Calendar

High Energy Physics Seminar - Ben Hooberman (UIUC)

Speaker: 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.