High Energy Physics Seminar - Ben Hooberman (UIUC)
| Speaker: |
(sign-up)
Ben Hooberman (UIUC) |
|---|---|
| Date: | 4/10/2026 |
| Time: | 11 a.m. |
| Location: | Rhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236 |
| Event Contact: | Brandy Koebbe bkoebbe@illinois.edu |
| Sponsor: | Physics Department |
| Event Type: | Seminar/Symposium |
Title: X-ray for the Earth: Finding Critical Minerals for Clean Energy with Cosmic-Ray Muons Abstract: The transition to clean energy requires access to critical minerals beyond the reach of conventional exploration. This talk presents an approach using cosmic-ray muons, naturally occurring particles that penetrate hundreds of meters into the Earth and are reconstructed using a novel detector with AI-based computer vision. The goal is to see through the Earth, analogous to X-ray imaging in medicine, to locate the materials needed for the clean energy transition. |