April 2011 Volume 20, No. 4 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews APS NEWS Conference Tackles Energy, Climate Change A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews See Page 5

Sub-Atomic Marks 100th Trial Program Puts Selected Meeting Presentations on the Web APS is launching a trial pro- “From our experience people are presentations,” said Amy Flatten, Birthday at April Meeting gram at its April Meeting to allow always eager to share their talks APS Director of International Af- Located in Anaheim, California of the universe. During session A1 researchers, especially those based and share their results.” fairs. “It’s part of a larger effort to from April 30 through May 3, this on Saturday morning, Steven Wein- outside the United States, access Though the use of INDICO is make our meetings more acces- year’s APS April Meeting will bring berg from the University of Texas at to some of the meeting’s presenta- a one-time trial, organizers hope sible to our members outside the together over 1,000 physicists to Austin, will highlight the history of tions. Using INDICO, a scientific to garner information about who United States.” share the latest research in particle from Rutherford’s collaboration service developed is interested in remote access to About 25 percent of APS’s physics, nuclear physics, astrophys- gold foil experiment to the startup by CERN, select speakers will up- the presentations, and how best non-student membership resides ics and plasma physics research, of the LHC. Picking up from there, load their presentation materials to market it. Responses from the outside of the United States. For featuring 170 sessions, 225 invited Maria Spiropulu of CERN will dis- directly to the web, before, during membership, speakers and meet- the test program, both members speakers and three poster sessions. cuss the latest results from the LHC, or after the meeting. This trial will ing attendees will be useful to the and non-members will be able to Commemorating the discovery while Dan Hooper of will provide access to presentations APS Headquarters IT (HQIT) staff access the presentations. of the atomic nucleus, the theme of bring an update on the hunt for the from eleven of the regular invited as they enhance the APS Online “What we want to do is provide the meeting is “100 years of Sub- theorized WIMPS that make up sessions, as well as the three ple- Bulletin system to include the abil- a level of service to our interna- Atomic Physics”. As the official dark matter. nary sessions. ity for speakers to upload their pre- tional members that doesn’t cur- kickoff to the meeting, the Kavli Plenary Sessions: Two other “Our aim is to facilitate the dis- sentation materials. This feature is rently exist and a level of access to Foundation is sponsoring a keynote plenary sessions promise to enlight- semination of fresh new scientific currently under development. our meetings that doesn’t currently session starting with a retrospec- en audiences on a range of topics. results,” said Karsten Heeger, chair “The trial should help us learn exist,” Flatten said. tive look at the last century of work The Monday morning plenary ses- of APS’s Committee on Interna- how the speakers and member- “We would like to showcase the probing the fundamental particles MEETING continued on page 6 tional Scientific Affairs (CISA). ship may use online access to slide TRIAL continued on page 6 Local Congressman Decries Brookhaven Cuts APS President Sends Condolences to Japan By Michael Lucibella munity. of Energy’s Office of Science, In the wake of the combined disasters of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 11, followed by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Speaking at a press conference As of February 28, no federal which runs the national laborato- nuclear complex, APS President Barry Barish sent letters to represen- on February 28 at the APS editorial budget had been passed for fiscal ries, would lose $1.1 billion of its tatives of the Japanese Society of Applied Physics and the Physical offices in Ridge, NY, Congressman year 2011, and the government $5.1 billion budget in the remain- Society of Japan. The letter to the Japanese Society of Applied Phys- Tim Bishop (D–NY) condemned had been running at fiscal year ing seven months of the fiscal year. ics, dated March 14, follows: possible funding cuts to Brookhav- 2010 funding levels. On February The effects of this 22 percent cut "On behalf of the American Physical Society (APS), I would like to con- en National Laboratory for the rest 19, the House of Representatives would be especially acute because passed a bill, H.R.1, that would the entirety of it would be enacted vey our deepest care and sympathy to the citizens of Japan and the of the fiscal year. Bishop said that Japan Society of Applied Physics for the tragedy that your country has the proposed cuts were “destruc- fund the government, but cut the only on the second half of the fiscal budget for the rest of the fiscal year year, meaning that the labs would suffered as a result of the earthquake and tsunami last week. We are tive” and would have long-lasting saddened by the loss of lives and the extent of the devastation. Our effects on the lab and local com- by $61 billion. The Department be facing nearly a 40 percent cut thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this tragic event. during that time. As APS News goes to press, the Along with our condolences for the loss of life and property, we share budget has not yet been finalized. your concerns over the impact on your scientific community and facili- The Republican-controlled House ties. We hope that our fellow scientists and their families are safe. passed its version, but the Dem- ocratic-controlled Senate has so We join our colleagues worldwide in extending our sympathies to the far rejected many of the proposed Japanese people and the Japanese scientific community. Please know cuts. The House version does not that the members of the American Physical Society are with you during this difficult time. specify how much each individual lab would stand to lose, but esti- Sincerely, mates by Brookhaven look at the Barry Barish" impact of the cuts were they spread out evenly among all the national labs. Kudos for APS Blog “I think all of us should hope that this budget does not get passed. But if it does, I think it sends a ter- Photo by Michael Lucibella ribly, terribly, depressing message No, APS Director of Public Affairs Michael Lubell is not interrupting the press con- about the commitment that this ference to take a phone call. He is pointing out to the audience the many ways in which fundamental physics research contributed to the smart phone, and how nation has to remaining on the damaging cutting back on physics research could be to the economy. Congress- cutting edge in terms of scientific man Tim Bishop, the main speaker at the press conference, looks on at left. In research,” Bishop said. “Scientists the background, museum-quality bound volumes of the Physical Review grace the shelves at the APS editorial offices in Ridge, NY. CUTS continued on page 6 Workshop to Help Scientists Engage in Public Service The third in a series of campaign in government in an administrative a first-come first-served basis, so education workshops will take capacity. The one-day workshop it's important for those interested place in Washington at the head- will cover all levels of government, to register early. The workshop quarters of the American Associa- from local school boards and town is being held under the auspices tion for the Advancement of Sci- councils to the US Congress. Ex- of Scientists and Engineers for ence. As APS News goes to press, perienced campaign professionals America (SEA), and more infor- the workshop is scheduled for Sat- will be on hand to give participants mation, including how to register, urday, May 7, but the date may be an overview of what’s involved in is available at www.seaworkshop. The APS outreach blog, Physics Buzz, has been receiving lots of attention subject to change. Like its prede- a political campaign, and how to com. The first twelve APS -mem on the Internet recently. In October, it was named among the five best phys- cessors, the workshop is designed mount a successful one. bers who register will be eligible ics blogs by the Institute of Physics website physics.org. In March, Physics for scientists and engineers who APS is one of the sponsors of to have half their registration re- Buzz was at the top of LaboratoryTechnician.org’s list of the 50 best physics recognize the importance of public the workshop, and a limited num- funded. Those applying for the blogs. Physics Buzz was launched four and a half years ago to get physics news out into the blogosphere and to excite the general public about the sci- service and who are contemplat- ber of registration fee rebates will rebate should send an email con- ence. It has since become an integral part of Physics Central, APS’ outreach ing either running for public office, be available to APS members who firming their registration to sea@ website, and published its 1,000th post. It is prominently displayed at www. helping in a campaign, or serving attend. These will be allocated on aps.org. physicscentral.com. -Mary Catherine Adams 2 • April 2011 APS NEWS

Members This Month in Physics History in the Media April 16, 1901: Death of Henry Rowland Ed. Note: We begin the “Mem- to damage when the cells are di- saac Newton’s experiments with splitting light us- holtz in Berlin, where he had a chance to work with bers in the Media” column with viding and the gland is growing.” Iing a prism in the 17th century inspired a scien- the great physicist firsthand and conduct an experi- several quotes from members Frank von Hippel, Princeton, tist named James Gregory to look more closely at ment on the magnetic effect of a charged rotating about the nuclear disaster in Ja- on the dangers of radiation to bird feathers, and outline some basic principles for disc–something he’d never had the means to attempt pan, as of March 15. children, The New York Times, what would become the modern diffraction grating. before. The experiment was a smashing success: March 12, 2011. By 1785, inventor David Rittenhouse Rowland demonstrated unequivocally that a charged “The administration believes had figured out how to build the first diffraction grat- body in motion produces a magnetic field. we must rely on a diverse set of “As long as there’s no melt- ing by stringing hairs between two threaded screws. After getting settled in at Hopkins, Rowland at- energy sources, including renew- down of the fuel rods, you’re in In 1821, a German physicist named Joseph von tacked his scientific pursuits with renewed vigor. He ables like wind and solar, natu- good shape.” Fraunhofer built a very similar device. avoided teaching and administrative duties as much ral gas, clean coal and nuclear Kirby Kemper, Florida State However, these early attempts at building diffrac- as possible, in favor of research, and when he did power…The administration is University, on the crisis at Ja- tion gratings were rough, and the patterns of parallel teach, his students were often devastated by his for- committed to learning from Ja- pan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear lines too imprecise, which limited their usefulness bidding presence and withering critiques. pan’s experience as we work to power station, The Wall Street in spectroscopy–an important tool in physics, chem- For example, he undertook a series of experi- continue to strengthen America’s Journal, March 13, 2011. istry, and astronomy. The smaller the ments to re-calibrate the