The only time I ever hear anything from the place is lately and it is because of all the debate for it's continued funding. Well it has just been announced that it will no longer be funded by the DOE (Department Of Energy).
Never mind the fact that the results of the collisions and the work they do there allows physicists to study the structure of matter.
Scientists working there had hoped to at least keep it open for at least three more years. They have started a renewed search for the Higgs Boson (The God Particle). Finding this particle would allow scientists to explain how matter gains mass and how things come to be. Basically it would allow them to fully understand almost everything about the most widely accepted model of physics. Needless to say, this is very important.
So important, it is one of the major reasons billions were spent to build a competing collider in Europe called the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The 17 mile loop competes with Fermilab for the same results and they just recently "turned it on".
They have high hopes that they will find what they are looking for out in Europe, which is one reason they feel they do not fully need Fermilab. Which will put alot of scientists out of work. Most will find jobs elsewhere, but some will end up working in the community as well. It all depends on their situation. A few years ago while I delivered pizza to earn some extra cash one of my co-workers was a astro-physicist who worked at Fermilab. Tell me that wasn't weird.
Hopefully we may find ways to keep Fermilab open. I have doubts, but there are movements underway to try and fight the closing. I don't think they will have any success but we can all hope. It would be a beneficial thing to keep both colliders open I think. They can each work on similar aspects of specific theories. They shouldn't need to directly compete.
However much sense that may make to keep both open, they have already considered that option I am sure. But they are still trying to fight the closing. They have made many historic discoveries at Fermilab. Now the LHC will continue where the Tevatron will leave off. As the studies begin to generate results they will show why the LHC was the right choice and I am sure they are correct. Just a sad thing to see something that I have lived next to for so many years close down. Not sure what will become of the land and facility but whatever they decide it should be rather interesting.
