![0515091104 The view from the 15th floor of the main Fermi Lab building](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091104-225x300.jpg)
So on Friday, my health and science reporting class took a road trip to Fermi Lab, about an hour outside of Chicago.
They’ve got a particle collider there, and they smash protons and anti protons together to see what happens.
Over the years, they were responsible for the discovery of three primary particles, including the bottom and top quarks.
It was a fascinating trip, even though the weather was against us. The campus is large, and primarily looks like prairie. You wouldn’t know there was a particle collider there, unless you saw the huge earth birms from above.
Here’s a trailer for a PBS special that was filmed there called “The Atom Smashers”. Bonus — the special was scored by Ghostly International’s Kate Simko.
Want to see some more pictures I took at Fermi?
![0515091000 The control room at the D0 site](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091000-300x225.jpg)
![0515091108 Scale model of the entire campus](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091108-300x225.jpg)
![0515091126 Oooohh... Sci fi!](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091126-225x300.jpg)
![0515091140 Lobby looking up.](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091140-300x225.jpg)
![0515091127 The particle zoo](http://www.ianmonroe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/0515091127-300x225.jpg)