Argonne National Lab celebrates 75th birthday
LEMONT, Ill. - Happy Birthday to a local lab that has been helping solve the world's problems for decades!
Argonne National Laboratory is turning 75.
Technology at the Lemont lab helps scientists at Argonne National Laboratory see tiny things to make huge discoveries.
"The smaller the thing that you look at, the bigger the facility, so the APS is huge. You can fit Wrigley Field in the center of our electronic storage ring," said Stephen Streiffer, the Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology.
APS stands for "Advanced Photon Source." It's a big circle at this lab that creates ultra-bright, high energy X-ray beams.
Dr. Streiffer says they have used its power to make safer jet engines and create vaccines for the coronavirus.
Argonne opened in 1946 with the mission of finding peaceful uses for nuclear energy.
Seventy-five years later, this Department of Energy site keeps researching the world's biggest problems.
A big focus now is climate change, and they're working on the next generation of batteries to help.
Dr. George Crabtree runs the Electrochemical Discovery Lab, which helps create the lithium batteries we use daily. Now, his goal is to create batteries that will power ships, trains and planes in order to help decarbonize our system.
"It's wonderful to be shaping the world that's almost to come," said Crabtree.
Crabtree has worked at Argonne for 55 years. And as this facility celebrates 75 years on July 1, he and others keep planning their next advancements.