Tour Locations | ARCHIVED [30/08/19]: Scenery and Science in a Physics Wonderland
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LOCATION 1
Wilson Hall
Hello, and welcome to Fermilab, a particle physics lab, where we study some of the smallest and weirdest things in existence. We are a national lab supported by the United States Department of Ener...
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LOCATION 2
Kautz Road
When safe, continue straight through the intersection to drive past the flag poles
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LOCATION 3
Rd. A / Discovery Road
Turn left here and continue driving, keeping the lake on your left.
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LOCATION 4
Tevatron Ring
Turn right here at the end of the pond onto Pine Street.
[2 SECOND PAUSE]
After turning, look to your right. You’ll see a large earthen berm that curves away. The Tevatron tunnel sits twenty ...
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LOCATION 5
IARC and Tractricious
The blue and white building ahead on your right is the Illinois Accelerator Research Center. It's a state of the art facility for developing particle accelerator technology. The focus is on partner...
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LOCATION 6
Industrial Buildings
Keep an eye out for the bison herd on the left, and feel free to pull into a viewing location and pause the tour if you’d like to hang out with them.
A bit more about the Industrial Building Com...
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LOCATION 7
Dog training area
Continue straight through the intersection ahead.
On your right, just past the intersection, is the Fermilab Dog Training Area, where you can bring your pet for an off-leash training session in ...
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LOCATION 8
History and Science
The lab’s official birthday is June 15, 1967, but its story begins before that. There was a desire for a truly national lab dedicated to physics, and a number of sites around the country were propo...
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LOCATION 9
Right on Sauk Circle
Turn right here, into Sauk Circle. Then continue straight to the end of the road.
Ahead is Lake Law, a public area where you can put your fishing license to use, take a walk, or look for one of ...
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LOCATION 10
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LOCATION 11
Lake Law 2
Feel free to pause the tour, stretch your legs, and look for some birds, if you’d like.
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LOCATION 12
Lake Law 3
To continue the tour, just turn around and make a left back onto Batavia Road, which will lead us back towards the Dog Training Area.
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LOCATION 13
Turn left onto Batavia
Turn left here and continue driving.
Keep an eye out for Wilson Hall, which you should see peeking above the trees. Researchers in Wilson Hall and around the lab work on all sorts of different t...
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LOCATION 14
Stick Right on Batavia Road
Head through this intersection and keep to the right to head toward the barn.
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LOCATION 15
Bison
Perhaps the best-known attraction at Fermilab is the herd of bison, often mistakenly called buffalo. Robert Wilson brought the first North American Bison to Fermilab in 1969. Today’s herd averages ...
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LOCATION 16
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LOCATION 17
Proton Pagoda
Coming up on the right is the Proton Pagoda.
It was once a control room and part of Fermilab’s proton area, where some fixed target experiments were conducted. Fixed target experiments are diff...
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LOCATION 18
Feynman Computing Center
When you come to the end of this road you’ll see the Feynman Computing Center, a curved white building behind a fountain.
Fermilab had the third website in the world and continues to push the b...
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LOCATION 19
Right on Rd B
Now, let’s make a right at the intersection onto Road B. Head over the hill. I'll meet you at the intersection coming up.
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LOCATION 20
Master Substation, Power Poles and Geodesic Dome
Turn right onto Discovery Road.
On the left you’ll see Fermilab’s Master Substation, which provides power for Fermilab and our energetic experiments. Recent upgrades revitalized the 45-year-old...
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LOCATION 21
Turn right onto Eola
Turn right at the stop sign onto Eola Road.
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LOCATION 22
Turn right onto Road C
Turn right again at Road C, and then make an immediate right into the parking lot. You can park and take a minute to check out the bubble chamber up close!
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LOCATION 23
Bubble Chamber Parking Lot
Pull into a parking space and let me tell you about the Bubble Chamber.
[2 SECOND PAUSE]
This bubble chamber was commissioned in 1973, making it the largest liquid hydrogen bubble chamber in ...
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LOCATION 24
Bubble Chamber Parking Lot 2
When you’re done at the bubble chamber, retrace your steps to make a left out of the parking lot and a left at the stop sign. This will lead us back to Discovery Road, the same way we got here.
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LOCATION 25
Meson Area, FTBF
Turn left back onto Discovery Road and continue driving back the way you came.
Here at Fermilab, we explore the Standard Model, our basic picture of particles physics. We’ve already talked abou...
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LOCATION 26
Discovery Road South
Continue straight at the intersection, following the road as it curves slightly to the right and becomes Discovery Road South.
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LOCATION 27
Acqua Alle Funi
Ahead you'll see the 32-foot-tall Acqua Alle Funi sculpture, rising out of the pond. This hyperbolic obelisk is another one of Robert Wilson’s creations. He apprenticed himself to the masterwelder ...
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LOCATION 28
Right on Pine Street
Now, let’s take a right onto Pine Street West and head through the woods.
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LOCATION 29
Prairie, Interpretive Trail
These woods are just one part of Fermilab’s massive natural areas restoration project. The lab also cultivates oak savannah, scrub brush, and prairie.
Ahead on the right is a pull-off for the M...
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LOCATION 30
Broken Symmetry
The three-pronged Broken Symmetry sculpture was created from the deckplate of the USS Princeton aircraft carrier and installed in 1978. It represents the notions of symmetry and symmetry breaking t...
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LOCATION 31
Return on Pine Street
Let’s turn left before the guard shack and make another left to return along Pine Street.
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LOCATION 32
Neutrino experiments
Continue straight.
Ahead on your right is a spiral-shaped building that provides access to the underground areas more than 300 feet below the surface.
There, you can find the NOvA experiment ...
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LOCATION 33
Right to Lederman Science Center
At the guard shack ahead, you’ll need to show your ID again. Then we’ll take an immediate right into the parking lot to visit the Lederman Science Center.
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LOCATION 34
Lederman Science Center
We're now at the Lederman Science Center, and the end of our tour, so find a place to park while I tell you a little more about it.
This space is designed for K-12 educators and students, and is...