Fermilab is recognized for 'top quark' discovery

Fermilab in Batavia nabbed the seventh spot on the list of the Chicago area's biggest scientific achievements last week.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley made the announcement of the top 10 achievements, innovations and discoveries in the field at an event to start the "Science in the City" program.

Topping the list was the first controlled sustainable nuclear reaction ever produced at the University of Chicago in 1942.

Other items on the list were: the first portable cell phone, hormonal treatment of prostate and breast cancer, magnetic recording, malaria treatment, skyscrapers, the discovery of chromosome abnormalities in cancers, carbon-14 dating and the discovery of how the body makes insulin.

Fermilab was on the list for the discovery of the "top quark" in 1995. Quarks make up protons, neutrons and electrons, which make up atoms.

The discovery confirmed the conventional scientific understanding of how matter was formed. It allowed further study and experiments into the fields of supersymmetry, new forces and extra dimensions.

Almost 1,000 scientists from more than a dozen countries worked on the project for 18 years. It involved slamming particles together at nearly the speed of light in the lab's Tevatron accelerator.

More information on the list is available at the program's Web site, www.chicagoscienceinthecity.org.

New for the fall season: Students ages 11 to 17 interested in acting and theater are invited to audition for the Young Actors Club of Fox Valley on Tuesday.

The group will produce "YATV," a sketch comedy show on the public access station BATV, as well as a reality production called "Making the Show."

Auditions will be from 6 to 9 p.m. at Studio 4 in the Eastside Community Center, 14 N. Van Buren St., Batavia.

Participants will do an on-camera interview, as well as improv imitations and cold script readings.

Those accepted will be notified by the group, with a camera crew, Saturday. There is a $175 fee to be in the group, which is paid after students are accepted.

For details, visit www.youngactorsclub.org.

Where your water is from: Residents can get a tour of the city's new water treatment facility on the west side of town Thursday.

The city's Water Department is hosting an open house from 2 to 6 p.m. at the facility, 38W503 Fabyan Parkway, about two miles west of Randall Road.

People can see how their water is treated for removing iron and radium.

For details about the open house, call (630) 879-1424, ext. 319, or visit www.cityofbatavia.net.

lhague@dailyherald.com