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Soudan Underground Physics Lab

I am the Outreach Education Coordinator here at the Soudan Underground Physics Lab. We are trying to share the research that is underway here with a larger segment of the population. We have two major areas of research one is a study of neutrinos and the other is a search for Dark Matter. I am affiliated with the University of Minnesota which is playing a major role in the research here at Soudan. What we are doing is sharing the research with groups in Minnesota. I am concentrating on the Northeastern Minnesota area but quite willing to take the presentation to other areas of the state. I would probably have to get clearance to go to the far corners of the state, but we could probably arrange for someone from the university to make a presentation in the metro area. The research is all pure research in that we are not looking for a solution to a particular problem. The neutrino study involves the Fermilab in Batavia, IL shooting neutrinos from there to the detector here at Soudan. The neutrinos in the travel from there to here change a little and in doing so have proven that they have some mass. We are not sure how much mass but there has to be some. The experiment is being extended to a new detector north of here on the Ash River Trail which will be about 50 feet wide 50 feet high and about 300 feet long. The chamber that it is in has been blasted out of bedrock and now is being lined with concrete. The other major experiment is a search for Dark Matter, CDMS or Cryogenic Dark Matter Search. The experiment in this case is trying to identify the particles that are making up 96% of the mass of the universe. The particular search here is focused on the identification of WIMPS, or Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. The experiment in this case is conducted at a temperature of 0.05 degrees Kelvin and we are hoping to have even one significant event. There is not a fee or travel expense of any type associated with the presentation. I have all of the equipment that I will need except a screen or wall to show a power point display. Our grant runs for another eight months so it is a fairly long term commitment of the part of the funding. Our website is www.soudan.umn.edu ; you can respond to this email or call 218-753-6611 for more information. Outreach Education Coordinator, Allen Lipke

Type: Speaker

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Requested Date: 6/7/2010

Due Date: 2/28/2011

School District: University of Minnesota

Number of Students:

Zip Code: 55782