Tag Archives: ANL

Argonne National Lab

I took a field trip with work down to Argonne National Lab to see their engine labs. We also stopped by their photon source (used to generate x-rays).

While we were walking through a storage area they pointed out a real version of the Hunt for Red October’s caterpillar drive, in reality called a “Magentohydrodynamic drive” which uses massive magnetic fields to induce flow in water.

Magnetohydrodynamic Drive

Pictures of the advanced beamline that they put materials/experiments in the way of to blast them with x-rays:

Advanced Photon Source

Advanced Photon Source

Advanced Photon Source

Here’s a picture of the accelerator used to get the photons up to warp speed. (99+% c )

Advanced Photon Source Accelerator

And I managed to find evidence of the infamous government’s Sector 7 as noted on this bicycle:

Proof of Sector 7

Finally, for being one of the most advanced research facilities in the world, they sure managed to keep things looking fresh out of WWII on the exterior, here we can see some of the outdoor exposed infrastructure leaking like a sieve, good thing it’s just steam:

Argonne National Lab Aging Infrastructure