January 2007 Volume 16, No. 1 APS NEWS www.aps.org/publications/apsnews Highlights Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY • WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS Page 6

Particle Physicists Meet Halfway Jacksonville Hosts 2007 April Meeting The 2007 APS April Meeting will cists, a high school teachers’ day, a and registration information, be held April 14-17 in sunny students lunch with the experts, and are available online at Jacksonville, Florida. The scientific the presentation of several APS prizes http://www.aps.org/meetings/april/ program, which focuses on astro- and awards in a special ceremonial index.cfm. The abstract submission physics, particle physics, nuclear session. A public lecture, on the deadline is January 12; post-dead- physics, and related fields, will con- physics of NASCAR, will be given line abstracts received by February 5 sist of three plenary sessions, approx- by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky of the will be assigned as poster presenta- imately 75 invited sessions, more University of Nebraska. tions. Early registration closes on than 100 contributed sessions, and Further details of the program, February 23. poster sessions. Among the invited sessions will April Meeting Plenary Talks be a special Nobel Prize session at Saturday, April 14 Laboratory which both of this year’s laureates, • String Theory, Branes, and if John Mather and George Smoot, will • First Results from Gravity You Wish, the Anthropic speak. Probe B, Francis Everitt, Stanford University Principle, Shamit Kachru, APS units represented at the meet- Stanford University ing include the Divisions of • Two-Dimensional Electron Photo by Kay Kinoshita Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Systems, Allan MacDonald, Tuesday, April 17 Particles and Fields, Physics of University of Texas at Austin • The 21-cm Background: A The APS Division of Particles and Fields held a joint meeting with their colleagues Beams, Plasma Physics, and • New Measurement of the Probe of Reionization and the from the Japanese Physical Society in Honolulu. The meeting, which ran from Computational Physics; the Forums Electron Magnetic Moment and Dark Ages, Jacqueline Hewitt, October 29 to November 3, was styled the Joint Meeting of Pacific Region Particle Massachusetts Institute of Physics Communities, with about 650 attendees, from not only the US and Japan on Education, Physics and Society, the Fine Structure Constant, but other Pacific Rim nations such as China, Korea, Canada and Taiwan. International Affairs, History of Gerald Gabrielse, Harvard Technology Shown here enjoying a moment of Hawaii sunshine on Waikiki beach are Physics, and Graduate Student University • The Threat to the Planet: Junko Shigemitsu (Ohio State), Mavourneen Wilcox (U. of Hawaii), Hirokazu Affairs; and the Topical Groups on Monday, April 16 Actions Needed to Avert Ishino (Tokyo Institute of Technology), and Wei Wang (Boston University). Few-Body Systems, Precision • Cosmology After WMAP, Dangerous Climate Change, Measurement and Fundamental David Spergel, Princeton James E. Hansen, NASA Task Force Suggests Enhancements Constants, Gravitation, Plasma University • New Results from RHIC on the for the APS April Meeting Astrophysics, and Hadronic Physics. • The Energy Problem: What Can Spin Structure of Proton, Steven In addition to the regular program, Physicists Do?, Steven Chu, Vigdor, Indiana University The Task Force on the Future of that APS continue to sponsor a year- there will be a professional develop- Lawrence Berkeley National the April Meeting reported to the ly meeting organized by the units tra- ment workshop for women physi- Council at its November meeting. It ditionally associated with the April New Investments Needed in Defense Research, had been constituted a year earlier to meeting, they propose giving the “examine the goals and outcomes of meeting a new title that evokes the Says Task Force on Innovation Report the April meeting from the point of main scientific motifs, such as “A Increased support for defense optics and microelectronics–have The Task Force calls for the view of its various constituencies.” Universe of Physics.” basic research is needed for nation- played a major role in establishing administration to include defense The charge to the task force allowed In addition, the task force recom- al security and economic compet- and maintaining our military supe- basic research in the American it to “suggest enhancements, changes mends that each year, the program itiveness, says the Task Force on the riority. To help American troops Competitiveness Initiative. The in the structure of the meeting, or should identify a small number of Future of American Innovation in retain their advantage on the battle- American Competitiveness even termination of the meeting.” In themes. The themes will describe a report released in November. field in the future, it is critical that Initiative would double, over 10 its report, the task force recommend- topics to be treated in depth, though