Anne Fortman - "How to Save a Particle Detector"

SLAM Finalist 3Q4 - Anne Fortman

How did you initially get interested in science? 

I didn’t find my interest for science until college. Up until then, I really wanted to become an English teacher and write fiction on the side. Right after my freshman year, the professor of my Intro to Physics course offered me the chance to spend the summer at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois doing research in high energy physics, and I decided to go. I was delighted to meet a vibrant community of physicists who were wildly excited about the possibility of finding “new physics,” a phrase I had never considered before. After that summer I changed my major to physics and have loved particle physics ever since.

What is your favorite place at the Lab?

The outdoors! My research group has several avid runners who like to run through the lab site together from Building 50 up to Strawberry Gate, down the hill and back up through Blackberry Gate. It can be a challenging run, but I love to see the turkeys, the deer, and (of course) the gorgeous views of the Bay Area.

Most memorable moment at the Lab? 

Learning how to use the machines in the machine shop in Building 50 was a fantastic memory for me. I had always wanted to learn how to start with just a drawing and bring a useful object into being– it feels like a magical power. The bandsaw and drill press were my favorites to work with. I remember that when I finally got the authorization to use the machine shop on my own I couldn’t stop smiling all day!

What are your hobbies or interests outside the Lab?


I’ve been getting into reading fiction again recently. It’s a great excuse to lay on the couch for hours with my cat on my lap! I also like to run with friends, and lately I have been exploring group exercise classes offered at the gym. Zumba and hip hop are my favorites so far!

Anne's Script - "How to Save a Particle Detector"

How would you figure out what the universe is made of? 

You might want to use the so-called Large Hadron Collider- a circular machine 17 miles around located near Geneva, Switzerland. It smashes protons together– and in the mess of particles flying out, there might be undiscovered particles that tell us something new about the universe. We can’t let them get away! That’s why international teams of physicists build machines called “detectors” around the collision point. A detector is like a camera, recording traces of particles so we can study them.

The collider is about to get a powerful upgrade, and the detectors we have now will be completely overwhelmed. So we need to build new detectors.

One team, named ATLAS, is building a detector made of thousands of square silicon sensors like these. Each square is divided into over 5000 tiny strips, and each strip can detect passing particles. Without this detector, we cannot effectively study particles at the new collider! 

This detector is currently breaking. Catastrophically.

The problem has to do with temperature. We need to run this detector cold, around -30 F. When materials get cold, they contract, and some contract more than others. The sensor is built like a sandwich of materials, with electronics, mostly made of copper, glued down to silicon. Here’s the catch: copper contracts more than silicon when cold.

The force of the copper contracting pulls on the silicon through the stiff glue between them, and the silicon bends and bends, until it cracks. This is REALLY bad! When the silicon cracks, the entire sensor is unusable, and we miss any particles passing through!

So I am working with a global task force to redesign this detector! We tried remaking the electronics with less copper– but the silicon still cracked. We tried spacing them out more to disperse the stress– still cracked. Then we added more support underneath the silicon, and… cracked! 

Now we are left with one potential solution. The idea is to place a new layer of soft glue between the copper and the stiff glue, like adding mayo to this sandwich. So now when the copper contracts, the force should be absorbed by the squishy glue underneath and won’t bend the silicon.

We’ve started building detector pieces with the new soft glue. And we’ve tested them colder than ever, -95 degrees, colder than the south pole in winter. And we found… not a single crack!

We have thousands of pieces left to build, BUT this is a successful proof of concept! At long last we have a promising solution to the cracking problem, so this detector will be ready to track down new particles and answer the big questions about our universe.

Dennis Noll - "Now on Sale: Our Universe"

SLAM Finalist 3Q4- Dennis Noll

How did you initially get interested in science?
Honestly, how could you not be interested in science? To me, science is like a vast, ever-growing tree of knowledge. Each discovery adds a new branch, expanding in a new direction. Some branches grow thick and strong, supporting countless other ideas and breakthroughs. The more we learn, the more this tree flourishes. To me, this three is the most beautiful and powerful thing humanity has ever created - that insight drew me in and keeps me passionate to this day.

What is your favorite place at the Lab?
I’m hesitant to share this because it might just become a tourist magnet! But my favorite spots are the terraces on the bay side of Building 50. Some of them come with a whiteboard, so it’s the perfect blend of productivity and inspiration. That’s what I call working with a view!


Most memorable moment at the Lab?
For me, it's the everyday moments that the Lab turns into experiences to remember. I especially enjoy the collaboration and brainstorming sessions with my colleagues - there are so many clever people here, and everyone is extending the boundaries of what is possible! It’s these personal connections that really push my research forward and make every day memorable.


What are your hobbies or interests outside the Lab?
The Bay Area has so much to offer! I especially love hiking through the redwoods and enjoying great food with friends in the vibrant cities. Whether it’s exploring nature or discovering new spots to eat, there’s always something exciting to do.


Dennis' Script- "Now on Sale: Our Universe"

Let me take you back to your childhood. It is summer, the vacation just started, your best friend came over. You’re sitting on the carpet in the living room, and have a big box of LEGO bricks all over the place. Just a few simple bricks and your imagination - enough to construct whole worlds.

Little did your younger self know this is actually how the world works. And I am not talking about molecules or atoms, but about something much smaller, much more fundamental - elementary particles. Up until now, humanity has found 17 of these elementary building bricks, and they make up everything we see on this planet.

The catch? When we look above the boundaries of earth, at the rotational speed of galaxies or the expansion of the universe we see that these bricks only describe 5% of the energy content of the universe. Imagine having access to only 5% of the box - your imagination would be severely limited and so is our current understanding of the universe.