value for the nuclear industry.” distance between those parallel lines, ohm, coming up with a much smaller Steven Chu, U.S. Depart- “Let’s say we have an 8.0 the higher the resolution of the grat- number than the original. (Rowland’s ment of Energy, The Los Angeles earthquake–smaller than the one ings. The man who did the most to im- conclusion was accepted as correct.) Times, March 15, 2011. that hit Japan–right on the San prove the precision of diffraction grat- He also supervised several experi- Andreas Fault… According to the ings, thereby revolutionizing the field ments that led one of his graduate “They imply some kind of core U.S. Geological Survey, the dev- of spectroscopy, was the 19th century students, Edwin Hall, to discover the problem.” astation would be catastrophic. American physicist Henry Rowland. eponymous Hall effect. Thomas B. Cochran, the Nat- Downtown L.A. flattened. Forty Born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania in In other work, he set about re-cre- ural Resources Defense Council, percent could withstand an 8.0 1848, Rowland came from a long line ating James Joule’s seminal paddle- on the possible release of radio- earthquake, but 15 percent of the of Protestant theologians, and his fam- wheel experiment for measuring the active iodine and cesium from the tall buildings are at risk and could, ily expected him to become a minister. mechanical equivalent of heat. Row- Fukushima plant, The New York in fact, collapse.” But young Henry rejected the classics and had a pas- land greatly improved upon the original apparatus: Times, March 12, 2011. Michio Kaku, City College sion from the start for science, particularly electrical his version was larger, and his experiments were of New York, ABCNews.com, and chemical experiments that he devised himself. conducted over a wider temperature range, result- “The thyroid is more sensitive March 14, 2011. When he was 17, his family relented and sent him to ing in a much higher number than that obtained by Rensselaer Technological Institute, where he earned Joule. He also noted that the specific heat of water a degree in civil engineering in 1870. He briefly varied as a function of temperature; Joule had as- “I was thinking, ‘What’s the oping an “anti-laser,” The New worked for the Western New York railway after sumed the specific heat would be constant. scariest thing that I could make York Times, February 21, 2011. graduation, and then taught science at the University Then Rowland became intrigued by diffraction with nanotechnology?’” of Wooster in Ohio. By 1876, he had returned to RPI gratings, and decided to try to improve their preci- Paul McEuen, Cornell, on “I am saying that all predic- as an instructor in natural philosophy. sion. He invented a “ruling engine”: a machine that the inspiration for his sci-fi novel tions concerning climate [change] Alas, the professional respect of his peers was employed one main screw to shift the diamond tip “Spiral,” The Wall Street Journal, are highly uncertain. On the other not immediately forthcoming. Rowland struggled to used to etch the grating a very small distance be- March 18, 2011. hand, the remedies proposed by have his early scientific papers published in US jour- tween each line during the etching process, done on the experts are enormously costly nals. Frustrated, he sent a paper on his work in mag- a concave surface. He went on to use his diffraction “We are now working to ac- and damaging.” netic permeability to the eminent British physicist gratings in spectrometers to study the solar spec- cumulate trillions of positrons or , Institute for James Clerk Maxwell, who published it in London’s trum, producing an impressive photographic map of more in a novel ‘multicell’ trap–an Advanced Study, The Indepen- Philosophical Magazine. His US colleagues did not that spectrum in 1888. His gratings were orders of array of magnetic bottles akin to a dent, February 25, 2011. seem to notice. magnitude better than others available at the time, hotel with many rooms, with each Rowland was first and foremost a researcher. and much in demand. He sold hundreds to scientists room containing tens of billions of “I wonder if Watson wasn’t Years later, at a AAAS meeting in 1883, Rowland all over the world. Ultimately, Rowland’s name be- antiparticles.” having a low-voltage night, be- declared, “I here assert that all can find time for sci- came so strongly associated with diffraction gratings Clifford Surko, University of cause I certainly didn’t expect to entific research if they desire it. But here, again, that that one is featured in his official 1897 portrait by California, San Diego, describing score higher than the computer.” curse of our country, mediocrity, is upon us. Our col- artist Thomas Eakins. his work to build the world’s larg- Rush Holt (D-N.J.) U.S. House leges and universities seldom call for first-class men There is an apocryphal story that Rowland–while est antimatter trap, MSNBC.com, of Representatives, after learning of reputation, and I have even heard the trustee of a under oath in court as part of a lawsuit he was in- February 18, 2011. he beat the computer Watson in an well-known college assert that no professor should volved with–once declared himself to be the world’s online Jeopardy game, The Asso- engage in research because of the time wasted.” greatest physicist. In reality, he said he was “the high- “The magnitude of the whole ciated Press, March 2, 2011. In 1875, Rowland’s luck turned. A man named est known authority in this country upon the subject thing was overwhelming as it det- Daniel Colt Gilman began asking for recommen- of the laws and principles of electricity.” onated, sitting there in the desert “I am pretty sure that once you dations for faculty members to join the newly es- The man who struggled for recognition from his in the early morning.” admit exotic matter of some suit- tablished in Baltimore, peers ended up being awarded the Henry Draper Robert Carter, describing wit- able kind, you can mathematically Maryland, the first true research institution in the Medal in 1890 by the National Academy of Scienc- nessing his work come to fruition construct a star with a wormhole US. One name kept popping up among European es, for his contributions to astrophysics. When the while at the Manhattan Project, inside.” scientists: Henry Rowland. Gilman offered Row- American Physical Society was founded in 1899, FoxNews.com, February 19, Dieter Brill, University of land a position at the fledgling university as a phys- Rowland became its very first president. Alas, Row- 2011. Maryland, on a hypothesized ics professor, which Rowland was happy to accept. land’s health failed at a relatively young age: he was “phantom matter” that could prop Once on board, Rowland embarked upon a tour diagnosed with diabetes shortly after marrying in “You put energy into it, and open a wormhole, United Press of European laboratories to glean ideas and pur- 1890, and thereafter focused on inventing and pat- some of that energy gets con- International, March 4, 2011. chase any necessary equipment to reproduce similar enting various improvements in telegraphy so that verted into that beautiful coherent “To me the problem of a notion world-class laboratories back in Baltimore. Among he would not leave his family destitute. He died in light beam.” the labs he visited was that of Hermann von Helm- 1901 of complications from the disease. Doug Stone, Yale, on devel- MEMBERS continued on page 5

Series II, Vol. 20, No. 04 and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent is- General Councillors ADVISORS April 2011 sue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will be Marcela Carena*, Haiyan Gao, Marta Dark McNeese, Representatives from Other Societies honored without charge only if received within 6 months Katherine Freese*, Nergis Mavalvala*, Warren Mori, APS NEWS © 2011 The American Physical Society Fred Dylla, AIP; David R. Sokoloff, AAPT of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Post- Pierre Meystre, Jorge Pullin* age Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing International Councillor International Advisors Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Belita Koiler Louis Felipe Rodriguez Jorge, Mexican Physical Society; Membership Department, American Physical Society, Editor•...... Alan Chodos Henry van Driel, Canadian Association of Physicists One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Nominating Committee Staff Science Writer ...... Michael Lucibella Steven Girvin Staff Representatives Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson APS COUNCIL 2011 Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten Proofreader...... Edward Lee President Venkatesh Narayamurti Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director Barry C. Barish*, Caltech Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director, Public Affairs; Dan Kulp, Editorial Director; Christine APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- Neil Cornish (Astrophysics), Thomas Gallagher (Atomic, Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael monthly, except the August/September issue, by the cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing President-Elect Molecular & Optical Physics), Mark Reeves (Biologi- Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Robert L. Byer*, Stanford University cal), Nancy Levinger* (Chemical), Arthur Epstein (Con- lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It contains Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// densed Matter Physics), David Landau (Computational), Administrator for Governing Committees news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Vice-President James Wallace (Fluid Dynamics), Gay Stewart* (Forum Ken Cole Sections, and Forums; advance information on meetings Michael S. Turner*, on Education), Amber Stuver*, (Forum on Graduate of the Society; and reports to the Society by its commit- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Student Affairs), Michael Riordan (Forum on History of tees and task forces, as well as opinions. should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– Executive Officer Physics), Stefan Zolner* (Forum on Industrial and Ap- * Members of the APS Executive Board Membership Department, American Physical Society, Kate P. Kirby*, Harvard-Smithsonian (retired) plied Physics), Herman Winick (Forum on International Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Physics), Philip “Bo” Hammer (Forum on Physics and ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- [email protected]. Treasurer Society), Anthony Johnson (Laser Science), Ted Einstein dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Divi- Joseph W. Serene*, Georgetown University (Emeritus) (Materials), David McIntyre (Northwest Section), Wick the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All cor- sion, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Editor-in-Chief Haxton (Nuclear), Marjorie Corcoran (Particles & respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Gene D. Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) Fields), John Galayda (Physics of Beams), Vincent Chan Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address (Plasma), Scott Milner (Polymer Physics), Bruce Barrett Past-President MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. changes, please send both the old and new addresses, (4 Corners Section) Curtis G. Callan, Jr.*, APS NEWS April 2011 • 3

Washington Dispatch A bimonthly update from the APS Office of Public Affairs ISSUE: Budget and Authorization Environment

