Revisit the lab’s most-clicked stories, featuring top news, research and people
It’s been a big year for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The laboratory had launched new initiatives, celebrated many new award-winners and cited many great new results from research conducted by our staff and more than 1,850 scientific users.
Now, as we come to the end of 2023, join us for a look back at the stories our audiences found most inspiring this year.
2023 Most-Clicked Countdown
#5 – Critical Decision-3A Clears Way toward Standard Model Test
In the spring, DOE greenlighted the MOLLER experiment to begin procurement of key components. The MOLLER collaboration formed in 2006, and more than 100 physicists from more than 30 institutions are now involved. MOLLER will test physicists’ basic understanding of our world: the Standard Model of physics. This theory describes the fundamental particles and four forces at work in our universe.
#4 – Ringing Protons Give Insight into Early Universe
In the middle of the last century, physicists found that protons can resonate, much like a ringing bell. Advances over the last three decades have led to 3D pictures of the proton and significant insight into its structure in its ground state. But little is known about the 3D structure of the resonating proton. In July, an experiment announced the results of a study that shed new light on this phenomenon. The result added one more puzzle piece to the vast picture of the chaotic, nascent universe that existed just after the Big Bang.
#3 – Charming Experiment Finds Gluon Mass in the Proton
One of the biggest mysteries of the proton is the origin of its mass. It turns out that the proton’s measured mass doesn’t just come from its physical building blocks, its three so-called valence quarks. It also comes from the quarks' movements and from the strong force energy that glues the quarks together. In March, scientists pinpointed the location of the matter generated by the strong force as it binds quarks together.
#2 – Jefferson Lab Establishes Biomedical Research & Innovation Center
Better methods for detecting and treating disease. Groundbreaking technologies for monitoring and blocking radiation. New techniques for removing forever chemicals from wastewater. These research and development activities and more are being pursued by innovators at Jefferson Lab. In March, these diverse efforts were brought together to form the lab’s new Biomedical Research & Innovation Center (BRIC).
#1 – Jefferson Lab to Lead $300+ Million High Performance Data Facility Hub
In October, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of Jefferson Lab as the lead for its new High Performance Data Facility Hub. Jefferson Lab has partnered with DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to form a joint project team for HPDF, a $300-500 million computing and data infrastructure resource that will provide transformational capabilities for data analysis, networking and storage for the nation’s research enterprise. It will provide researchers with tools, methods and technologies to maximize the scientific value of data.
Contact: Kandice Carter, Jefferson Lab Communications Office, 757-269-7263, kcarter@jlab.org