SLAC research explores the structure and dynamics of matter and
the properties of energy, space and time at the smallest and
largest scales, in the fastest processes and at the highest
energies. These studies address questions of major scientific
and technological interest to society. Accelerators form the
backbone of SLAC's experimental programs. Research at SLAC is
continually improving accelerators, both here and at other
laboratories, and paving the way toward a new generation of
particle acceleration technology. SLAC astrophysicists and
cosmologists play leading roles in studying the high-energy
universe, where cosmology and particle physics meet. Two of the
biggest puzzles in this realm are the nature of the dark matter
and dark energy that make up 95 percent of the universe.
Hundreds of scientists come to SLAC each year to investigate the
structures of proteins, nucleic acids and other important
molecules and study viruses, microbes and cells. SLAC scientists
study high-energy particle collisions for c