Argonne National Laboratory

The first thing we all noticed about Argonne National Laboratory is the extensive security. Pulling into the parking lot we saw fences with barbed wire on them and guards waiting at the entrance. We had to show our IDs to get a badge to enter the facility. At first we were kind of creeped out but eventually saw that the facility was actually very nice. Our tour guide was a man by the name of David Hooper. He has been working at Argonne for three decades, starting out as an intern while in high school. He is very knowledgeable about mostly everything that is going on around the lab.  After a short informational talk and safety video we were ready for our tour!

After going through more security, we were on our way. The first stop on the tour was the Wakefield Accelerator. This accelerator is specifically designed for research which requires intense, short pulse electron beams. We have heard and learned a lot about accelerators so we were very excited to see the other facilities Argonne has to offer. Unlike Fermilab, Argonne does not only do high energy physics but also a wide variety of different research subjects.

The next stop was the Advanced Powertrain Research Facility.  Many of us thought this place was the neatest place at Argonne, including myself. In this facility, car manufacturers are allowed to bring some of their cars and test different specifications of the car. In the facility they can test for gas emissions, gas mileage, how the car runs in different temperatures, and a lot of other things! I thought the most interesting thing they were researching at this facility is the electrical car and charging station. They have a wireless charging station that looks like a little garage. All someone has to do is drive the car into the garage and voila it’s charging!

The third facility we visited was the Advanced Photon Source. The APS provides intense x-ray beams to many scientists from around the world. The experiments being done there range from material sciences to physics and even geology. The APS has 40 different sectors for the experiments to take place. The amount of planning and technology that was put into the accelerator is just amazing.

After the APS we had lunch!

Lunch was amazing as usual but we had to get back to science! The next stop was the Nuclear Energy Exhibit. This was not an experiment but more of a museum. In this exhibit we learned about nuclear energy and the role that Argonne had in the infamous Manhattan Project.

We ended the day with seeing their huge supercomputer! They need a supercomputer to work through all of the data the facility is bringing in. We all thought it was amazing and super neat but Adrian was in heaven. He would like to work on a supercomputer someday so actually seeing one in person really excited him as it should.

The day at Argonne was wonderful! We had a great time learning about the science and experiments that were being done there. It is definitely something we will never forget!

   - Dakotah Simpson, Lead, SD 

Fermilab - Day 3

Our third day at Fermilab was definitely the day we had all been waiting for.  We started off our day with a group photo right in front of the iconic Robert Rathbun Wilson Hall, permanently leaving our mark in Fermilab history as the 2013 Davis-Bahcall Scholars.  After our photo shoot, we moved to a classroom setting where we met Dr. Liz Buckley-Geer, who talked with us about her “Dark Energy Survey.”  During the talk, we learned a lot about dark energy, which in summary I would say is essentially “We know nothing about dark energy.”  The most interesting thing, I would say, was Dr. Buckley-Geer’s project which is called the Dark Energy Survey (DES) in which they use large digital cameras in Chile to measure galaxies and look for the gravitational effects of dark energy.

After our talk came the most anticipated moment of our three day experience at Fermilab, which was our tour of D0 and the famous Tevatron.  We started off by crawling around the D0 detector, which was unbelievably intricate and stunning to say the least.  Then it was time to go inside the much anticipated Tevatron, which inspired nothing but sheer awe and amazement.  After this inside tour, I was convinced that these machines at Fermilab are some of the greatest feats of human creativity and engineering.

To finish off our final day, we met with two Fermilab scientists.  First, we met with a man named Ralph who is a versatile mechanical engineer at the lab, but is also involved with a new proposed experiment named “Project X,” which is planned to be completed in 2021.  Project X will be a new proton accelerator complex that will provide the world of particle physics with new tools to explore a new frontier in physics.  Next we talked with a physicist names Dr. Don Lincoln who taught us a lot about the career of a physicist at a national laboratory.  Dr. Lincoln actually gave me one fantastic piece of advice to take home at the end of the day.  He told us all that choice of our undergraduate university was not important, and that we don’t need to find the biggest, best, and most expensive college.  What does matter is our choice of graduate school.  If we get the choice, it is far better to choose the most difficult and most challenging school possible with great and innovative research.  Graduate research is the most important tool for our future careers and lives, and that is something that I will not soon forget.

