When the moon threw its shadow on the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory during the Aug. 21 partial solar eclipse, it created the perfect backdrop for the 45th annual SLAC Summer Institute (SSI). This year, the program was all about the fascinating universe. The two-week summer institute attracted an international crowd of 123 participants, mostly graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who discussed “cosmic opportunities” in particle physics and astrophysics research with world-renowned experts in the field.