Fiscal Year 2011 Update In the last edition of the Dispatch, we reported that Congress had passed The Jasmine Revolution a Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 spending, which By Mourad Telmini extended funding for federal programs through March 4th 2011 at FY 2010 levels with virtually no waivers. On February 11th, the House What happened in Tunisia on Republicans released their proposed FY11 funding bill (H.R. 1), which January 14th 2011 is no doubt included a total of $61 billion worth of cuts to the Federal budget and a major event in the history of a significant cuts to DOE Office of Science, NIST, and NSF. The cuts century that started with another would have to be absorbed in the seven months that remain in FY11. milestone, the tragedy of Sep- The effective reductions, from FY10 levels, would be 9.9% for NSF; tember 11th 2001. After a decade 32.7% for DOE Office of Science; and 36% for NIST Core Programs. under the sign of terror and war, The House-passed bill was a non-starter for the Democrat-controlled the flavor of Jasmine is bringing Senate chamber. With a government shutdown looming, the House and to the world a breeze of freshness Senate agreed on March 1st to a two week extension of the FY11 CR, and optimism. accompanied by $4 billion in reductions that mirrored cuts the White By its purpose, dynamics, first House had requested in FY12. On March 9th, the Senate rejected two results and ongoing consequenc- bills that would have extended the CR for the balance of the fiscal year: es, it makes sense to compare a Republican proposal to cut an additional $57 billion in accordance the Jasmine revolution to the fall with H.R. 1 and a Democratic proposal that would have cut $4.7 billion. of the Berlin wall. Indeed, while

these lines are being written, the Photo by Mourad Telmini As of the deadline for the Dispatch, House GOP leaders have begun news on the Internet reports on behind-the-scenes negotiations on another short-term stopgap was the first to abolish slavery Moreover, it is interesting that Chinese opposition leaders who spending measure to keep the government operating beyond March (1846), to promulgate a constitu- many notices were written in th are taking the Jasmine revolution 18 . A Senate aide close to the House GOP leadership said the measure tion (1861), to introduce modern English, with slogans like “Game as an example for bringing about would likely keep the government running for another 3 weeks, with science in education (1875), to over”, “Yes we can,” etc (see pic- accompanying reductions of $2 billion per week ($6 billion total). democracy in China, inspired by prohibit polygamy (1957), etc. ture). This is absolutely new be- the role that new technologies and The Tunisian youth are extremely cause the preceding generation Senate Democrats appear willing to agree to the plan but worry that by social networks played in Tunisia. open-minded and in touch with was tightly linked to France and accepting a series of short-term government funding measures they Obviously, the perfume of Jas- will eventually provide the House Republicans with the $61 billion in the most advanced communica- French culture and language. It is mine, this beautiful and delicate cuts the GOP is seeking. “I don’t like this death by a thousand cuts but tion technologies (more than 25% no longer the case. Tunisian youth white flower typical of Tunisia, is I also don’t want a government shutdown,” Senator Mikulski (D-MD) of the 10 million Tunisians have a is open to the entire world. It will diffusing across the world. said last week. The White House has also sent signals that it is ready to Facebook account). A very widely be great if this message is well When looking to the repercus- accept many, if not most, of the Republican reductions if that will keep shared feeling is that the Tunisian taken and well understood by our sions of the Jasmine revolution, the government open. people deserve to join the free friends from all over the world. first in the neighboring countries world and become a genuine de- Afterwards, if one has to take Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request of the Middle East region, where th mocracy, and the president, in a lesson from the Jasmine revo- On February 14 , President Obama released his annual Budget the Egyptian people succeeded office for 23 years, became the lution, I think that it would be Request for Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12). In light of fiscal and political to drive out Hosni Mubarak, and realities, the request is fairly good for science. major obstacle to that legitimate to never despair of humankind, where dramatic events are cur- aspiration. whatever their present status, and rently underway in Libya, Al- The following summarizes the presidential request for the key science The echo of the Sidi Bouzid wherever they live. For many geria, Yemen and Bahrain, any agencies: events was instantaneously broad- years, people around the world, physicist can find in this dynam- cast through the social networks including scientists, were con- ics a striking illustration of the National Science Foundation (NSF): Up 13% from FY10 enacted and the protest increased with vinced that the only way to bring levels to $8.9 billion in FY12. The request keeps the Foundation on famous “butterfly effect.” Indeed, demonstrations in the other cities Arab countries to democracy, if its ten-year doubling, as authorized by the America COMPETES Act the whole story started with a of Tunisia (Regueb, Kasserine, any, is the Iraqi example, and it (Public Law 110-69). rather banal incident: on Decem- Thala, …) where the dictatorial doesn’t matter if the price for that ber 17th 2010, a policewoman Up government commanded snipers can be tens of thousands of civil- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Core: slapped Mohamed Bouazizi, a 15% from FY10 enacted levels to $763.5 million in FY12. The NIST to kill the peaceful protesters. The ians killed. The Tunisian revolu- young jobless man who was try- Core budget comprises the Scientific & Technical Research and videos recorded by the people tion demonstrates with the most ing hard to sell some fruit and Services (STRS) and Construction of Research Facilities (CRF). The of Kasserine with their mobile striking clarity how much this vegetables in the market of a poor STRS request is $678.9 million, an increase of 32% from 2010; the phones and uploaded on the net Machiavellian view is wrong. Tu- city in the center of Tunisia called CRF request is $84.6 million, a decrease of 42% from 2010. shocked the nation, whereas the nisians and Arabs are humans on Sidi Bouzid. official media continued to deny the same footing as others. They Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE SC): Up 9.2% from For Mohamed, valiant heir of or minimize these events, or pres- are able to emancipate themselves FY10 enacted levels to $5.4 billion in FY12. a people whose 3000 years of his- ent them as terrorism acts perpe- and contribute to the stability and tory include such icons as Hanni- The proposed FY2012 budget does eliminate funding for the trated by foreign agents. the progress of humankind. All bal, who crossed the Alps using at Fermi as well as the HolifieldR adioactive Ion Beam Facility. The DOE Despite the speeches of Zine that we need is to be more known elephants, Saint Augustine, Ibn Office of Science budget proposal explains that continued upgrades El Abidine Ben Ali, aggressive and accepted as we are, without Khaldoun and other geniuses, this to the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and and pathetic, an implicit, but any stereotypes or clichés.. Con- humiliation was too much. Mo- construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) necessitated strong consensus was growing up trary to a widely shared but false hamed Bouazizi immolated him- these cuts. However, while the closure of the TEVATRON was expected, among the people: The dictator idea, democracy in the Arab world the Holifield closure was not. H earings on the proposed FY2012 budget self in front of the official repre- has to go. On Friday January 14th is the best guarantee for peace and are underway, but it is unclear when voting will take place. sentatives of the government. By 2011, many tens of thousands stability in the Middle East. The this act, he became the first martyr demonstrated in Tunis, transform- transition towards democracy Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency- and the symbol of the revolution $550 million; ARPA-E did not receive appropriations ing Habib Bourguiba avenue, should be strongly supported by Energy (ARPA-E): and freedom. His message was re- in the FY10 budget because it received funding through the Stimulus named after the first president the US and other main democra- ceived one hundred percent by the bill. of Tunisia, to a civilian place de cies. We need to learn from your people of Sidi Bouzid : No digni- combat against despotism. The experiences. We want to rely on ty means no life. A spontaneous, Be sure to check the APS Washington Office’s Blog, Physics Frontline few hours of this civilian dem- your friendship, to show you our popular demonstration started to (http://physicsfrontline.aps.org/), for the latest news on the FY11 and onstration were clear enough to luminous face, not that dark one FY12 Budgets. rise up, but immediately faced the force the dictator to leave. I was portrayed in the media and from oppression of the regime. Indeed, there and I can testify how im- which we have all suffered so ISSUE: POPA Reports like many other governments in pressive this demonstration was, much. Together, we can go for- The Energy Critical Elements (ECEs) Study Group publicly released its the region, the Tunisian dictato- report, which examines the scarcity of critical elements for new energy not only by the number of people, ward through mutual collabora- rial regime took advantage of the technologies, on February 18th at a press conference held at the AAAS but also and mainly by their civil- tion. Personally, I have the enor- atmosphere post September 11, Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The report has received extensive ity and the very high quality of mous good fortune to have many with the tacit benediction of the coverage in the media, and is the subject of the Back Page in this issue their behavior and their demands. friends in US and I had the oppor- main western democracies, to op- of APS News. The report includes policy recommendations on: the We were undertaking the first tunity to visit this fantastic coun- press any protest, even peaceful coordination of departmental efforts where ECEs are concerned; the revolution of the 21th century and try. But, many of my colleagues, gathering and analysis of information on ECEs; research, development, and civil, branding the protesters the conscience of this exceptional despite the fact that they are con- and workforce issues; efficiency and recycling efforts; and possible as dangerous terrorists. th event was so great, that a very ducting very good science, and market interventions. On February 17 , Senator Udall (D-CO) introduced Actually, all the ingredients strange and unique phenomenon even those who are retired now, a bill that implements nearly all of the recommendations. Briefings have for a revolution aiming toward a been scheduled for or have already been provided to the Department of happened. A kind of collective ef- have never had the possibility to transition to democracy and the Energy, the Department of Defense, the Office ofS cience & Technology fect linked all the demonstrators collaborate with US scientists, free world were there for many Policy, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Department of the