Lead, S.D. -- Dark matter afficianados won't want to miss the Sanford Underground Laboratory's Fourth of July Parade float. It's a salute to the Large Underground Xenon Detector, which will search for dark matter at the 4,850-foot level of the Sanford Lab.

To ensure the technical accuracy of this rolling, life-size model of the LUX Detector, researchers from Brown University, Case Western Reserve University, and other institutions provided valuable technical advice -- most of which was ignored by the Sanford Lab parade-float team. (The napkin-based design is pictured at right.)

The parade starts at 3 p.m. on Sunday in Deadwood, S.D., then moves through Central City and on to Lead, by about 4 p.m. Stay for the Fourth of July fireworks over the Open Cut in Lead beginning right after dark.

(Click drawing to enlarge. "Mike Johnson," at left, is Engineering Project Manager Mike Johnson. (Safety experts note: There is no "Oven" on the float. That's Infrastructrure Technician Oren Loken, who is wearing hard-toe boots, safety glasses and a hardhat.)