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Albert Einstein figured it out by 1905, as he was formulating his special theory of relativity: while you can't exactly get something from nothing, you can come close. His famous formula, E=MC2, works both ways. Just as matter can be converted into energy, so too can energy become matter.

JLab researchers utilized CLAS and CEBAF's 5.7 GeV continuous beam to gather new insights on several fundamental questions about the neutron. Collaborators from several universities and Jefferson Lab, working on the experiment "Electron Scattering from a High-Momentum Nucleon in Deuterium", are seeking a clearer view of this elusive neutral partner of the proton. Sebastian Kuhn, an ODU associate professor of physics, says that the overall results of the study, which ended March 10, appear promising.

Russell's efforts in calibrating the UTEP/Orsay instrumented collimator allowed Hall B researchers to align the linearly polarized beam to within 50 microns. According to Phil Cole, this is quite an achievement and will increase the quality of data for the g8a run in Hall B. Juliette's time was spent working on the resolutions and count rates for exclusive p0 (pi zero) production. "I've been plotting the resolutions from single-arm phase space simulations."

Physicists have long known that neutrons are slightly positive at the core and slightly negative at the surface but overall are electrically neutral. However, until recently, they hadn't quantified that charge distribution. An experimental collaboration in Jefferson Lab's Hall C "…has been able to measure the neutron electric form factor more precisely than ever before and to infer the charge density with much better resolution."

The 2001 Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) Thesis Prize was awarded to David Gaskell, author of "Longitudinal Electroproduction of Charged Pions from Hydrogen, Deuterium, and Helium-3"during the Jefferson Lab User Group meeting. Gaskell completed his Ph.D. in Nuclear and Particle Physics at Oregon State University last spring. He is currently working as a postdoc at the University of Colorado, and is scheduled to return to JLab in September as a Hall C staff physicist.

The Department of Energy selected Jefferson Lab as having the best Small Business Technology Transfer program for 2001. The technology transfer award recognizes a DOE prime contractor that has excelled in its efforts to transfer its scientific technology to small businesses in developing practical applications for the commercial market. Jefferson Lab's technology transfer program was specifically cited for encouraging small businesses, woman-owned businesses, and small disadvantaged businesses to participate in cooperative research and development agreements.

In an experiment that began on January 21st and concluded on March 3rd of this year, researchers take a closer look at matter's blueprints with a study of the spin-structure functions of the proton and the neutron, collectively known as nucleons. The spin-structure experiment involved a 50-member team of inter-national researchers from the United States, Switzerland, Armenia and Israel. Results should be published within the coming year.

The upgrade of the most powerful device of its kind, the JLab Free-Electron Laser (FEL) is underway at DOE's Jefferson Lab. When the upgrade is complete 90 percent of the components will be new. With the upgrade the FEL will be capable of producing 10,000 watts of infrared light and 1,000 watts of ultraviolet light.

A new Center for Advanced Medical Instrumentation known by its acronym CAMI — could lead to development of an unprecedented array of portable, hand-held, non-invasive diagnostic devices based on detector technologies refined at the Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab. CAMI's genesis can be traced to informal discussions in the mid-1990s between the director, Thia Keppel, and JLab Detector Group head Stan Majewski.

BigBite is the latest addition to the Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab family of particle detectors. It comes via the Netherland's National Institute for Nuclear and High Energy Physicsm, which commissioned the magnet's construction by Russian scientists in the early 90's. When the NIKHEF accelerator ceased operations in 1999, the magnet was obtained by Jefferson Lab.