Interior. together, making them take care nor to visit America. We deserve years. The Tunisian people are of each other, support each other more interest, and this is benefi- among the most advanced in As of the writing of this dispatch, the Direct Air Capture Report still and feel that it is a leitmotiv and cial both for you and for us. North Africa. This small country remains under review. DISPATCH continued on page 4 a national duty to be exemplary. JASMINE continued on page 7 4 • April 2011 APS NEWS Letters Open Letter to APS President Barry Barish In the January, 2011 issue of The scientific community had with nitrogen atoms of the earth’s Others Contributed More than Van de APS News, you responded to a a great deal of difficulty in ac- atmosphere. That experiment question from the reporter as to cepting a meaningful role for the evolved into Hi-Res and became Graaff to Electrostatic Accelerators what you considered the most NSF in its support of outstand- a world-class effort of high re- The column “This Month in and returned to a few pressing issue facing the physics ing science and not infrequently nown. Physics History” in the Febru- years after the 1935 paper was community right now with the acted imprudently in judging These efforts did not require ary APS News, which comments published. Tuve was elected to the statement, “Research Funding”. the value of NSF proposals to an infusion of lots of new mon- on the 1935 patent granted for National Academy of Sciences in You and I have known each achieving understanding in the ey and were achieved at least in the Van de Graaff generator, is 1946. other for over fifty years, dat- field. Probably the most notable part via a redirection of program a better example of the power The history of electrostatic ac- ing back to when we were both example of that attitude was the funds. When I informed a Nobel of an eponym than it is of phys- celerators continued with work by at the Lawrence Berkeley Labo- review, conducted by the Future Prize winner that funding for his ics history. While the importance Ray Herb, elected to the National ratory conducting experimental Facilities Panel at Woods Hole, proposed program was scheduled of Van de Graaff’s development Academy of Sciences in 1955. research in elementary particle Massachusetts in 1974, of the to be reduced, I was told I was of his method of generating high Beginning in the late 1930s at physics. I don’t believe that ei- Cornell CESR proposal to con- the worst program officer that he voltages by carrying charge to a Wisconsin, Herb’s machines pro- ther of us would have given that vert the synchrotron to an elec- had ever encountered in all of his terminal through charge sprayed duced highly controlled nearly response then and I still do not tron-positron collider. dealings with federal agencies. on a continuous canvas belt is mono-energetic proton beams up believe that your response would I believe you were one of Others accused me of not being properly acknowledged, Van de to energies of 4.5 MeV. The two be appropriate today. It is one that the panelists, and I am sure that truthful in stating the proposal’s Graaff’s early machines produced generators which played an im- I have heard repeatedly over the you recall the Panel’s decision high voltages–and great pictures funding. portant role at Los Alamos dur- years, particularly by scientists to recommend not funding that of lighting discharge and public- In closing, I would like to take ing WWII were Herb’s machines who have moved into advisory proposal under any funding sce- ity–but not high energy beams. issue with one of your other state- brought from Wisconsin. As a and administrative responsibili- nario. Later, the Panel introduced Hence those machines were not ments, “Probably the most urgent graduate student and then junior ties as they have aged. It misses a fourth scenario, labeled “Blue “accelerators” and were not useful issue is for constituent scientists faculty member at Wisconsin the mark. Skies” under which it supported in nuclear physics research. to make contact with the new circa 1950 who worked with “the What would my response have the proposal. The earliest application of the members of Congress to talk to long tank”, a generator returned been? Mine would have been, The rationale for not sup- Van de Graaff potential genera- them about how valuable basic from Los Alamos, I recall, with “Excellence of Ideas”. porting what was widely viewed tion mechanism to produce an ac- science is to the future of the amusement, that we always called As you know, just about 25 by the panelists as an excellent celerator was centered at the De- country”. I feel this approach is the machine “the electrostatic years after the establishment of proposal was that there wasn’t partment of Terrestrial Magnetism generator”, never–bite-your- enough money to support two being naive and further tends to Laboratories in Washington where the NSF, I spent eight years of my tongue–the Van de Graaff. And it promote the use of “pork” to get Tuve, Hafstad, and Dahl, Phys. career there, between 1972 and electron-positron colliders, (the was Ray Herb who developed in financial support in the form of Rev. 48, 315-337 (1935), describe 1980, as Program Director for El- other being PEP, the SLAC 15 the 1960s the pelletron generators ementary Particle Physics. One of GeV x 15 GeV collider). This “earmarks.” All too often, I have their development of “electro- found those approaches to be static generators… used for the of which several hundred are in the very first things I learned was was a phony argument; the real use today. The Pelletron potential from the charter, which placed rationale was political. counterproductive to getting the production of high energy protons best research supported and to and deuterons.” In that paper they generation mechanism is a kind prime importance on the need for The bottom line is that the end up being wasteful and poorly reported that late in 1933 they suc- of grandchild of Van de Graaff’s excellence when funding science. NSF did provide support for designed and planned. ceeded in accelerating 20 micro- design where the high voltage is I adopted that belief early in my CESR, which turned out to be I think a debate on the fund- amp beams of protons to energies generated through the transfer of tenure and have held it ever since. the nation’s premier facility for a ing of science may be long over- of over one MeV. In later papers charge carried by belts of metal At the time, NSF was almost 30-year period when it essential- they report using their electrostat- pellets connected with insulating inconsequential in the funding of ly dominated publications on the due. If you feel such an initiative ic generator in important experi- nylon links. particle physics, and aside from properties of b quark states. might be appropriate, I would be ments bearing on the structure of So honor Van de Graaff! But supporting the operation of the At that time, the NSF funded willing to participate. protons and light nuclei. honor Tuve, Herb, and others who 12 GeV electron synchrotron, the another proposal, from the Uni- Merle Tuve grew up in Can- contributed more to the devel- program was rather non-descript versity of Utah, called the Fly’s Sincerely yours, ton, North Dakota, across the opment of the electrostatic gen- and only a tiny fraction the size Eye, which relied upon observ- street from his best friend, Ernest erators that have played a central of the Atomic Energy Commis- ing fluorescence caused by high- Alexander Abashian Lawrence, both from Norwegian role in our understanding of the sion’s. energy cosmic rays interacting Ruckersville, VA immigrant families (the name nucleus. Lawrence was anglicized from Barry Barish Responds: Lavrens). Odd Dahl, physicist and Robert K. Adair I welcome Al Abashian's re- process we use serves us very NASA and DoE. We certainly arctic explorer, was Norwegian Hamden, CT action to my question and an- well, but it is far from perfect. don’t lack for good ideas, excel- swer interview published in the Nevertheless, even in Abashian’s lent projects or priority setting It Pays to Keep Track of Units January 2011 APS News, but do own field of particle physics, the in the U.S. We do lack research The Back Page in the February scales on their respective axes, not agree with a couple of his lack of U.S. research investment support! APS News makes a hypothetical one for the American candidate major points. is resulting in the premier new Abashian also disagrees with In particular, Abashian took facilities moving abroad, the my plea that constituent sci- comparison as to which of two job and one for the foreign candidate. issue with my calling “research LHC at CERN in Europe, two entists make contact with their candidates one would hire: what When engineers do what the au- funding” the most pressing issue new B-factories in Japan and It- new members of Congress. My appears to be an American high thors have done it causes space school graduate at $17/hr and a facing the physics community, aly, and the Tevatron at Fermilab point is a very simple one and probes to crash into the planets and he gives several examples being shut down despite signifi- has nothing to do with “pork” or more qualified foreign candidate upon which they were supposed eager to work for $1.50/hr. The (in hindsight) where more judi- cant discovery opportunities. In “earmarks.” Our Congress has to land softly. One cannot put cious choices could have been Astrophysics, despite dramatic few scientists in its ranks, yet comparison has little merit be- the foreign candidate data on the cause the respective costs of living made, presumably replacing our discoveries of recent years and they make many decisions in- American candidate’s coordinate need for increased funding. Of the highly regarded ASTRO2010 volving science and technology. in the two candidates’ countries is system without scaling the num- course, it goes without saying report, the highest priority fu- Scientists must discuss these is- not considered. Having only half bers accordingly, and vice versa. that we can always improve our ture dark energy mission cannot sues with them, if we are to have the data makes the author’s con- priority setting. The peer review be funded in the near future by an informed Congress. clusion suspect. The cost of living Dimensional analysis used to be relative to the wage paid is an im- taught before we moved on to the portant consideration. “modern stuff”. Knowing what What the authors of the ar- unit system one is working in has DISPATCH continued from page 3 ticle, Rising Above the Gathering always had value until h = c = If you have suggestions for a POPA study, please send in your ideas electronically. http://www.aps.org/policy/ whatever = 1 came along. Storm, Revisited, are doing is to reports/popa-reports/suggestions/index.cfm. use only one coordinate system for comparison. There are two Tom J. Gray ISSUE: Media Update coordinate systems with different Corpus Christi, TX The Energy Critical Elements report received considerable media coverage after it was launched Feb. 18th during a press conference at the AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C. Among the numerous publications that published stories: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time, Nature and Agence France-Presse.

Visit us Coverage of the damaging effects to science proposed in H.R. 1 has also been robust. Roll Call, USA Today, Science, Newsday, The Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and Long Island Business News published on the web at stories about scientific program cuts and layoffs that would occur if the bill were to become law.

