While the LHC is currently the highest energy particle accelerator ever built, nothing is forever. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln discusses a new particle accelerator currently under discussion. This accelerator will dwarf the LHC, fully 60 miles around and will accelerate protons to seven times higher energy. The project is merely in the discussion stages and it is a staggering endeavor, but it is the next natural step in our millennium long journey to understand the universe.

Particle accelerators can fire beams of subatomic particles at near the speed of light. The accelerating force is generated using radio frequency technology and a whole lot of interesting features. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln explains how it all works.

In a long line of intellectual triumphs, Einstein’s theory of general relativity was his greatest and most imaginative.  It tells us that what we experience as gravity can be most accurately described as the bending of space itself.  This idea leads to consequences, including gravitational lensing, which is caused by light traveling in this curved space.  This is works in a way analogous to a lens (and hence the name).  In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln explains a little general relativity, a little gravitational lensing, and tells us how this phenomenon allows us to map out the matter of the entire universe, including the otherwise-invisible dark matter.

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The idea of a multiverse (short for multiple universes) can seem absurd. After all, the definition of universe means everything, so what does it mean to have multiple universes? In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln lists a couple possible definitions for a multiverse. The reality in which we live might indeed be a very strange place.

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Big discoveries need big detectors, and Fermilab’s Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is one of the biggest. Fermilab plans to shoot beams of neutrinos and antimatter neutrinos through the Earth from Chicago to western South Dakota. The DUNE experiment will study neutrino interactions in great detail, with special attention on (a) comparing the behaviors of neutrinos vs. antineutrinos, (b) looking for proton decay, and (c) searching for the neutrinos emitted by supernovae. The experiment is being built and should start operations in the mid-to-late 2020s. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln gives us the lowdown on this fascinating project.

The theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) is perhaps the most precisely tested physics theory ever conceived. It describes the interaction of charged particles by emitting photons. The most precise prediction of this very precise theory is the magnetic strength of the electron, what physicists call the magnetic moment. Prediction and measurement agree to 12 digits of precision. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln talks about this amazing measurement.

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Radiation is one of those words that frightens many people. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln explains the known kinds of nuclear radiation and their different properties.

The Standard Model of particle physics treats quarks and leptons as having no size at all. Quarks are found inside protons and neutrons and the most familiar lepton is the electron. While the best measurements to date support that idea, there is circumstantial evidence that suggests that perhaps the these tiny particles might be composed of even smaller building blocks. This video explains this circumstantial evidence and introduces some very basic ideas of what those building blocks might be.

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The idea of time crystals burst across the media, with ludicrous hopes of time travel and ridiculous rumors of time portals at big international labs around the world. The reality of time crystals is a fascinating scientific advance, but doesn’t rise to the level of the hype. Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln explains the truth.

The idea of electric charges and electricity in general is a familiar one to the science savvy viewer. However, electromagnetism is but one of the four fundamental forces and not the strongest one. The strongest of the fundamental forces is called the strong nuclear force and it has its own associated charge. Physicists call this charge “color” in analogy with the primary colors, although there is no real connection with actual color. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln explains why it is that we live in a colorful world.

Traveling faster than light is one of humanity’s dreams. Sadly, modern physics doesn’t cooperate. However there are examples where it really is possible to travel faster than light. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln tells us of these ways in which the universe breaks the ultimate speed limit.

In July of 2012, physicists found a particle that might be the long-sought Higgs boson. In the intervening months, scientists have worked hard to pin down the identity of this newly-found discovery. In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln describes researcher's current understanding of the particle that might be the Higgs. The evidence is quite strong but the final chapter of this story might well require the return of the Large Hadron Collider to full operations in 2015.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity is one of the fascinating scientific advances of the 20th century. Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln has decided to make a series of videos describing this amazing idea. In this video, he lays out what relativity is all about… what is the entire point. And it’s not what you think. It’s not about clocks moving slower and objects shrinking. It’s about… well, you’ll have to watch to see.

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Albert Einstein said that what he wanted to know was “God’s thoughts,” which is a metaphor for the ultimate and most basic rules of the universe.  Once known, all other phenomena would then be a consequence of these simple rules.  While modern science is far from that goal, we have some thoughts on how this inquiry might unfold.  In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln tells what we know about GUTs (grand unified theories) and TOEs (theories of everything).

In 1964, scientists discovered a faint radio hiss coming from the heavens and realized that the hiss wasn’t just noise. It was a message from eons ago; specifically the remnants of the primordial fireball, cooled to about 3 degrees above absolute zero. Subsequent research revealed that the radio hiss was the same in every direction. The temperature of the early universe was uniform to at better than a part in a hundred thousand.

And this was weird. According to the prevailing theory, the two sides of the universe have never been in contact. So how could two places that had never been in contact be so similar? One possible explanation was proposed in 1979. Called inflation, the theory required that early in the history of the universe, the universe expanded faster than the speed of light. Confused? Watch this video as Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln makes sense of this mind-bending idea.

With the discovery of what looks to be the Higgs boson, LHC researchers are turning their attention to the next big question, which is the predicted mass of the newly discovered particles. When the effects of quantum mechanics is taken into account, the mass of the Higgs boson should be incredibly high...perhaps upwards of a quadrillion times higher than what was observed.

In this video, Fermilab's Dr. Don Lincoln explains how it is that the theory predicts that the mass is so large and gives at least one possible theoretical idea that might solve the problem. Whether the proposed idea is the answer or not, this question must be answered by experiments at the LHC or today's entire theoretical paradigm could be in jeopardy.

In the video, Dr. Lincoln alludes to a more complex equation than the one mentioned on screen. The correct equation is given in an article he wrote for NOVA: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/b....logs/physics/2013/02

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The subatomic world is governed by three known forces, each with vastly different energy.  In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln takes on the weak nuclear force and shows why it is so much weaker than the other known forces.

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Neutrinos are the most abundant matter particles in the universe, yet very little is known about them. This animation shows how the Department of Energy’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility will power the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment to help scientists understand the role neutrinos play in the universe. DUNE will also look for the birth of neutron stars and black holes by catching neutrinos from exploding stars. More than 800 scientists from 150 institutions in 27 countries are working on the LBNF/DUNE project, including Armenia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA.

Time and again, the study of neutrinos has confounded scientists. One very peculiar property of neutrinos is that only neutrinos with a specific spin configuration have been observed. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln talks about this and lays out the possibility that other types of neutrinos might exist, called right handed or sterile neutrinos. To demonstrate this key point, he even includes some video clips in which children are in mortal danger.

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Scientific research isn’t always simple; in fact, it’s often like rummaging around an unfamiliar room in the dark while wearing a blindfold. Under such conditions, it is inevitable that we have to make guesses about what we encounter. Sometimes those guesses turn out to be right and sometimes they don’t.

This kind of exploratory research is especially true at the very frontier of human understanding and a recent announcement at the LHC about a new form of matter called pentaquarks exemplifies this sort of investigation. The history of the search for pentaquarks involves previous observations that eventually faded under the light of more study. So what’s the deal with this recent announcement? Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln tells us of the history of this interesting possible particle and gives us an idea of what we can expect in the near future.