Ask a Scientist

Q: HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT SCIENCE? 

A: COME TO CHICAGO COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (C2ST) ‘ASK A SCIENTIST’ DAY TO FIND YOUR ANSWER!

CHICAGO, IL: How much does the earth weigh? Will a candle burn in zero gravity? Where do stem cells come from?

Come to Chicago Council on Science and Technologies third annual ‘ Ask a Scientist’  day at Argonne National Lab September 15 to get your science questions answered. Scientists will be on hand from 9 am to 2pm to field any question you may have on science-related topics.

Hundreds of people have attended the past two C2ST ‘ Ask A Scientist’  events, which provide an opportunity for folks to realize science is within their reach, and see the human side of science. One of the best questions C2ST had at a past event was from a dad who had brought his daughter with to the event. He wanted to know what he, as a “non-science father,” could do to foster better education in her. We think bringing her to the event to meet scientists was a great first step!

Unlike our last two events, which brought science to the street on Michigan Avenue, C2ST has partnered with Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, IL this year. The event will run concurrent to Argonne’ s Energy Showcase event. Argonne National Laboratory will open its gates to the community from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm for a day of discovery for the whole family. Argonne’ s Energy Showcase will be a similar event to their traditional Open House event, but will be on a somewhat smaller scale, making it easier to experience all that the laboratory has to offer in a single day.  The Energy Showcase will feature interactive demos, exhibits and tours, within a hands-on atmosphere. This is a great opportunity to learn more about Argonne’s research and talk with leading experts at the laboratory.

C2ST will be located in front of the Physics building on the Argonne campus, and scientists with backgrounds in physics, endocrinology and anthropology will be participating. Alison Brizius, Executive Director of the Computation Institute at the University of Chicago, earned her PhD. in physics from the University of Chicago. The Computation Institute serves as a resource center for scholars from multiple disciplines, who are building and applying computational platforms for science. M. Geoffrey Hayes, PhD., is an Assistant Professor of Endocrinology and Anthropology at Northwestern University. His work is in evolutionary population genetics and genetic epidemiology. And Benjamin Auerbach and Jeremy Love, who both hold PhD.s in physics, are post-doctoral researchers working with the ATLAS group at Argonne. ATLAS (the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System) is the world’s first superconducting accelerator for projectiles heavier than the electron. Auerbach is focused on the search for the top two quarks and a photon, looking for exotic decays involving the top quark and exotic physics involving photons and missing transverse energy. Love is working on a search for a new, exotic particle that decays to the heaviest Standard Model fermions.

C2ST’s Ask A Scientist and the Argonne Energy Showcase are both free and open to the public. To attend the Argonne Showcase, advance registration is required. Visit www.anl.gov to register. Argonne National Laboratory is located at 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Lemont, Illinois 60439. The event will be held rain or shine. Free shuttle service will be provided by Argonne, and food and drink will be available for purchase. Visitors are welcome to take photos and videos of the event.