http://www.aps.org/ The APS petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calling for a non-proliferation assessment of smaller, publications/apsnews efficient technologies generated stories in the Global Newswire and The Hill and Huffington Post blogs. Log on to the APS Public Affairs Website (http://www.aps.org/public_affairs) for more information. APS NEWS April 2011 • 5

Designing Games in Sin City Pays Off By Alaina G. Levine Lady Luck doesn’t always served as Chief Creative Officer at serve as the technical bones of market proves you right.” cal game he calls Boogie Ball, smile on physicists, but for Olaf Progressive Gaming International. the game, the next step, called as- Understanding the power of the and another for a trivia-based slot Vancura, she not only grinned, she Today he is the Vice President set creation, is where the sound market is especially important for machine game framed around the handed him the jackpot. of Game Development at Ameri- engineering, artwork, and anima- scientists and mathematicians in- Ripley’s Believe It or Not brand. In the early 1990s, Vancura, can Gaming Systems, a leading tion are designed and planned. terested in moving into the gaming Vancura frequently refers to whose PhD in physics is from Johns designer, manufacturer and opera- Implementation, the subsequent profession. Although he doesn’t himself as an inventor, and ar- Hopkins University, was mind- tor of gaming machines for casi- phase, involves programming the know of other physicists in the gues that the best thing about ing his own business probing the nos. Based in Las Vegas, Vancura industry, he declares that there is manufacturing casino games is dawn of matter and time as a sci- oversees all product development a “non-trivial” number of math- entist at the Harvard-Smithsonian for the company, including game ematicians shaping the future of the creativity involved. “When I Center for Astrophysics (CfA). He development, operating systems, slots and other casino games. Even was a researcher, that’s what I was enjoyed his cosmic endeavors, but software and hardware advance- so, “mathematicians might come missing,” he says. “[Training as a] was also titillated by casino games, ment, platform progression and across as nerdy people and don’t physicist taught me how to solve brought on by a lifelong interest in integration with third-party con- understand what motivates every- problems, obliquely, but that cre- cards and card counting. While tent providers. He directs a 40 to day people,” he says. “If you are so ative aspect was missing. Astro- still employed at CfA, he created 50 person team and is involved in highly trained in math and physics, physics was a discovery process and began teaching a course at all elements of new game creation. you might lose sight of how Joe rather than an inventorship.” Tufts University on the mathemat- The company’s portfolio includes the Plumber might think on a regu- But in gaming, there is much ics of gambling. It became one of both table and slot machine games. lar basis. You have to create stuff to invent and the feedback he gets the most popular classes offered as Vancura gets his greatest sat- that has mass appeal.” is immediate–he can see it on the part of Tufts’ “Experimental Col- isfaction from helping to design The key, he adds, is to design players’ faces as they enjoy a game lege” and inspired him to write a and develop a particular game, a Olaf Vancura games that are fun for the players he helped execute. There is plenty textbook, Smart Casino Gambling, process which he views as a mar- actual game onto the platform with and keeps them playing, even when of scientific rigor, he adds, such as in part because “I couldn’t find [a riage of art and science. He refers which the player will interact. His they are losing. “As an inventor I textbook] without junk,” he says. to the original specifications for engineers usually program in C++ have to be humble,” he says. “I am in the card counting system he cre- “I didn’t want to expose my stu- the game as a recipe, which com- or a variant, such as Flash Action not designing for [someone with] ated for his book Knock Out Black- dents to the nonsense” that existed prise the mathematics that will be Script. Testing, and quality and a PhD in physics, but rather a guy jack. And in the end, he stands by in current tomes about card count- used to determine how the game assurance (Q and A) follows. The who wants something entertaining his decision to pursue physics. ing. will be played. “You must under- final step in the process is partner- and exciting,” and who will find it “The greatest value in getting Vancura invited the casino di- stand the game mathematically,” ing with the regulators, to ensure interesting enough to keep coming a physics degree,” says Vancura, rector of Foxwoods, a major ca- he explains, “but then you have that the game meets all of the re- back. “is that it teaches you to think and sino complex in Connecticut, to to step back and ask how would quired standards for the casino. In an industry that generates synthesize knowledge. It gives you address his pupils. As fate would an average guy play? What are The lifecycle of a game, from con- 10 times the revenue of the film an exceptional viewpoint of the have it, he soon began consulting the emotional issues I will guide cept to Q and A is anywhere from industry, according to Vancura, landscape of the world, because for the industry and found himself them through? That’s where the art six toeighteen months, but one of this astrophysicist has found great it’s a high-minded field that wants spending more time thinking about comes in.” Vancura’s goals as Vice President success at bridging the art and sci- to understand everything.” the mathematical problems asso- Depending upon the type of is to streamline the process and cut ence. “I have a gift,” he admits, “I Alaina G. Levine is a science ciated with gambling than about game he is designing, the math it down to less than six months. am good at creating and inventing writer and President of Quantum G stars and gamma rays. In 1997, involved could be as simple as ba- The most difficult aspect of his (table and slot) games.” One of his he left astrophysics and joined sic algebra and calculus, to more job is “as an inventor, part of the particular strengths is translating Success Solutions, a leadership Mikohn Gaming, a game manufac- complex optimization, probability problem of creating something is the concepts behind established and professional development con- turing firm, full-time. He advanced and statistics, and of course, game thinking in mind who the audience board games, such as Yahtzee and sulting enterprise. She can be con- through the ranks, earning the title theory. is, which might not be you,” he ex- Battleship, into table or slot games. tacted through www.alainalevine. of Vice President of Game Devel- After Vancura and his team plains. “So you should never fall in He holds 65 patents, one of which com. Copyright, 2011, Alaina G. opment, and from 2004 to 2006, he determine the recipe that will love with your inventions until the is for a Pachinko–type mechani- Levine.

MEMBERS continued from page 2 Physicist Takes a Look at TIMSS of a theory of everything is that it about this approach to time travel of Higgs singlets, they might be By Gabriel Popkin in part due to insufficient funding implies we will eventually know is that it avoids all the big para- able to send messages to the past everything there is to know...For doxes…Because time travel is The Trends in International at the Department of Education’s or future.” me physics is a work in progress.” limited to these special particles, it Mathematics and Science Study National Center for Education Tom Weiler, Vanderbilt Uni- Statistics (NCES), which man- Marcelo Gleiser, Dartmouth is not possible for a man to travel (TIMSS) has given rise to con- versity, on his theory that the ages US participation in various College, MSNBC.com, March 8, back in time and murder one of his siderable hand-wringing among LHC could be used to create par- US educators and policy makers international assessments. NCES 2011. parents before he himself is born, ticles that can travel through time, due to US students’ poor perfor- officials also questioned whether for example. However, if scien- mance. At the annual meeting of students graduating from second- “One of the attractive things tists could control the production FoxNews.com, March 16, 2011. the American Association for the ary school around the world form Advancement of Science (AAAS) a comparable cohort. Conferees Grapple with Climate Change, Sustainable Energy in February in Washington, DC, Orzel, who is a professor of physicist Chad Orzel said that physics at Union College in Sche- By Michael Lucibella tion, while the second day was de- sun were changing. “’The sun ex- nectady, New York, said that he TIMSS physics questions were Researchers and technical ex- voted to ways to make buildings plains everything’ does not fit the approached the topic by asking the generally aligned with standard perts speaking at the second Phys- more efficient and to sources of available data,” Santer said. question, “Would this make our US high school physics curricula, ics of Sustainable Energy confer- renewable energy. The tone of many of the pre- [physics professors’] job easier?” but he also suggested ways to im- ence emphasized the urgent need Though much of the confer- sentations indicated that there is prove the next round of the test. He concluded, “If my incoming ence was devoted to looking for no silver bullet or panacea to solve students could answer the TIMSS to change how the planet gener- TIMSS is a major international energy solutions, speakers at the climate change and completely physics questions, it would make ates and uses energy. The con- math and science assessment de- beginning of the program offered fulfill the looming energy needs my job considerably easier.” ference, sponsored by the APS signed by the International Asso- a defense against critics of anthro- of the planet. Speakers pointed Orzel’s analysis covered 39 Forum on Physics and Society ciation for the Evaluation of Edu- pogenic global climate change. to an inexorably warming planet physics questions that were re- (FPS) and held at the University cational Achievement. Although “Natural causes alone cannot leased from TIMSS 2008, which of California, Berkeley, in early with limited resources, a growing portions of TIMSS are conducted March, highlighted new research –I repeat cannot–explain the… population and a global demo- every four years, the high school was given to students graduating and technology aimed at better changes we’ve actually seen,” graphic shift towards urbanization portion that includes physics has from high school in nine coun- understanding and combating cli- said Ben Santer, a climatologist and higher energy use per capita. only been given twice, in 1995 and tries. While Orzel did not seek to mate change. at Lawrence Livermore National These challenges are daunting and 2008. In 1995, US high school se- explain US students’ prior poor Talks on the first day of the Lab. He pointed to his research will take a concerted effort from niors taking the test scored poorly, performance, he noted that two of two-day meeting included discus- showing that different layers of wide swaths of society including underperforming their peers in the major topic areas covered by sions on energy policy, the envi- Earth’s atmosphere have been every other country tested. In TIMSS—heat and temperature, and researchers developing the latest ronmental effect of fossil fuels warming at different rates, rather 2008, the US did not participate, atomic and nuclear physics—re- green technologies, policy mak- TIMSS continued on page 6 and ways to clean up transporta- than evenly, as they would if the CONFEREES continued on page 7 6 • April 2011 APS NEWS

