Particle accelerator

Fermilab physicists have developed a next-generation magnet that can generate a magnetic field with great efficiency, and used it to demonstrate what they describe as the world’s fastest ramping rates for particle accelerator magnets.

If you were fascinated by marble runs as a kid, then you'll want to take a look at a new machine created by artist Niklas Roy. The Pneumatic Sponge Ball Accelerator sucks foam balls though transparent tubes at high speed, and users can control the direction of the airflow.

The close of 2013 gives us an excellent opportunity, though satiated with holiday feasts, to look back on a year that has been filled with scientific accomplishment.

The largest single piece of experimental scientific apparatus is CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The LHC's ATLAS detector, one of two that discovered the Higgs boson, has a control building adorned with a magnificent mural. How it happened is a fascinating glimpse at the crossroads of art and science.

The European Spallation Source (ESS), a new particle accelerator to be built in Lund, Sweden, has been in the works for years, but, following the result of a design competition, we now have a fairly good idea of how the thing will look.