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Stanford Linear Accelerator CenterSince its founding in 1962, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has helped yield key discoveries in elementary particle physics, a study that provides insight into the fundamental composition of matter. The 426-acre facility, which includes a two-mile linear accelerator, is operated by the university for the U.S. Department of Energy. Roughly 1,300 employees work at SLAC, and three Stanford physicists -- Burton Richter, Richard Taylor and Martin Perl -- have won Nobel Prizes for work they conducted there. In August 1998, the Asymmetric B-Factory, a major addition to SLAC, began operating when scientists brought together two beams -- one made of electrons and the other of positrons -- from opposite directions through mile-long underground rings. Scientists are using the B-Factory to uncover the tiny differences between the laws of physics for matter and for antimatter. The findings may help elucidate why the universe contains far more matter than antimatter.
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