TRIAL continued from page 1 CUTS continued from page 1 interesting and broad science that While the INDICO trial grew from all over the world come here, loss of jobs at each laboratory. We've got an app for you! is represented at the April meeting out of CISA’s desire to bring meet- they come to our lab, and we’re As the congressman pointed out, at the plenary sessions and talks,” ings content to our international saying ‘you know what, stay away,’ at Brookhaven there are roughly Heeger said. “We selected the members, the trial results will help we’re saying, ‘stay in Switzerland, 1,000 people on staff. The same plenary sessions and then a cross shape the APS HQIT plans for ex- go to France,’ that’s what we’re thing would be replicated of section of invited and contributed pansion of the Online Bulletin to saying and I think that’s a terrible course at each national laboratory; talks, from the fields of nuclear, offer upload capability to all meet- message to put out there. It’s also a Oakridge National laboratory, Ar- particle and astrophysics.” ing speakers. The Committee on terrible message to send to the col- gonne National Laboratory and The sessions picked to be post- Meetings (COM) will determine lege senior who’s a physics major, Femilab in Illinois, the California ed online include the three plenary the final feature set of the Speaker who maybe contemplating a PhD labs, SLAC and Berkeley.” sessions as well as several of the Slide Upload module, but the IT program, and we’re going to say It is unclear how long science scientific and forum sessions. The team is currently designing the ‘you know what, we don’t have programs like the NSLS and RHIC scientific sessions include “T1: The system to support .ppt, .pdf, audio places where you can go to pursue might be shuttered. The President’s future of Particle Physics,” “J1: files and others. It will also include your research’.” proposed budget for 2012 includes The Essence of Neutrinos,” “Q3: a Copyright Permission signoff, Bishop spent much of his time increases to federal research. How- Direct Detection of Dark Matter,” granting APS the right to post the calling attention to the local impact ever, researchers at the lab say that and “J3: New Results from the slides, and confirming that the that the possible budget cuts would even a temporary shutdown would Cosmos.” The forums on Physics speaker has obtained permissions have on the town of Brookhaven, have lasting effects on the labs. in Society and International Phys- for any copyrighted material con- whose economy relies heavily on “Essentially our research stops,” ics are sponsoring four sessions. the lab. According to budget esti- said Tony Lanzirotti, a researcher They also include “E5: Nuclear tained in the slides. mates by the lab, about 950 work- from the University of Chicago Weapons at 65,” “J6: The Digital A few APS units currently post ers employed at the lab would be whose research uses the National Divide in 2010,” “Y5: Science Di- selected presentations online, but laid off. On top of that the National Synchrotron Light Source, “[The plomacy,” and “R5: The Status of the manual process introduces a Synchrotron Light Source and the researchers] are all very highly Arms Control.” time delay that will be eliminated Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider skilled people, they’re going to go The April Meeting app con- The sessions were chosen in by giving speakers a self-upload would have to be shuttered and out and they’re going to find other tains the scientific program part because research in particle function. This trial is the next step of abstracts. You can sort the work halted on the NSLS-2 due opportunities, and getting them to physics, astrophysics and nuclear toward a comprehensive approach talks by session or unit. You'll to lack of funding, affecting thou- come back to Long Island, back to physics is often part of large in- to putting meeting sessions on the be able to read the abstracts, sands more visiting scientists and Brookhaven if they have to leave, ternational collaborations. With web. More information on how to view the speaker index, get construction workers. is not something that’s going to be access the presentations from this information on exhibitors, and the capability to self-upload pre- “[T]he RHIC and the NSLS easy to do.” see maps of Hyatt Hotel Or- year’s meeting can be found on sentation materials, scientists can right now play host to approxi- Speakers at the press confer- ange County, Garden Grove, instantly share their latest results the April meeting web page on the California. mately 3,300 visiting scientists,” ence highlighted also how basic with the world. APS website. Bishop said. “That’s 3,300 visit- research contributes to new tech- ing scientists who–leave aside nology and industries. At one point MEETING continued from page 1 the value of the work they’re do- Lubell held up his iPhone, saying sion will feature John Johnson of glia and Bruce Miller, co-creators verse will be explored in session ing, which is considerable–that’s that without federally supported Caltech with the latest update on for the Syfy original series “Eure- “C11: Cosmic Ray Measurements, 3,300 visiting scientists who will research, the technology needed to the hunt for exoplanets, followed ka” and actor John de Lancie, who Anisotropies and Propagation.” not be staying in our hotels, who build the device wouldn’t exist. by Carl Wieman of the White played Q in “Star Trek: The Next The balloon lofted Cosmic Ray will not be renting cars from local “This isn’t just a sand box, this House Office of Science and Tech- Generation.” Energetics And Mass (CREAM) dealerships, who will not be eating isn’t somebody’s pork barrel, this nology Policy discussing how fed- Deepwater Drilling: In light experiment, which looks for high in local restaurants, who will not is the future of the country, and you eral policies could be used to help of last summer’s Gulf oil spill, energy cosmic rays, recently com- be buying their coffee from local can see it,” said Peter Stephens, a spur university research, and Yang Monday morning’s session “Q5: pleted its third run in Antarctica. delis.” professor in the physics and as- Shao-Horn of MIT with the latest Physics and Engineering of Deep Young Soo Yoon from the Uni- The impact on scientific re- tronomy department at Stony battery developments. Tuesday Water Drilling” will begin with a versity of Maryland will present search would not be limited to Brook University. morning’s plenary likewise has of- talk by Brian Clark of the Schlum- its findings on proton and helium Brookhaven, but would have a APS has been actively involved ferings of broad interest, including berger Company on how physics fluxes. Also in Antarctica is the similarly deleterious effect at al- in communicating the importance William Marciano of Brookhaven techniques have aided in the search kilometer-sized IceCube neutrino most all federally funded research of the national labs throughout National Lab explaining the tricky for oil deposits around the world. detector, which has been recently centers. the budget process. APS has spon- business of pinning down the pro- From there Kenneth Gray from the completed. A team of physicists “What is happening, or would sored meetings on Capitol Hill ton radius, Stuart Henderson from University of Texas at Austin will from the University of Wisconsin happen, at Brookhaven will hap- with legislators, sent out alerts to the Spallation Neutron Source offer a brief primer on deep water will show how the detector can be pen across the country,” said Mike all its members who reside in the showing how particle accelerators drilling. Jonathan Katz from Wash- used to detect the direction of solar Lubell, the APS director of pub- US, helped organize a taskforce have contributed to society and ington University in St. Louis will and stellar cosmic rays as well. lic affairs. “H.R. 1 would affect on American innovation, written Nergis Mavalvala of MIT discuss- describe what caused the infamous Digital Divide: Access to the 26,000 scientists and engineers numerous op-ed articles, and con- ing the connection between quan- “top-kill” attempt to fail to stop the internet is critical for a country nationwide. It would cause the tributed to other media campaigns. tum mechanics and gravitational spill, and what could possibly have and its population to integrate into waves. been done to make it work. the evolving global economy, and Superconductivity: 2011 also Stellar, Galactic and Interga- bridging the “digital divide” is the TIMSS continued from page 5 marks the 100th anniversary of the lactic Flares: Flares of all kinds subject of session “J6: The Digi- ceive what he termed “extremely dents taking the test had received discovery of superconductivity. To are invaluable to astrophysicists, tal Divide in 2010.” Hamadoun variable” coverage in US state physics instruction in at least two, mark this important milestone Ses- and are the subject of the session Tourè, Secretary-General of the standards. Speaking about his and as many as five, years before sion J2 on Sunday afternoon will be “L3: Astrophysical Flares.” Hugh International Telecommunications faculty colleagues, Orzel said, devoted to exploring the history and Hudson from the University of Union, will start out with an over- graduating from secondary school. “We tend to assume that first-year future promise of this unusual effect California, Berkeley will talk about view of how mobile phones have In comparison, most US students college students have seen noth- of nature. Peter Pesic of St. John’s data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics made tremendous inroads in the who take physics at all take it for ing but mechanics and very basic College will reflect on the history Observatory, giving a fresh look at developing world, and how to rep- only one year, according to data E&M.” and controversy of its discovery by how solar flares behave and what licate that success for broadband from the American Institute of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and his role the Sun’s chromosphere plays internet. Michael Stanton from the Orzel also observed that the Physics. collaborators. David Larbalestier of in their formation. At the center of Brazilian National Research and released TIMSS questions tend APS and other professional Florida State University will look the galaxy resides a super-massive Education Network will highlight to emphasize computational skill, physics societies have long been at the range of materials used in to- black hole known as Sagittarius A. how the RedCLARA network that rather than conceptual understand- concerned about US students’ dis- ing of physics. Many physics day’s superconductors, and offer in- Though usually not luminous, it is reaches throughout Latin America mal performance on international education research studies have sight into what future materials hold prone to flares of radio, millimeter, has made collaborations of all assessments. “TIMSS results since shown that students can often promise. Taking the implications infrared and X-ray radiation. Far- kinds possible. Roger Cottrell from 1995 do not give us any reason to solve seemingly complex physics even farther, Tony Zee from the had Yusef-Zadeh of Northwestern Stanford University takes a closer believe US physics education has problems without understanding University of California, Santa Bar- University has looked at the in- look at internet penetration in Af- improved since then,” says Mon- bara will delve into the implications frared radiation of some of these rica, and despite challenges, there’s the concepts underlying the prob- lems. ica Plisch, Assistant Director of of superconductivity for theoretical flare-ups, and will discuss how much room for improvement. Education at APS. “A major factor particle physics and quantum field they might be caused by a blob For students, a free career panel Orzel did not discuss typi- is the broken system for preparing theory. of synchrotron plasma orbiting and networking reception will be cal physics curricula in other physics teachers, as documented Physics in Hollywood: On the black hole. Wystan Benbow, held on Friday night, complete countries, but Alka Arora of the by the Task Force on Teacher Edu- Saturday night, well-known sci- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for with refreshments. For graduate International Study Center, the ence writer Jennifer Ouellette will Astrophysics, has been studying students, Sunday’s “Lunch with the Massachusetts-based center that cation in Physics.” moderate a special VIP panel about intense gamma ray bursts with the Experts” is a great opportunity to administers TIMSS, discussed the TIMSS Advanced will be given the uses and misuses of science and latest generation of detectors, and meet some of the leading research- different physics experiences of- again in 2015. If the US partici- physics in Hollywood films and will present his latest research. ers in the fields of astrophysics, fered to students in participating pates, educators and policy mak- shows. Included on the panel will Cosmic Rays and Particles: nuclear physics, gravitation and countries. In the nine countries ers may gain another look into be Bill Prady, co-creator of CBS’s New technologies to hunt for some particle and fields in an informal that participated in the TIMSS how our students stack up against “The Big Bang Theory,” Jaime Pa- of the exotic particles of the uni- setting. 2008 physics assessment, stu- their international peers. APS NEWS April 2011 • 7