The report, entitled Measuring new investments be made today in years, the federal funding for basic ed that the April Meeting should con- the meeting as a whole would con- the Moment: Innovation, National areas such as energy storage, mate- research at NSF, DOE’s Office of tinue, but could be enhanced with a tinue to cover the same diversity of Security, and Economic rials research, nanotechnology and Science, and NIST. new name and some highlighted topics. The task force believes that Competitiveness, is a follow-up to high-performance computing,” says Speaking at the November 16 themes. defining some key topics in advance the Task Force’s February 2005 the report. INNOVATION continued on page 5 The April Meeting, which covers would give potential participants an report, which presented bench- particle physics, nuclear physics, additional incentive to attend. They marks showing that the United They liked it! They really liked it! astrophysics and related fields, plays also note the success of the nine ple- States is in danger of losing its a “unifying role for the physics com- nary lectures, and recommend giving competitiveness in science and munity, and provides a valuable forum them more emphasis in pre-meeting engineering. The new report shows for the interplay between physics and publicity. that many of those trends continue. society,” says the task force report. The task force also recommends At the November 16 report Nonetheless, the task force members exploring opportunities for joint meet- release event in Washington, the believe the meeting could benefit ings with other societies, such as Task Force and several national 3 from greater coherence and could AAS, AAPT, AAPM, public policy security experts called for increas- “serve more effectively as a celebra- organizations, divisional meetings, ing defense basic research in par- tion of our science and as an occasion and IEEE divisions, and the occa- ticular. Defense basic research is to explore common interests with sional participation of APS units other central to both economic and other scientific organizations.” than those traditionally represented at national security, but federal spend- The April Meeting serves sever- the April meeting. ing on defense basic research has al different purposes, said task force They also want to encourage unit remained flat for over three chair Chris Quigg of Fermilab. “For program organizers to experiment decades, the Task Force says. many physicists, it’s the excellent with different types of sessions. For The Task Force on the Future of Photo by Ken Cole scientific program that attracts them. instance, some units may want to try American Innovation is a coalition Albert Einstein (aka Marc Spiegel) and Chris Andersen have every reason to People also appreciate the broader holding poster sessions instead of ten of businesses and business organ- get excited. Spiegel starred in, and Andersen directed, a 14-minute APS-pro- plenary talks, physics and society minute talks or creating themed mini- izations, scientific societies, and duced video,“Einstein's Miracle Year,” that was distributed to thousands of mid- talks, education and outreach activi- conferences within the meeting. “The higher education associations, dle-school classrooms in 2005 and 2006. The video was awarded a coveted ties, and a sense of coherence that hope is that by encouraging people to including the APS. The task force CINE Golden Eagle award (clutched in Spiegel's right hand) in the non-telecast children's entertainment and education category in the Spring 2006 competi- couldn’t be had any other way.” look at different ways of using this advocates increased federal sup- tion. APS originally produced the video to accompany the PhysicsQuest proj- The task force made several rec- meeting we can make it better and port for research in the physical ect kits during the World Year of Physics, but the video proved so popular that ommendations intended to raise the more coherent,” said Quigg. sciences and engineering. copies were distributed independently the following year as well. Other recipi- profile of the meeting and increase As for location and scheduling of “Breakthroughs in basic sci- ents of CINE Golden Eagles in past years have included Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Ken Burns. participation. While recommending TASK FORCE continued on page 5 ence–such as those in radar, lasers, 2 January • 2007 APS NEWS

Members in the Media This Month in Physics History

