Don Lincoln

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Don Lincoln

don lincoln

Dr. Don Lincoln is a Senior Scientist at Fermilab, America’s leading particle physics laboratory, who has coauthored over 1,500 scientific papers. He was a member of the teams that discovered the top quark in 1995 and the Higgs boson in 2012.

Dr. Lincoln is also an avid popularizer of science. He has written several books for the public, most recently Einstein’s Unfinished Dream. He also writes for many online venues, such as CNN and Scientific American. He appears frequently on the Fermilab YouTube channel and has made several video courses available through The Great Courses company.

Dr. Lincoln is a recipient of the 2013 Outreach Prize from the European Physical Society and the 2017 Gemant Award from the American Institute of Physics. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

You can learn more about Dr. Lincoln on his home page, and you can follow him on Facebook. 

Everything Articles
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Hard Science
Mass misconception: The real reason we can’t outpace light speed
Explanations for the cosmic speed limit often conflate mass with inertia.
Don Lincoln
An abstract geometric pattern of spirals and interlocking squares in white on a black grid background evokes the elegant precision often found at the intersection of mathematics and science.
Hard Science
Is mathematics the empress of science? A physicist weighs in.
Physicist Don Lincoln explains why mathematics is a powerful tool for scientific modeling, but is not a science itself.
Don Lincoln
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Hard Science
Will physics ever prove that gravitons are real?
Despite no experimental evidence showing that gravitons exist, they remain a respectable concept in the world of professional physicists.
Don Lincoln
A planet's horizon illuminated by a bright sun against a backdrop of stars in space.
Hard Science
Scientists find record high-energy cosmic ray electrons, but origin remains elusive
A recent measurement has simultaneously settled an ongoing scientific debate while puzzling scientists.
Don Lincoln
A telescope beneath a colorful, abstract visualization of the universe, with a starry night sky in the background.
Hard Science
Einstein wins again: Exotic gravity theories take a blow from new observations
DESI has allowed astronomers to create an unprecedented 3D map of the Universe representing 20% of the entire sky.
Don Lincoln
Close-up of an analog weight scale needle pointing to zero grams, with a black background.
Hard Science
You’re made of energy: The strange truth about where mass comes from
"A person’s mass is made not of 'stuff' in the way we normally think about it, but rather our mass is made of energy."
Don Lincoln
Abstract image of a dark central circle surrounded by radial green and yellow light streaks resembling an eye or vortex.
Hard Science
Signs of “neutrino fog” emerge, complicating searches for dark matter
The race to find dark matter could grow more complex with high-energy neutrino interference.
Don Lincoln
Two individuals examine a large panel of wires and components. Overlaid on the right is a chart with arrows and symbols, possibly depicting a scientific process or experiment.
Hard Science
Will protons last forever? Why scientists are searching for signs of decay
Why hasn’t matter fallen apart over billions of years? The mystery might start with protons.
Don Lincoln
A person stands in front of a large, circular particle detector in a brightly lit, high-tech facility.
Hard Science
CERN experiment unlocks new insights into the W boson
CERN scientists achieved record-breaking accuracy in mapping the mass of a key particle in the Standard Model.
Don Lincoln
A technician in a cleanroom suit works by a large cylindrical piece of equipment in a high-tech laboratory setting with industrial tools and machinery.
Hard Science
Dark matter search: Are scientists looking in the wrong direction?
A recent experiment challenges the leading dark matter theory and hints at new directions for uncovering one of the Universe's biggest mysteries.
Don Lincoln
Diagram showing four circles, each containing a different particle symbol: antiproton (n-bar), antineutron (n-bar), anti-lambda (Λ-bar), and antiproton (p-bar), set against a graph-like background.
Hard Science
Scientists create bizarre form of nuclear antimatter
Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory recently created the heaviest exotic antimatter hypernucleus ever observed.
Don Lincoln
Two individuals in hard hats and safety glasses working on complex machinery with numerous cables and metal components in an industrial setting.
Hard Science
Scientists validate upcoming mega-sized “ghost” particle detector
DUNE is designed to detect the Universe's most antisocial particle: the neutrino.
Don Lincoln
A close-up digital rendering shows a glowing blue orb with intricate internal patterns, resembling a microscopic or sci-fi object, set against a dark background with scattered lights.
Hard Science
Subatomic puzzle: Are quarks and leptons hiding another level of matter?
Quarks and leptons are the smallest known subatomic particles. Does the Standard Model allow for an even smaller layer of matter to exist?
Don Lincoln
A digital rendering of a black hole with a glowing, distorted light accretion disk around its event horizon in space, set against a pitch-black background.
Hard Science
Quantum mechanics disproves an exotic type of black hole
A recent paper in the journal Physical Review Letters claims to prove that a "kugelblitz" is not possible.
Don Lincoln
A black and white particle track image on the left and a colorful representation of a neutrino.
Hard Science
How neutrinos offer clues to the matter-antimatter puzzle
The properties of a ghostly particle called a neutrino are coming into focus.
Don Lincoln
Green background with various mathematical equations and diagrams, including formulas related to quantum physics, a 3D wireframe object, and an atom-like model at the center, celebrating the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
Hard Science
Why the U.N. declared 2025 the “International Year of Quantum Science and Technology”
The evolution of quantum technology is far from over.
Don Lincoln
Image of a large industrial machine with a green cylindrical component and a long metal rod inside a red and gray structure.
Hard Science
CERN experiment helps narrow the hunt for dark matter
CERN's NA64 experiment used a high-energy muon beam technique to advance the elusive search for dark matter, offering new hope for solving one of astronomy's greatest mysteries.
Don Lincoln
A close-up of a metallic conical structure, set against a dark wireframe background. The structure has reflective surfaces and appears to be part of a scientific or industrial apparatus.
Hard Science
Dark matter: New detector will look for “ultra-light” particles
Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches. 
Don Lincoln
A vibrant display of green aurora borealis above an antarctic research station under a starry sky.
Hard Science
IceCube detector confirms deep-space “ghost particle” phenomenon
IceCube scientists have detected high-energy tau neutrinos from deep space, suggesting that neutrino transformations occur not only in lab experiments but also over cosmic distances.
Don Lincoln
A technician in a clean suit inspects a large, segmented, hexagonal mirror inside a circular gray structure.
Hard Science
Why a James Webb Space Telescope mystery doesn’t (necessarily) break cosmology
The JWST's observations of well-developed galaxies early in universal history may coincide with accepted astronomical theory after all.
Don Lincoln
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