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Reviews of Modern Physics Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Program in Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia

Intermittent search strategies The Division of Laser Sciences (DLS) of the American Physical Society announces its lec- O. Bénichou, C. Loverdo, M. Moreau, and R. Voituriez ture program in Laser Science, and invites applications from schools to host a lecturer in At the macroscopic scale, many foraging animals search for 2011/2012. Lecturers will visit selected academic institutions for two days, during which food by moving slowly and scanning an area intently, and time they will give a public lecture open to the entire academic community and meet infor- then moving rapidly to a new area for a new slow scan. At mally with students and faculty. They may also give guest lectures in classes related to Laser the microscopic scale, vesicles inside cells sometimes move Science. The purpose of the program is to bring distinguished scientists to colleges and diffusively, and sometimes move ballistically along rigid bio- universities in order to convey the excitement of Laser Science to undergraduate students. polymers. DNA binding proteins also have periods of slow dif- fusion motion and fast motion along the DNA. These disparate The DLS will cover the travel expenses and honorarium of the lecturer. The host institution processes can be described using the mathematics of inter- will be responsible only for the local expenses of the lecturer and for advertising the public mittent search strategies. In this review, the theoretical frame- lecture. Awards to host institutions will be made by the selection committee after consult- work for such search strategies is described, paying particular ing with the lecturers. Priority will be given to those predominantly undergraduate institu- question to their efficiency. tions that do not have extensive resources for similar programs. http://rmp.aps.org Applications should be sent to the DTL committee Chair Rainer Grobe ([email protected]) and to the DLS Secretary-Treasurer Anne Myers Kelley ([email protected]). The deadline for application for visits in Fall 2011 is May 30. American Association of Physics Teachers Detailed information about the program and the application procedure is available on the Call for Award Nominations DLS-DTL home page: http://physics.sdsu.edu/~anderson/DTL/ The AAPT Awards Committee is seeking nominations for: Lecturers for 2011/2012: • the Oersted Medal • the Richtmyer Memorial Lecture • Laurie Butler, University of Chicago. • Christopher Monroe, University of Maryland. Award • Hui Cao, Yale University. • Luis A. Orozco, University of Maryland. • the Melba Newell Phillips Medal • Eric Cornell, University of Colorado. • Carlos Stroud, University of Rochester. • the J. D. Jackson Award for • Jim Kafka, Spectra Physics. • Ron Walsworth, Harvard University. Excellence in Graduate Physics • Fleming Krim, University of Wisconsin. • Linda Young, Argonne National Lab. Teaching, and • the AAPT Distinguished Service Citation. 2011 PhysTEC All AAPT members are urged to review the descriptions Annual Conference of these awards on the AAPT website (http://www.aapt. org/Programs/awards/) and then, fol- May 23-24, 2011 lowing instructions available at a link Austin, TX on that website, to nominate individu- Plenary Speaker: Carl Wieman als deemed worthy of consideration for any of these awards. Associate Director of Science, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Nobel Prize in Physics, 2001 JASMINE continued from page 3 After the Arab countries, the revolution. The 2011 Physics Teacher Education Coalition Conference is the nation’s largest meeting next region in the world that will Mourad Telmini is Professor make its revolution will be Sub- of Physics, Faculty of Science, dedicated to physics teacher education. It features workshops, panel discussions, and presen- Saharan Africa. To save time, and University of Tunis El Manar. He tations by national leaders, as well as excellent networking opportunities. The 2011 conference for the benefit of humankind, we is also Director General of the will be held jointly with the UTeach-NMSI Institute Annual Conference. have to avoid the same reefs and National Centre for Nuclear Sci- help them in taking their future ence and Technology, and vice- www.ptec.org/conferences/2011 in their own hands. This will be President of the Tunisian Physical the best testament to the Jasmine Society. CONFEREES continued from page 5 ers making tough decisions and similarly made significant strides, fuels… So we need those policy gonne National Lab and co-chair conserves energy. During his talk, a public willing to change its be- but still generally have limited incentives to drive increases,” of the APS study Integrating Re- Arthur Rosenfeld, who recently havior. ranges and are not quite ready for Holmes said. “Just having ad- newable Electricity on the Grid, retired from the California En- Scientists estimate that the big- the market. equate technology capable of said that the United States has ergy Commission, described how gest single source of greenhouse “It’s a lot easier to concentrate efficiency and reliably produc- huge potential solar and wind re- refrigerators kept getting bigger gases is transport, especially emissions at power plants and ing electricity is not sufficient to sources, but they’re generally far and cheaper after federal regula- cars. Sonya Yeh, a researcher at clean them up than it is to clean have non-hydro renewable energy from where people live. He high- tion of their energy efficiency. He the University of California, Da- up millions of tailpipes,” Lipman make a significant contribution to lighted also how the grid would said that with the proper political vis said that emerging alternative said. “Cars are only as clean as the the US energy market.” need to be able to smooth out backing, these kinds of energy fuels for cars, including electric electricity and hydrogen used to Nuclear energy received a disruptions in supply of solar and savings could be spread to many batteries, hydrogen fuel cells and fuel them.” strong defense from Robert Bud- wind energy on cloudy and calm products. biofuels each had their own ad- Converting the United States nitz of the Lawrence Berkeley days respectively. “This is the second golden age vantages and disadvantages to clean sources of electricity pro- National Lab. He pointed to the “Renewables require a na- of energy efficiency,” Rosenfeld “We don’t know what [fuel] vides its own sets of problems. fact that nuclear power can de- tionally coherent electricity grid, said. will win out, but we’ll probably The Department of Energy recent- liver electricity at rates that can and that’s clearly something that FPS had also helped to spon- need them all,” Yeh said. She add- ly deemed doubling the United compete with fossil fuels without we’re very far from at the mo- sor the first Physics of Sustain- ed also that in order for the switch States’ reliance on renewable en- the greenhouse gas emissions. ment,” Crabtree said. Crabtree co- able Energy conference in 2008, to sustainable fuels to take root, ergy, from 10 percent to 20 per- Historically nuclear power has authored a Back Page based on the often referred to as “The Wood- the government would likely have cent by 2035, as an “aggressive had a mixed safety record and lax APS study in the December, 2010 stock of energy sustainability” by to step in and help make the ad- but achievable” goal. However, in oversight culminating in the 1979 issue of APS News. its participants. This year’s con- justment. “Infrastructure is prob- order for clean sources of energy Three Mile Island accident. Bud- Other talks highlighted im- ference had talks on many of the ably the number one challenge to become adopted more widely, nitz said that since then the indus- provements in solar photovolta- same topics, but featured all-new we’re facing when trying to get to the cost of renewable fuel sources try has doubled down and focused ics, systems to gauge the energy speakers. a sustainable future.” like solar and wind would have on safety and reliability. He point- consumption of buildings, suc- Organizer of the conference, Tim Lipman, co-director of the to come down significantly to be ed to a bevy of statistics showing cesses of policies in the state of David Hafemeister from the Cali- University of California’s Trans- competitive with fossil fuels like that the number of “significant California, as well as nationally, fornia Polytechnic State Univer- portation Sustainability Research coal and oil. K. John Holmes from incidents” at each plant has fallen to improve energy efficiency and sity, said that he was pleased with Center, showed a brief history of the National Academy of Sciences from an average of 4 per year in future energy consumption in the the turnout and he hoped that fuel technologies and weighed in examined whether it was likely to 1979 to .01 today. developing world. physicists and students attending on their possible futures. Battery see the costs of renewable energy “What all this is telling us is Though the problems de- the conference might consider capacity has improved dramatical- come down in price. the systems are reliable and the scribed sometimes seemed intrac- focusing in renewable energy re- ly in the last 20 years, to the point “Renewable electricity is gen- people are reliable,” Budnitz said. table, most speakers remained op- search. where plug-in electric and hybrid erally more costly (except for As important as the generation timistic that new technology and “Physics is the best discipline cars are able to compete commer- hydro, wind and traditional geo- of power is its transfer to consum- governmental policies could dra- for understanding these things,” cially. Hydrogen fuel cells have thermal) to produce than fossil ers. George Crabtree, from Ar- matically change how the country Hafemeister said. 8 • April 2011 APS NEWS The Back Page