-Eric Roach, Sioux Falls, SD

Notre Dame

It was a dark and stormy morning. Lightning flashed and the Davis Bahcall scholars made the dangerous trek to Notre Dame. (Ok, so it was just lightly sprinkling and it wasn't that scary at all but that doesn't make a cool start to the story.) When we arrived we listened to a lecture on the three accelerators there as well as what they hope to achieve with them. Then we went on a tour of the facility where we saw their most powerful accelerator, Tandem (10 MeV), and also their newest, St. Ana, which was just finished last fall. After the tour, we listened to another lecture about the history of discovering what the sun is burning and then their plans of a new accelerator called DIANA. DIANA is hoped to be a lower power (50 KeV - 1.5 MeV) accelerator that will be 200 times faster than LUNA. If they don't get the funding then they will reconfigure an existing unit. DIANA will be set up in a new area on the 4850 level at SURF. After eating at the campus smorgasbord of restaurants, we listened to a few presentations by some interns, one being Brice Frentz, a former Davis Bahcall scholar. Upon returning, we each gave a presentation on something that intrigued us during the trip through a conference call with Peggy Norris. Our day ended with a four hour drive to Chicago and our last hotel. Tomorrow we will have a free day in Chicago and then Sunday morning we will part ways after a month of learning amazing things, from amazing people, in our little group of equally amazing people. This has been an experience I will not soon forget. Thanks to all who made it possible.

- Daniel Ostraat, Canton, SD

Initial Experience In Rome…Our Journey In a New Culture

                As the airplane began its descent, we all looked out the window and saw the beautiful scenery. It was absolutely breath taking. We were oblivious of the heat we were about to experience. But as we continued towards baggage claim, the immediate feel of hot stagnant air hit us. Without wasting a second, we dismissed the idea of heat because we were determined to get to the hostel and straight into bed. Surprisingly in the Fiumicino Station many big, fat pigeons flew around. The pigeons swooped so low we could feel the breeze from their wings. It was quite scary. Eric kept calling them chickens, which became an inside joke later on.

                Finding Hotel Euro Quiris was an adventure on its own. After 20 minutes of deliberation, we were able to navigate our way through the streets of Rome to our hotel. We passed by many street vendors that offered a variety of items from souvenirs to fruit. A sight we will never forget is all the Fiat cars on the street. Drivers in Rome go so fast that they are unwillingly to stop for pedestrians. When we arrived at the hotel, we realized our room was on the fifth floor and the small sketchy elevator could only fit two people or one person with two suitcases. Most of us lugged our luggage up the stairs, even poor Eric with his previously broken elbows.

                Food in Rome was fantastic. In just one day alone, we had pizza for lunch. I tried the divalgo pizza which was a spicy salami thin-crust pizza.  Then, we went back to the hotel to nap for three hours. For dinner, we went to a small dainty restaurant where we discovered the wonders of carbonara a.k.a. egg and bacon. Oh, the joys of bacon! For dessert, we all had gelato. It was incredible four scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone topped with whipped cream.

As Rose always says, “Grazie Mille!” (Thank you very much)

-Karen Lee, Aberdeen, SD

Frascati Accelerator Laboratory

                The day touring Frascati started out like almost every other day in Italy, hot and humid.  We had to take the metro to get near the lab, and then walk approximately 500 meters before we found the sweet air conditioned buildings there.  We ended up at the café where the food was extremely cheap and we all enjoyed various pastries before going to meet our tour guide.

                First on the tour was a lecture over the different experiments being conducted at Frascati.  These covered a wide range of topics including particle/antiparticle collisions, and measuring gravity waves.  Among the particle/antiparticle experiments are ADA, ADONE, and DAFNE.  ADA was created in 1959 and is the first accelerator to collide electrons and positrons.  ADONE is the upgraded version of ADA, created in 1969.  It was practically just a larger, more powerful version of its previous model.  The next collider, DAFNE, also collides electrons and positrons to create phi particles, which decay into kaons.  These kaons are then used in other projects. 

Next on the tour, we had the privilege to view the inside of DAFNE and the exhibits for ADA and ADONE.  We also were able to visit NAUTILUS, where they are searching for traces of gravitational waves.  They do this by keeping a metal bar at .3 kelvin (-272.7 Celsius) year round, watching for its length to fluxuate around 10^-18 meters after a supernova, which occurs once every 50 years or so.  Last time there was a supernova like this all of the gravitational detectors around the world were turned off for maintenance, and guess what?  They have them ALL off for maintenance AGAIN!  Luckily they have some older detectors on as a backup this time in case an unforeseen supernova occurs again.

Even through all of the insufferable heat of the day, the group managed to learn numerous tidbits about particle accelerators and other aspects of science!

