What do you know about Fermilab?

Question

I am interested in what the average person knows about Fermilab, if anything. I have an idea for a story and am wondering what is the general perception of Fermilab? Thanks everyone in advance! ;-)

Answer 1

i used to live right across the street from fermilab. they have an acclerator ring that is used for smashing atoms, they have a herd of bison. ive heard that the atomic bomb was developed there. i have fished there many times and i have caught a two-mouthed bluegill there and i saw a bull frog with what appeared to be 2 extra legs growin out of its back. security is very loose, considering it is property of the federal government. ive ridden 4-wheelers and snowmobiles on the property (illegally) but they never even knew. according to an newspaper article i saw fermilab is in financial trouble and most of its operations will be shut down in the next couple years. i think that there is more to fermilab though, i think that there might be some sort of underground facilities that might not be science-related. i think that there might be some sort of military operations (underground missile site perhaps) as i have seen some really strange stuff going on at night.

i realize scientists work around the clock in the main building, but i saw a convoy of military trucks go in to the property at night-time with tarps covering whats on their trailers and they came out empty.

Answer 2

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located in Batavia near Chicago, Illinois, (Google Sat Map) is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics, operated for the Department of Energy by the Universities Research Association (URA). URA is a consortium of 90 leading research oriented universities primarily in the United States, with members also in Canada, Japan, and Italy. It is a part of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.

Fermilab's Tevatron is a landmark particle accelerator; in fact, at 6.28 kilometers in circumference, it is the world's highest energy particle accelerator. In 1995, both the CDF and D0 (detectors which utilize the Tevatron) experiments announced the discovery of the top quark. In addition to high energy collider physics, Fermilab is also host to a number of smaller fixed target experiments and neutrino experiments, such as MiniBooNE (Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment) and MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search). The MiniBooNE detector is a 40-foot (12-meter) diameter sphere which contains 800 tons of mineral oil lined with 1520 individual phototube detectors. An estimated 1 million neutrino events are recorded each year. The MINOS experiment uses Fermilab's NuMI (Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam, which is an intense beam of neutrinos that travels 735km through the Earth to the Soudan Mine in Minnesota.

In the public realm, Fermilab is host to many cultural events, not only public science lectures and symposiums, but classical and contemporary music concerts and arts galleries, when the Homeland Security Advisory System permits. Currently the site is open to all visitors from dawn to dusk who present valid photo identification.

A small herd of American bison, started at the lab's founding, lives on the grounds symbolizing Fermilab's presence on the frontier of physics and its connection to the American prairie. Some fearful locals believed at first that the bison were introduced in order to serve as an alarm if and when radiation at the laboratory reached dangerous levels, but they were assured that this claim had no merits by Fermilab.[1]

Asteroid 11998 Fermilab is named in honor of the laboratory.

Answer 3

It is one of the highest energy particle accelerators in the world and located near Chicago somehere. It is constructed in a circular pattern about 4 miles in circumference(I think).
High energy particle research is conducted here and the research has contributed to the discovery of particles that make up the atom.

Answer 4

I've never heard of it, but it sounds pretty interesting.