So how do we find the other 95% Dennis? I am glad your curious inner child asks!

At the beginning of the 20th century, a smart man told us E = mc2. So if we put enough energy at one point in space, we can actually create new mass, and amongst it maybe new particles.

That is why we built powerful particle colliders that smash protons with almost the speed of light. Then, we capture the newly created particles with giant cameras: 50 meters long, 25 meters in diameter, and - fasten your seatbelts - making 40 million pictures each second.

More than 10000 people around the world run these experiments. Around 50 here at Berkeley lab. My group and I specialized in Artificial Intelligence to analyze the massive amount of complex pictures.

Our newest Approach uses two AIs, Alice and Bob. First, we teach Alice which pictures can be created from the 17 particles. Just like ChatGPT knows what a box of LEGO looks like when I asked it to draw one for this talk. Then, we let Bob autonomously compare Alice's predictions with the experimental observations. As the only difference that he can find are things missing in our model, Bob is directly looking for the remaining 95%.

In the past, we have shown that Alice and Bob do a great job together and they already started to explore places that nobody looked before. However, as all AI methods, Alice and Bob are very data-hungry, and we need more pictures to potentially find something.

At this very moment, the collider is running and our detector is taking more and more data. Once the data taking is finished we will invite all our friends, sit down on the carpet in the living room, dump the box of LEGO onto the ground, and start looking for particles beyond our imagination.



Satya Gontcho A Gontcho - "The Universe: The Oldest Movie"

SLAM Finalist 3Q4 - Satya Gontcho A Gontcho


How did you initially get interested in science? 

I like to understand why things are the way they are. Come to think of it, I don’t think I could find a bigger challenge than figuring out why our Universe is as it is. 


What is your favorite place at the Lab?

Anywhere with a view!


Most memorable moment at the Lab? 

The very first day I set foot at the Lab, in April 2012, as a foreign exchange student. I stayed for 4 months to complete my master’s thesis and the experience I had at the time set the standard for what mentoring a junior scientist should look like. 


What are your hobbies or interests outside the Lab?

Outside of my work at the Lab, I am passionate about empowering junior scientists and engaging in science communication. In particular, I use an  interdisciplinary approach blending storytelling, artistry (with my background as an Odissi dancer) and scientific inquiry to share the story of the universe's evolution and how humanity relates to it. 


Mauricio Ayllon Unzueta - "To the Moon...but not back"

SLAM Finalist 3Q4- Mauricio Ayllon Unzueta


How did you initially get interested in science?

I always admired scientists’ way of thinking critically about the world. Of course, I liked figuring things out and learning how the Universe works, but I think I was more drawn to the possibility of shaping my brain to solve complex problems methodically.


What is your favorite place at the Lab?

I like the wooden terrace in front of B15. It’s quiet, and the view is amazing


Most memorable moment at the Lab?

My last day as a PhD student after achieving all my goals.


What are your hobbies or interests outside the Lab?

I love playing and watching soccer! I also enjoy climbing, hiking, and outdoor activities. I also travel every time I have the chance.


Lisa Schlueter - "Why Our Universe Shouldn't Exist"

SLAM Finalist 3Q4- (Lisa Schlueter)

How did you initially get interested in science? 

I became interested in science thanks to my father, a biologist, who inspired my curiosity about nature from a young age. I was always fascinated by understanding the core of how things work. This curiosity grew with support from my teacher in school, who encouraged me to explore and learn more.

 

What is your favorite place at the Lab?

I love having my afternoon coffee on one of the balconies of building 50.

 

Most memorable moment at the Lab? 

A memorable moment was a thrilling bike ride down the hill, interrupted by a flock of turkeys. Luckily, my brakes worked just in time!

 

What are your hobbies or interests outside the Lab?

Outside the lab, I enjoy spending time outdoors, exploring national parks, adventuring in the backcountry, and scuba diving.

Lisa's Script - "Why Our Universe Shouldn't Exist"

You, your pets, and your favorite TV show, shouldn’t exist. In fact, our whole universe SHOULD NOT EXIST. 

Why is that? Well as far as we know, we should have all annihilated with antimatter. Sounds like science fiction; but antimatter actually exists.

The world around you – including yourself – is made from particles. An antiparticle is something like the mirror image of a particle: it has the same mass but the opposite charge. 

Once upon a time in the early universe, every single particle still had an antiparticle counterpart. Romantic, right? But there is drama!!!

Well, when a particle meets its antiparticle soulmate, they annihilate and release a large burst of energy. 

But wait, doesn’t that mean that once all particles and antiparticles pairs had found their each other, there should have been nothing left but energy. 

This is obviously NOT what happened. Let me tell you, we just stumbled on one of the biggest questions in physics: Why the heck are we still here? 

The answer is …. we don’t know. 

But, in my research I’m trying to figure it. 

There must be some kind of process that created a few more particles than antiparticles. These additional particles did not annihilate - they survived - and make up the universe as we know it today.

Our goal is to proof experimentally that such a process exists. By us, I mean Berkeley Lab as part of an international collaboration called LEGEND. 

We search for a special nuclear decay of an element called Germanium. For the experts, I’m talking about the Germanium-76 isotope. 

If this decay exists, then it would create 2 electrons and ZERO antiparticles. The discovery of such an imbalance would give us a key to solve the mystery of our existence.

We haven’t managed to observe this decay yet, because it is extremely rare. That’s why we are building a huge experiment with 1 ton of Germanium. But even if you let that sit for 5 years, you only expect that 2 nuclei have decayed. Our job is to make sure that we don’t miss these 2 decays!

Now at the end you still don’t know why you exist…but hey, at least we’re into this together and get the chance to figure it out!