“You can fit a million of these Columbus Dispatch, December 4, crystals on the end of a human hair.” 2006 January 1925: Wolfgang Pauli John Lindl, Lawrence Livermore “What they’ll be looking for is announces the exclusion principle National Lab, on a new form of man- radioactive contaminants made at made diamond, Tri-Valley Herald, the same time. They’ll do the best November 10, 2006 he year 1925 was an important one for tum numbers made sense physically, since they they can technically. But my guess quantum physics, beginning with Wolfgang related to the electron’s motion around the nucle- “I like the bad ones as much as is that it will take an informant.” TPauli’s January announcement of the exclu- us. Pauli called his new quantum property of the the good. How can you know beau- William Happer, Princeton sion principle. This well-known principle, which electron a “two-valuedness not describable clas- tiful if you don’t know ugly?” University, on the efforts to track states that no two identical fermion particles can sically.” Soon after making this proposal, Pauli George Bissinger, East Carolina down the origin of the polonium- be in the same quantum state, provided for the first realized that it could lead to the solution of the University, trying to develop a guide 210 used to poison Alexander time a theoretical basis for the structure of the peri- problem of the closed orbitals. to which features of a violin deter- Litvinenko, New York Times, odic table of the elements. Then in January 1925, he announced the exclu- mine the qualities of a violin’s sound, December 3, 2006 Wolfgang Pauli was born in Vienna in 1900, sion principle, stating that no two electrons in an The New York Times, November 28, “It's good to have such an enthu- the same year that quantum mechanics itself was atom can occupy a state with the same values for 2006 born with Planck’s announcement of the idea of the four quantum numbers. Each electron had to siast like Griffin at NASA, but that “To give you a rough idea, when the energy quanta. Pauli’s father was a physician be in its own unique state. Other possibilities are whole messianic vision is pretty far you have this huge amount of inten- and chemistry professor at the University of excluded. from the current state of technology. sity, within the volume of a single Vienna, and his godfather was Ernest Pauli’s proposed fourth quantum Many of us worry that it will suck atom, there are thousands of pho- Mach. As a young prodigy, when he number puzzled physicists at the time, the juice out of other very promis- tons knocking at a single atom at found himself bored during class, because no one could explain its phys- the same time. So this is a very vio- ing projects to learn more about our Pauli would read Einstein’s papers on ical significance. Pauli himself was lent, wild process.” universe.” relativity. By age 20 Pauli, then a stu- troubled by the idea. Pauli was also Chunlei Guo, University of Robert Kirshner, Harvard dent of Arnold Sommerfeld at the bothered by the fact that he couldn’t Rochester, on his method of using a University, on NASA’s vision for University of Munich, had published give any logical explanation for the femtosecond laser to turn metals space exploration, Washington Post, papers on relativity and written an exclusion principle or derive it from truly black, Toronto Star, November December 4, 2006 encyclopedia article on relativity other laws of quantum mechanics, and 26, 2006 “It's kind of funny. No two grains which greatly impressed other physi- he remained unhappy about this prob- of sand are exactly alike, either. But cists, including Albert Einstein him- lem. Nonetheless, the principle “If you watch that clock for 300 Wolfgang Pauli billion years, the error would be one nobody cares about that.” self. Having learned classical mechan- worked–it explained the structure of second.” Kenneth Libbrecht, Caltech, on ics and relativity, Pauli was disconcerted by quan- the periodic table and is essential for explaining Louis DiMauro, Ohio State snowflakes, Chicago Sun-Times, tum mechanics upon being introduced to it by other properties of matter. University, on a new atomic clock, December 1, 2006 Sommerfeld, and at first he found the subject Later in 1925, Samuel Goudsmit and George rather confused. Uhlenbeck, inspired by Pauli’s work, interpreted Possibly because of his brilliance, Pauli’s pro- the fourth quantum number as the electron’s spin. fessors and colleagues tolerated some of his more Pauli originally applied the exclusion principle to annoying habits, such as his custom of sleeping explain electrons in atoms, but later it was extend- extremely late and rarely showing up for lectures ed to any system of fermions, which have half inte- before noon. He was also extremely critical, and ger spin, but not to bosons, which have integer famous for deriding his colleagues’ less-than- spin. coherent work as “not even wrong.” His tenden- In the two years after Pauli’s announcement of cy to criticize often spurred others to clarify their his exclusion principle, the new quantum mechan- Democrats in Control: What’s Next? ideas. Pauli also had such an amazing propensi- ics took off, with Heisenberg’s formulation of By Michael S. Lubell, APS Director in the 1990’s in a Republican ty to cause accidents that scientists began to matrix mechanics, and Schrödinger’s wave of Public Affairs Conference heavily dominated by believe that even to have him come close to one’s mechanics, which was based on de Broglie’s idea Divided government! For the next conservatives. His success was a trib- lab meant doom for the