History & Lore
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SLAC’s Historic Linac Turns 50 and Gets a Makeover
The lab’s signature particle highway prepares to enter another era of transformative science as the home of the LCLS-II X-ray laser.
Stanford and SLAC Celebrate Arthur Bienenstock
An all-day symposium recognized the professor emeritus for his many contributions to the scientific community, from pioneering synchrotron radiation research at SSRL to making science policies on Capitol Hill.
Jonathan Dorfan and David Hitlin Receive 2016 Panofsky Prize
The American Physical Society has recognized both researchers for their leading role in SLAC’s BABAR experiment, which confirmed theorists’ description of how nature treats matter and antimatter differently.
SLAC and Stanford’s James D. Bjorken Receives 2015 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize
The European Physical Society honors Bjorken’s theoretical work on the parton structure of the proton, which contributed to the development of a theory of the strong nuclear force.
SLAC and Stanford's James D. Bjorken Shares 2015 Wolf Prize in Physics
Honored for early theoretical predictions that helped elucidate the nature of the strong force and the structure of the proton, he is still shaking things up today.
Symmetry: The November Revolution
Forty years ago, two different research groups announced the discovery of the same new particle and redefined how physicists view the universe.
SLAC’s Earliest Websites Reappear in ‘Stanford Wayback’
The Stanford University Libraries have launched the “Wayback” system – a Web archive that features SLAC’s earliest websites dating back to 1991.
Photo Exhibit Highlights SLAC History
As part of the opening of the new Research Support Building, SLAC's Archives and History Office is currently displaying a photo exhibition called "SLAC Perspectives: Then and Now." These photos, taken from the new exhibit, give a glimpse of SLAC's construction and early years.
Let it Bee – Saving a Hearty Colony at SLAC
The colony of honeybees that's lived in an old blue oak tree in front of Building 41 for nearly 50 years has been relocated because the decaying tree must be cut down, for safety's sake, prior to the building's renovation. Some of the bees will be offered to help with breeding research.
SPEAR-heading X-ray Science for 40 Years
Last Saturday marked the 40th anniversary of an historic event: In 1973, a team of research pioneers extracted hard X-rays for the first time from SLAC's SPEAR accelerator. Like X-rays from an X-ray tube, the radiation generated by SPEAR can deeply penetrate a large variety of materials and probe their inner structures. However, SPEAR's X-rays are significantly more intense and unlock the possibility for brand new science.
