Clips in Symmetry

This week I get to add another publication to my list of clips when the new Symmetry magazine comes out. Symmetry is a joint publication put out between SLAC and Fermilab, the two largest particle physics labs in the country. It's aimed towards the general public and seeks to explain ideas and theories in simple, easy-to-understand language. But primarily it is aimed towards other scientists to inform them what's happening in the field, and to policy makers to inform them about what goes on at the national labs and the particle physics community.

Whatever the reason or purpose, I think Symmetry is a great magazine. The writing is excellent, it is very informative, and none of the features are too long to finish within 10 minutes. And the artwork is amazing. The photography and layout of the publication makes it fun to flip through.

So while I'm working on editing a feature about poster art at particle physics labs, I've already gotten a couple of short clips in the most recent edition. A few of the stories I wrote for SLAC Today got repurposed in the "Signal to Background" section of the magazine.

This section is a collection of short, quirky stories from different particle physics labs around the world. They're meant to be light and often humorous, to sort of show the human side of the scientists the public often doesn't get to see.

The stories they chose include the one about the physicist who participates in the Russian game show spin-off, the rigging crew at SLAC that wear the same colored helmets, and another I wrote specifically for Symmetry about a pneumatic tube in Canada that shoots radioactive pharmaceuticals to a nearby hospital.

So when you get a chance, check out the online edition, enjoy my shorts, and hopefully take the time to read some of the features to learn a little bit more about particle physics.

P.S. – The "60 seconds" section is excellent, and a truly maddening Sudoku was published last month that I still haven't managed to finish…