experiment. that matter can have wavelike properties. two years, that’s how Washington ute to his political acumen and his After receiving his doctorate in 1921 and In 1928 Pauli moved to Zurich. He spent time will function. Of course, looking ability to achieve consensus across spending some time in Gottingen and then during World War II in the United States, and back on the “Do-Nothing” 109th the ideological spectrum. Copenhagen, Pauli took a position at the returned to Zurich after the war. In 1931, Pauli Congress, if gridlock does develop, P.D. and I found that we agreed University of Hamburg in 1923. He gave his first proposed the existence of a new particle, the neu- you will hardly notice the difference. that the November 7th outcome was lecture there on the periodic table of elements, trino, as a solution to the apparent lack of ener- It’s far too early for anyone to not very surprising. Both of us had which he found unsatisfactory because the atom- gy conservation in beta decay. After his many make any serious forecasts, but to long believed that a flip in House ic shell structure was not understood. In 1913, research accomplishments, he spent much of his prepare myself for the inevitable post- control was a virtual certainty. Bohr had proposed that electrons could occupy later years thinking about the history and philos- election dinner conversations I decid- Tracking polls had predicted the only certain quantized orbitals, but there seemed ophy of science. ed to drop in on a former Republican Democratic takeover very clearly for to be no reason why all the electrons in an atom Pauli always insisted on having a clear and member of the House shortly after the many months. But we both admitted didn’t simply crowd into the one lowest energy coherent explanation of a phenomenon, and always November election. He left the Hill that we had not foreseen a real pos- state. There was no convincing explanation of strove to find both an intuitive understanding of some years ago and turned lobbyist. sibility of takeover in the Senate until the structure of the periodic table. Pauli had also an experiment and a rigorous mathematical But he has remained an astute polit- a few days before the election. recently worked on trying to explain the anom- scheme. Max Born once commented that, “I knew ical analyst and is still passionate Our conversation quickly turned alous Zeeman effect, (a consequence of electron he was a genius, comparable only to Einstein about research. to what had really caused the spin) and was convinced that the two problems himself. But he was a completely different type Our meeting was private, and for Republicans to lose control of both were somehow related. of man, who in my eyes, did not attain Einstein’s that reason I will simply call him chambers. In late 1924, Pauli made a big leap by suggest- greatness.” In 1945, Pauli was awarded the Nobel P.D. Jones. All you need to know is In the lead-up to November 7th, ing the idea of a adding a fourth quantum num- Prize for the discovery of the exclusion principle. that Mr. Jones is a moderate, and most TV talking heads, from Eleanor ber to the three that were then used to describe He died in 1958. that, despite his centrist philosophy, Clift on the left to Tony Blankley on an electron’s quantum state. The first three quan- he was able to achieve prominence BELTWAY continued on page 4

Series II, Vol. 16, No.1 Department, American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Treasurer Science), Leonard Feldman* (Materials), Akif Balantekin (Nuclear), John Jaros* (Particles & Fields), Ronald Ruth January 2007 College Park, MD 20740-3844, [email protected]. Joseph Serene*, Georgetown University (emeritus) APS NEWS Editor-in-Chief (Physics of Beams), David Hammer (Plasma), Scott Milner © 2007 The American Physical Society For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Division, Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory (Polymer Physics), Paul Wolf (Ohio Section) American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Huntington (emeritus) Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Allow at least 6 Past-President ADVISORS Editor ...... Alan Chodos weeks advance notice. For address changes, please send both John J. Hopfield*, Princeton University Representatives from Other Societies Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette the old and new addresses, and, if possible, include a mail- General Councillors Marc Brodsky, AIP; Harvey Leff, AAPT Staff Writer ...... Ernie Tretkoff ing label from a recent issue. Requests from subscribers for Robert Austin, Christina Back, Elizabeth Beise, Wendell Hill, International Advisors Art Director and Special Publications Manager ...... Kerry G. Johnson missing issues will be honored without charge only if received Evelyn Hu*, Ann Orel*, Arthur Ramirez, Richart Slusher*, Francisco Ramos Gómez, Mexican Physical Society Design and Production ...