Frostbite Theater

Announcer: Frostbite Theater presents... Cold Cuts! No baloney!

Joanna and Steve: Just science!

Joanna: Hi! I'm Joanna!

Steve: And I'm Steve!

Joanna: And we're here at Jefferson Lab's Open House! If you're interested in science, this is the place to be!

Steve: Thousands of people have come to Jefferson Lab today to learn more about science, what we do here and to just have fun!

Joanna: So what are some of the things that people can do when they're here? Probably the biggest highlight is being able to get into our accelerator and our end stations. Normally they are not open to the general public, so it's a special treat to get into those areas.

Steve: Jefferson Lab's accelerator is a machine that accelerates electrons to almost the speed light in order to study the quarks that make-up the protons and neutrons inside the nuclei of atoms.

Joanna: The electron beam is directed into one of three end stations, or experimental halls. Inside the halls, the beam hits a target and the recoiling subatomic particles are measured using huge detectors.

Steve: This is Hall C. During today's Open House, Hall C is being reconfigured for an experiment called QWEAK. That experiment is designed to test the Standard Model of particle physics by taking high precision measurements of the proton's weak charge.

Joanna: A fourth experimental hall, Hall D, is currently under construction. It's part of a 312 million dollar upgrade that will also double the accelerator's operating energy. While you can't tour the Hall D construction site, researchers are on-hand to explain the design of the hall and its detectors.

Steve: In the Machine Control Center, Operators control the electron beam. They use special computer software to monitor over 300,000 control points!

Joanna: Jefferson Lab has a second, smaller accelerator called the Free Electron Laser. Jefferson Lab's FEL is the world's most powerful, highly tunable free electron laser!

Steve: The laser light generated by the FEL is directed into labs where a wide range of experiments take place. Examples include a search for dark matter and the micro-machining seen here in Lab 4.

Joanna: In the Test Lab, we process the main accelerating components of Jefferson Lab's accelerators. These niobium cavities become superconductive at temperatures near absolute zero. Jefferson Lab's superconducting radiofrequency technology drives our accelerators as well as other accelerators in the U.S. and around the world!

Steve: During the Open House, you can create your own accelerator components. You'll learn how accelerators work while creating your very own Open House souvenir!

Joanna: Over in CEBAF Center you can learn more about cryogenics at the ever-popular Liquid Nitrogen Show. There are also hands-on activities from Jefferson Lab's Education group as well as displays and demonstrations from other local science organizations!

Thanks for watching! If you weren't able to make it to this year's Open House, I hope you'll be able to join us for the next one!

Hey! You have goggle face!

Steve: Yeah! Didn't you watch the video montage? They let me do cryo shows!

Joanna: So they're finally letting you play with the liquid nitrogen, huh?

Steve: I know! Finally, right?

Joanna: Hey! Cotton candy!

Steve: Oh, let's go get some!

Joanna: Okay!