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Mark Palmer brings CesrTA research to the ILC

Taking on white papers and electron clouds, Mark Palmer brings his own energy to the CesrTA programme.

by Leah Hesla

With his feet firmly planted on Cornell university ground and certain clouds permanently in his head, Mark Palmer is a key figure in the ILC's battle against an unwanted phenomenon called electron cloud. Learn more about him and his work in this profile.

Around the World

A niobium company visit in Ningxia, China

by Min Zhang

On 18 February 2011, a delegation of Global Design Effort representatives visited the Orient Tantalum Industry Co. Ltd (OTIC), Ningxia, a leading niobium company in China. The group consisted of ILC project managers Akira Yamamoto and Marc Ross, together with Robert Rimmer of Thomas Jefferson Laboratory in the US, accompanied by Asian Linear Collider Steering Committee Chairman Jie Gao and ILC group member Jiyuan Zhai of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Beijing.

Director's Corner

Progress in the nanometre world

Today's issue features a Director's Corner from Toshiaki Tauchi, a member of the EC.

by Toshiaki Tauchi

Two periods dedicated to beam tuning and beam size studies at KEK's Accelerator Test Facility ATF2, built to test the ILC's final focus system, have brought researchers a step closer to achieving the ILC's demanding beam parameters. Executive Committee member Toshiaki Tauchi reports on the studies.

Image of the week

LHC back after winter break

Image: CERN

The operators of the Large Hadron Collider LHC at CERN switched their machine back on last weekend. First low-energy beams circulated on Sunday morning, and the team is now working on a series of tests for various systems of the accelerator before they can send high-energy beams into collision in the detectors.

In the News

  • From Wired
    22 February
    ‘God particle’ may not exist if no evidence found before 2013
    If the Large Hadron Collider does not prove the existence of the Higgs boson in the next two years, physicists say the entire Standard Model theory of subatomic structure must be reassessed.
  • From Physics World
    22 February
    Will the LHC find supersymmetry?
    The first results on supersymmetry from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been analysed by physicists and some are suggesting that the theory may be in trouble.
  • From Scientific American
    21 February
    Budget crunch could prematurely shutter Tevatron
    Now things are looking even bleaker for Fermilab and the Tevatron. The Fermilab Neighborhood blog reports that lab director Pier Oddone said at an all-hands meeting February 15 that budget cuts proposed in the House of Representatives would force a number of drastic measures at Fermilab.
  • From Physics Today
    18 February
    House, White House spending plans are poles apart on energy and other R&D programs
    Just as President Obama sent a budget request for fiscal year 2012 to Capitol Hill that includes big increases for energy R&D and other federal basic research programs, House Republicans tacked in the opposite direction, submitting a bill that would chop billions of dollars in spending from R&D programs in the current year.