique scientific opportunities and extraordinary challenges for physics at the energy frontier.

It is as translucent as glass. It comes by train, two railcars every week. Fermilab will receive 250,000 gallons of it, enough to fill a 25-meter swimming pool. What is it? Some of the clearest mineral oil available in the country, intended for the MiniBooNE experiment.