Critical Decision-3A Clears Way Toward Standard Model Test

The U.S. Department of Energy has given the greenlight for the MOLLER experiment to begin procurement of key components with its granting of Critical Decision-3A (CD-3A): Approve Long Lead Procurements. The determination allows the MOLLER project at Jefferson Lab to begin spending $9.14 million for long-lead procurements of critical items for which designs are complete. The MOLLER collaboration formed in 2006, and more than 100 physicists from more than 30 institutions are now involved. MOLLER will make a measurement of the electron’s weak charge that is five times more precise than any before. The electron’s weak charge is essentially how much influence the weak force exerts on the electron.

Electric Vehicle Batteries Could Get Big Boost With New Polymer Coating

Scientists at Berkeley Lab have developed a polymer coating that could enable longer lasting, more powerful lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The advance opens up a new approach to developing EV batteries that are more affordable and yet easy to manufacture.

Partnership Contributes Toward Sharp Eyes for MOLLER Experiment

Thirteen universities working on a new experiment to be carried out at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility have recently been awarded new grants totaling more than $9 million. The grants come from the National Science Foundation and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, with a matching award for the CFI grant from Research Manitoba. The grants benefit the Measurement of a Lepton-Lepton Electroweak Reaction Experiment, called MOLLER.