- Zach Crandall, Britton, SD

Roma

On our first day back in Rome after our time in Assergi, we got a ride from the Hotel Giampy to L’Aquila, and took a bus back to the city. We checked into our hostel, which was a little worrying because they lost our reservation, but we settled in just fine. The girls were all in one room, and the guys were split up in two rooms. We didn’t spend long there, and took the Metro to the Colosseum. It was amazing! It’s much bigger in person than one would expect. At its peak, it held around 75,000 people. Now, about 20,000 visit each day. It was very impressive. Such a massive old structure, to survive so long, is nearly unthinkable. We got to go inside and walk around, and we spent quite a while there. We got some things from the gift shop, and walked around the area nearby. There are a lot of other ruins nearby, and we saw as many as we could before the heat and hunger convinced us to call it a night. We took the metro back to the hotel’s area, and ate a nice dinner. It was a warm first night, but we slept pretty well. Rome – Day 2 On our second day when we woke up, we went and got breakfast and cappuccinos from a place just down the street. The coffee in Italy is sooooooo good! A little street bazaar was set up in the street, and we shopped around before we had to go to Frascati. It was shaping up to be another 100 degree day! Or should I say 40 degrees? Once we got back from Frascati, we took the Metro to the Spanish Steps and the shopping nearby. All the shops were really expensive, but it was really fun to shop around. We found all sorts of cool stuff we couldn’t afford. Even a 2,750 euro pen. I got my mom a gift from a little Italian food store we found on accident. It was a really warm day, and we were all pretty tired after our day at the lab, so we took the Metro back to the hotel. We had a nice dinner, and some of us had gelato. It was a great day! Rome – Day 3 Our last day in Rome was an eventful one! We had all day to be tourists! We had breakfast at the now usual place, and set off to visit the Vatican before it got hot. We took the Metro to the general area, and walked about a kilometer to the Vatican. We chose to take a tour, and bypass the wait to get in. We’d also get to see a lot more of the Vatican that way! We went through security with the tour group, and were instantly in another country! We spent about an hour and a half touring all the art and sculptures, as well as the structures in the Vatican. We saw lots of famous art, and even got to go in the Sistine Chapel. Nobody is allowed to take pictures inside it, and a dress code has to be followed. People are also supposed to be silent out of respect. It was surprising to learn that it would be closed to the public in about two years. Too many people have been breaking the rules, so we were very lucky to see it when we did. After the tour, we saw Saint Peter’s Basilica, and explored the Vatican a bit. Eventually, around 1PM, the heat started getting to us, and we took the Metro back to the hotel area, and had a Pinino at Super Pizza Kebab. It sounds weird, but it tastes amazing. We were all tired from the early mornings and heat, so we all took a nap. The girls’ room had air-conditioning, which none of us guys had, so all nine of us were taking a nap in that one room. When we woke up, we went out again to Trevi Fountain. The fountain was beautiful! Some of us made the traditional wishes in the fountain too! Since we were so close, we decided to walk the rest of the way to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was really impressive. It was really interesting how it was just in the middle of town. We ate at a classy restaurant across from the Pantheon, and walked the long walk back to the Metro. It was a great last night in Rome. We had a great time in Rome, but in the morning, it was back to the USA!       - Adrian del Grosso, Huron, SD

Gran Sasso Laboratory

Today was the day we had all been waiting for…we were going to tour Gran Sasso. The interesting lectures about the experiments were becoming reality. Rachel could barely contain herself as we drove towards the lab. (The cappuccino she had at Hotel Giampy probably didn’t help the situation.) She was about to see one of her favorite experiments and she was like a kid in a candy store. However, we were all ecstatic to see what the Gran Sasso Laboratory had in store for us that day. We met Francesco in the morning at our hotel to drive us up to the lab. Although we were about to see some incredible science that day, we became mystified at the sun roof Francesco had on his car. I am sure he thought we were just crazy Americans.

After the sun roof discovery, we took the shuttle. Gran Sasso Laboratory was a lot different from Sanford Underground Lab we realized. Instead of going down a scary shaft for 15 minutes, we had a nice comfortable car ride into the mountain to see the lab. We were given our ONE (just one) item of PPE, a hardhat, and journeyed inside the lab following our tour guide. The first experiments we saw were Opera, Dark Side, and Borexino. We were able to climb a spiraling staircase to get a bird’s eye view of the experiments. The amount of camera flashes as we passed each experiment was almost past the point where it was ridiculous, ALMOST. As our tour guide led us into the cold dripping mountain, we passed the VIP experiment, where of course we had to pause and take a group picture. FOR SCIENCE!

We were lucky to go into the LUNA experiment, an experiment exploring the fusion reactions inside of stars. This was my personal favorite experiment because we were able to see the accelerator close up, as well as speak to the scientist working there at the time.

We concluded our interesting and informative tour at the XENON experiment. We were all amazed at the incredible science and engineering happening at Gran Sasso National Laboratory.

We took the shuttle back to Hotel Giampy, where we decided to attempt to take the tram up the mountain. When I say attempt, I mean we waited for the bus for 30 minutes and decided we wouldn’t make it. So, the Davis-Bahcall scholars began to journey once again through the town of Assergi. Despite taking hundreds of pictures the past two days, we were trying to capture the beauty of the mountains and the town of Assergi. We ended our eventful day with our last dinner at Hotel Giampy, stuffing ourselves with pizza and pasta until we couldn’t eat any more. Tired and exhausted from all the eating, walking, and learning we had accomplished that day, we trudged up the flights of stairs to our beds, disappointed we were already leaving Assergi and Gran Sasso tomorrow. 

- Lia Meirose, Sturgis, SD