number of chemical elements that were once labora- range of fields. Within the US this breadth of expertise exists Atory curiosities now figure prominently in new tech- only at some national laboratories and major research univer- nologies like wind turbines, solar energy collectors, and sities. Consortia built around such institutions could bring the electric cars. If widely deployed, such inventions have Energy Critical Elements depth of knowledge and continuity of focus required. Such the capacity to transform the way we produce, transmit, centers should engage and assist efforts by smaller groups in store, or conserve energy. To meet US energy needs and Robert Jaffe, Jonathan Price, Murray Hitzman, Francis Slakey academia and industry. reduce dependence on fossil fuels, novel energy systems Efficient Use of Materials must be scaled from laboratory, to demonstration, to The APS/MRS report urges greater attention to material widespread deployment. efficiency with the aim of producing necessary goods from Energy-related systems are typically materials intensive. as little primary material as possible. Recycling is a major, If widely deployed, the elements required by these technolo- but not the sole, component of efficient material use. Other gies will be needed in significant quantities. However, many aspects include improved extraction technology, reduced of these unfamiliar elements are not presently mined, refined, concentration in applications, replacement in non-critical ap- or traded in large quantities, and as a result their availability plications, development of substitutes in critical applications, may be constrained by many complex factors. A shortage of and life-style adaptations. Several of these approaches fall these “energy-critical elements” (ECEs) could significantly under the R&D heading discussed earlier. inhibit the adoption of otherwise game-changing energy In addition, the APS/MRS report urges that the federal technologies. This in turn would limit the competitiveness of government establish a consumer-oriented “Critical Materi- US industries and the domestic scientific enterprise. als” designation for ECE-related products. The certification Although they are essential to our culture and economy, requirements should include the choice of materials that the availability of traditional mineral materials is rarely an minimize concerns related to scarcity and toxicity, the ease issue because they come from many sources and are the fo- of disassembly, the availability of appropriate recycling tech- cus of well-established, relatively stable markets. Recently nology, and the potential for functional as opposed to non- there have been several efforts (1,2,3,4) to identify critical MRS study stresses, however, that with the exception of he- functional recycling. Also steps should be taken to improve minerals that are both essential to our economy and subject lium, there does not appear to be any fundamental limit on rates of post-consumer collection of industrial and consumer to supply restrictions. the availability of any element for energy technologies in the products containing ECEs, beginning with an examination of A newly released report by the American Physical Society foreseeable future. The problems lie in short-term interrup- the numerous methods being explored and implemented in and the Materials Research Society (5) focuses specifically tions or constraints on supplies. various states and countries. on ECEs and on the challenges posed by rapidly increasing To deal with the multifaceted issue of ECE availability the Market Interventions demand. It recommends a coordinated set of government ac- APS/MRS report makes the following recommendations for With the exception of helium, the APS/MRS report does tions to facilitate smooth and rapid deployment of desirable US federal action. not advocate government interventions in markets beyond technologies. The APS/MRS report focuses on identifying Information Collection and Analysis those implicit in their other recommendations concerning re- commonalities and addressing potential constraints on ECEs Collecting and evaluating data required to track the avail- search and development, information gathering and analysis, rather than on constructing a definitive list of ECEs, which ability and uses of chemical elements is a complex undertak- and recycling. In particular, the report does not recommend will doubtless change with time as technologies, supply lines, ing. While some data are already collected by a number of non-defense-related economic stockpiles. Industrial users of and risk factors change. Although today’s list of ECEs would federal agencies, there is no central entity for tracking miner- ECEs are best able to evaluate the supply risks they face and likely include most of the rare earth elements (REEs) along als and processed materials over their life-cycle. The Report purchase their own “insurance” against supply disruptions with gallium, germanium, helium, indium, platinum, rhe- recommends that the government should gather, analyze, caused by either physical unavailability or price fluctuations. nium, selenium, tellurium, and perhaps cobalt, lithium and and disseminate information on ECEs across the life-cycle Non-defense government stockpiles of critical minerals have silver, a definitive list of ECEs would require extensive study supply chain including discovered and potential resources, had unintended, disruptive effects on markets (2,9). based on information about occurrences, reserves, extraction, production, use, trade, disposal, and recycling. The entity un- The single exception noted by the APS/MRS report con- processing, utilization, and recycling, much of which is not dertaking this task should be a “Principal Statistical Agency”, helium, which is unique even among energy-critical el- yet available. a designation that would enable it to require compliance with ements because it is permanently lost to the atmosphere if not An element may be “energy-critical” for a variety of rea- requests for information. captured during natural gas extraction. Helium has unique sons. It may be intrinsically rare in Earth’s crust, or poorly In addition the Report urges the federal government to properties: it remains liquid at 0K; it cannot be made ra- concentrated by natural processes, or currently unavailable in regularly survey emerging energy technologies and the sup- dioactive; it has the highest specific heat capacity of any gas the US Some potential ECEs, such as tellurium and rhenium, ply chain for elements throughout the periodic table, with the except hydrogen. Helium is critical for current energy R&D are genuinely rare in Earth’s crust (6). Others like indium are aim of identifying critical applications as well as potential and it is anticipated that it will be increasingly in demand unevenly distributed, making the US highly reliant on im- shortfalls. in the future for technologies not yet developed. The Report ports. Still other ECEs, like germanium, are seldom found in Research and Development recommends that measures should be adopted to conserve concentrations that allow for economic extraction. A focused federal research and development program and enhance the nation’s helium reserves. Geopolitical issues may arise when a critical element would enable the US to expand the availability of and reduce Federal Coordination is produced in a small number of countries or in a location its dependence on energy critical elements. R&D to expand ECE availability is a complex topic that straddles the do- subject to political instability. The present concentration of the availability of energy critical elements should include the mains of a number of federal agencies including the Depart- REE production in China is a particularly pertinent example. geology and geochemistry of mineral deposits as well as met- ments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Although the US led the world in both production and exper- allurgy and minerals processing technologies. Research on Interior, State, and Transportation, the Environmental Protec- tise into the 1990s, over 95% of these important elements are substitutional chemistry and material science and the tech- tion Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Office now produced in China, which is rapidly becoming the center nology of recycling can also help reduce the dependence on of the US Trade Representative. The capacity to orchestrate for REE extraction and processing expertise, putting the US ECEs. Substitutions for ECEs may involve several other ma- a productive collaboration between these agencies and coor- and other REE importers at a further disadvantage. terials or sweeping redesign, reengineering, and recertifica- dinate their efforts with the Office of Management and Bud- Many potential ECEs are not found in concentrations high tion. General Electric’s 2006 redesign of high performance get lies in the Executive Office of Science and Technology enough to warrant extraction as a primary product given to- turbine alloys in anticipation of a projected shortage of rhe- Policy (OSTP). day’s prices. Instead, they are obtained primarily as byprod- nium (8) provides a pertinent example. Few companies have The Report recommends that OSTP create a subcommit- ucts during the extraction of other primary ores. For example, resources to undertake a project of this scope; thus research tee within the National Science and Technology Council to tellurium and indium are currently obtained as by-products of this type would be greatly aided by federal funding. examine the production and use of ECEs within the US and of the electrolytic processing of copper and zinc ores, re- R&D on recycling could also reduce dependence on to coordinate federal actions. spectively. By-production and co-production present special ECEs. Since most products that use ECEs currently have The authors of this article all served on the committee that economic issues. For example, it is unlikely that the mining little recycling capability, significant quantities of ECEs are drafted the Energy-Critical Elements Report. Robert Jaffe, of copper (production value ~$80 billion in 2009) would be permanently discarded every year. Research on product de- chair of the committee, is at MIT; Jonathan Price, co-chair, driven by an increased demand for tellurium (production signs that are more suited to recycling could help ensure that is at the University of Nevada, Reno; Murray Hitzman is at value ~$30 million in 2009). scarce elements are more easily recovered from discarded the Colorado School of Mines; and Francis Slakey is APS Several additional factors complicate the availability of products. Research in chemical, metallurgical, and environ- Associate Director of Public Affairs and an adjunct professor ECEs. Some are toxic; others are now obtained in ways that mental science and engineering, and industrial design meth- at Georgetown University. produce environmental damage unacceptable in most coun- ods, can create high-value reusable ECE materials. References and Notes tries. Discovery of new mineral deposits typically takes sev- 1. NRC, Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the US Economy (Nat Acad Press, 2008). The APS/MRS report recommends that the federal govern- 2. Managing Materials for a Twenty-first Century Military (Nat Acad Press, 2008). eral years and the time between discovery and start-up of a ment establish a research and development effort focused on 3. Critical Raw Materials for the EU (Ad-hoc Working Group on defining critical new mine averages five to ten years (7). For some elements, ECEs and possible substitutes that can enhance vital aspects raw materials, European Commission, 2010) http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/poli- large-scale production may require development of new pro- cies/raw-materials/files/docs/report-b_en.pdf. of the supply chain including: geological deposit modeling, 4. Critical Minerals Strategy (US Department of Energy, 2010) http://www.energy. cessing technologies, another time-consuming activity. As a mineral extraction and processing, material characterization gov/news/documents/criticalmaterialsstrategy.pdf result, the lag time between increased demand and the avail- and substitution, utilization, manufacturing, recycling, and 5. Critical Elements for New Energy Technologies (APS-MRS, 2010) report – web- ability of new supplies may be extensive. Recycling, and the site address. lifecycle analysis. Such a research program would have the 6. D.R. Lide, The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition, Sect. existence of secondary markets, is quite variable. For exam- added advantage of enhancing the training of undergraduate, 14 (CRC Press, 2005). ple, recycling is highly developed for platinum, but almost graduate, and postdoctoral students in disciplines essential to 7. R.C. Schodde, J.M.A. Hronsky, in Wealth creation in the mineral industry — in- non-existent for most other ECEs. Sometimes one element tegrating science, business, and education, M.D. Doggett, J.R. Parry, Eds. (Soc. maintaining US expertise in ECEs. Of Economic Geologists, 2006), p. 71. can be substituted for another in a technology, but more often Success in this kind of research requires collaboration 8. P.J.Fink, J.L. Miller, D.G. Konitzer, J. of Minerals, Metals, and Materials Soci- than not, substitution requires significant redesign, reengi- among scientists, engineers, and manufacturers across a ety 62, 57 (2010). neering, and recertification with attendant delays. The APS/ 9. Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve (Nat Acad Press, 2010). APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected]