The rain it raineth on the just And also on the unjust fella; But chiefly on the just, because The unjust steals the just’s umbrella. Lord Bowen Равно На честных и бесчестных льется Господень дождь с небесной высоты… Но честным все же больше достается! Бесчестные Крадут у них зонты!

The beautiful campus of the University of South Carolina. Two weeks until the finals... 🧪

Oh, no! It was a member of the Five College consortium when I was a student at UMass… 🧪 www.nepm.org/regional-new...

New paper! In this article, we show that new Mu2e experiment at FNAL not only can probe new physics in the mu-to-e interactions with nuclei, it can also probe light axion-like particles in the interactions of muons with atomic shell electrons. 🧪 inspirehep.net/literature/3...

We are introducing Darden Fellows in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of South Carolina: senior physics majors serving as peer mentors to their freshman and sophomore colleagues, sharing advice, etc. Do you have similar initiatives? Do they work well at your institution? 🧪

Why is it happening?🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New paper! In this article for the journal Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science, we review the physics case and technology solutions for the new tau-charm factory. 🧪 inspirehep.net/literature/3...

Antimatter in motion! The BASE experiment at CERN literally put antimatter (92 antiprotons) the antiparticles of a hydrogen nucleus, on a truck and moved it across the CERN site. I find it amusing that, at some point, you could order delivery of antiprotons if your experiment needs them! 🧪

I had a great time at the Astronomy on Tap event at Tin Roof yesterday. There was a very good turnout, a responsive crowd, and good food. People said they will be back for the next installment! 🧪

So, is it more than rumors? Does anyone have something in writing regarding the DOE Nuclear Theory budget? What about High Energy? Why is it happening? The Nuclear Theory budget is tiny compared to other items in the government budget… 🧪

I just received a message from the Department of Energy, my main federal sponsor. There is a strategic realignment that unites the Office of High Energy Physics and the Office of Nuclear Physics. What do you think will happen to the overall level of funding? 🧪

A doubly charming proton-like particle is discovered by LHCb!

New paper! In this article for the journal Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science, we review the latest achievements in the physics of muons. 🧪 inspirehep.net/literature/3...

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!

What does a modern particle experiment look like? Here are some pictures of one under construction: Mu2e at Fermilab. This year, I became a theory member of this experiment. I would like to thank Mu2e co-spokesperson, Robert Bernstein, for showing us the experiment and providing great explanations.🧪

A concortium of private donors gave $1B to CERN! Could Fermilab in the US build a muon collider with the help of private investors? 🧪

Big news from Fermilab! The new FNAL director, Dr. Norbert Holtkamp, will start on 12 January 2026! 🧪

FCC-ee collider, here we go! 🧪

The European Strategy for Particle Physics reaches an important milestone At its 225th session, the #CERN Council received the recommendations for the update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics. Read more: home.cern/news/press-r...

“Federal funding of basic research sparked and sustained the modern technological revolution.” 🧪 cacm.acm.org/federal-fund...

Happy Thanksgiving! (The image was created by ChatGPT. Do you have a policy for using AI at your University?)

New paper! This is a popular discussion of dark stars, the astrophysical objects proposed by D. Spolyar, K. Freese, and P. Gondolo, that I wrote for The Conversation. I appreciate your comments! 🧪 theconversation.com/when-darknes...

Come to study at USC! P.S. That picture of students watching the solar eclipse… the party was organized by the USC Department of Physics and Astronomy! 🧪 www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

New paper! This is a review article prepared for the upcoming Encyclopedia of Particle Physics. 🧪 inspirehep.net/literature/3...

New paper! Together with Arnau Bas i Beneito and Svjetlana Fajfer we study baryon number violating mixing of a Lambda baryon with its antiparticle. We show that indirect constraints on Lambda-antiLambda oscillations preclude its observation at colliders. 🧪 inspirehep.net/literature/3...

For those students in calculus-based physics classes 🧪 youtu.be/P9dpTTpjymE?...

Big news: China will not include Circular Electron-Positron Collider (CEPC), a proposed Higgs factory, in the next five-year plan. According to the article, “China will consider other large science projects […] including a proposed Super Tau–Charm Facility” - a good news for flavor physics. 🧪

Harvard is hit hard… 🧪 www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Today, October 22, is International Wombat Day! Happy IWD! Let me remind you that wombat-related research led to an IgNobel prize in 2019 improbable.com/2021/07/23/t... 🧪

Note that physics is NOT among those… www.visualcapitalist.com/the-most-und...

Next week is the Nobel week! Let’s speculate on who might get the Physics prize this year? My pick: Aharonov and Berry 🧪

A cool car that I saw in Germany. You can park everywhere - and if there is no parking spot available, you just put it in your backpack!

Our two brand new Technology-Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) labs are (almost) ready to welcome new students next week! We use them to teach Studio Physics at the University of South Carolina 🧪

Nuclear reactor on the Moon! 🧪

Is it the name of a cat or the name of a particle physics experiment? forms.gle/f3mGxKjt6jAe...

Europe is wooing American researchers with funding as the Trump administration cancels grants 🧪 t.co/EvQ9P6AmPf

Is this one of the meteors from the Bootid Meteor Shower? What do you think? 🧪 www.wltx.com/article/tech...

The 2025 SLAC Summer Institute is online only? Is this change for this year or a permanent move? Curious as a 1996 SSI participant and a big fan… 🧪 indico.slac.stanford.edu/event/9605/o...

The 8-point vision from the Elementary Particle Physics review panel from the National Academies: muon collider and FCC 🧪

“The latest experimental value of the magnetic moment of the muon from the Fermilab experiment is: aμ = (g-2)/2 (muon, experiment) = 0.001 165 920 705 +- 0.000 000 000 114(stat.)+- 0.000 000 000 091(syst.)” Amaing experimental precision! Also consistent with the SM… 🧪 news.fnal.gov/2025/06/muon...

Leinweber Foundation’s greatest gift to theoretical physics: $90M to five institutes of theoretical physics at Michigan, U of Chicago, UC Berkeley, IAS, and MIT 🧪 www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

This does not sound good, if true… what is the rational behind killing one of the most successful enterprises in this country - and I mean, science? 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

While €500M is not that much in general, if directed towards young professors, it can drain the US talent pool. 🧪 www.reuters.com/science/eus-...

Here's an updated look at new awards from NSF. Comparison is between April/May of 2024 vs. this year. You can see the pause from 4/15–4/22, as well as the freeze started on 4/30. (Other flat areas are from weekends)

Hmmm… any comments? 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Fantastic news! Great thanks to Bonnie and Peter McCausland for this unprecedented gift. www.sc.edu/uofsc/posts/...

And we are off! Portoroz 2025 is starting 🧪

A great crowd for our first Astronomy on Tap at Bierkeller Columbia! Thank you for joining us! Let’s do it again! 🧪 @astronomyontap.bsky.social

Secondary review at NSF? “In the meantime, according to those sources, NSF will not make any new awards.” www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

“DOE announced that it will limit financial support of “indirect costs” of DOE research funding to 15%.” www.energy.gov/articles/dep...