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik within 6 months of the issue’s actual date of publication. International Councillor Melanie Campbell, Canadian Association of Physicists Forefronts Editor ...... Craig Davis Periodical Postage Paid at College Park, MD and at addition- Albrecht Wagner Proofreader ...... Edward Lee al mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS Chair, Nominating Committee Staff Representatives APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All corre- News, Membership Department, American Physical Society, Margaret Murnane Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Ken Cole, yearly, monthly, except the August/September issue, by spondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Editor, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Special Assistant to the Executive Officer; Amy Flatten the American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740- Robert Eisenstein Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It 3844, E-mail: [email protected]. APS COUNCIL 2006 Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director, contains news of the Society and of its Divisions, President Charles Dermer (Astrophysics), P. Julienne (Atomic, Molecular Public Affairs; Stanley Brown, Editorial Director; Topical Groups, Sections and Forums; advance Subscriptions:APS News is an on-membership publication Leo P. Kadanoff*, University of Chicago & Optical Physics) Robert Eisenberg (Biological), Charles Christine Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; information on meetings of the Society; and reports to delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing abroad may President-Elect S. Parmenter (Chemical), Richard M. Martin (Computational), Michael Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer the Society by its committees and task forces, as well receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Nonmembers: Arthur Bienenstock*, Stanford University Moses H. Chan (Condensed Matter Physics), James Brasseur as opinions. Subscription rates are available at http://librarians.aps.org/ Vice-President (Fluid Dynamics), Peter Zimmerman* (Forum on Education), institutional.html. Cherry Murray*, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Roger Stuewer (Forum on History of Physics), Patricia * Members of the APS Executive Board Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- Executive Officer Mooney* (Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), David ship. Letters must be signed and should include an Subscription orders, renewals and address changes should Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville Ernst (Forum on International Physics), Philip “Bo” Hammer* address and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves be addressed as follows: For APS Members–Membership (on leave) (Forum on Physics and Society), Steven Rolston (Laser APS NEWS January• 2007 3 Kadanoff Stresses Education, Outreach Initiatives Leo Kadanoff (University of revision that will make it more acces- in this period. Chicago) assumed the APS pres- sible in our electronic and web-based Our major activity will be focused idency on January 1, 2007. In the age. This year the APS will decide on providing better classes of infor- following interview with APS just how this will be done. Lastly, the mation to the public and to Congress. News, he discusses his priorities March Meeting is always a major At the moment we are particular- for the Society during his presiden- challenge. It is our largest and most ly working to serve the community tial year. complex meeting. Last year it grew of physicists who work in industry. to more than 7000 attendees. We We have not directed enough partic- Q: What do you see as some of the have to run hard just to keep it going ular attention to their special needs. most important issues facing the on an even keel. The biggest and We put a task force together to find physics community today, and how most immediate challenges involve out what those needs were, and now can the APS address some of these the behind-the-scenes support system we're beginning to try to implement issues? for that meeting. I believe that we its recommendations. must develop better electronic sup- A: This year (and last year as Q: Science is an international port for the meeting and devote more well) US physicists have had the enterprise. Are there ways APS can staff time to pre-meeting support. duty and pleasure of responding to better serve its international mem- All the responses I have men- the recommendations in the National bers and promote international col- tioned cost money. I expect to see the Academy of Sciences Report, Rising laboration and information Treasurer keep on top of the whole above the Gathering Storm. That exchange? process, seeing that our additional report pointed out that the long-term expenditures match the needs A: Most APS work, for example economic health of this country Photo by Sergei Obukhov involved, coordinating the work in on our journals, equally well serves required additional investment in Leo Kadanoff the different APS offices (particu- people in the US and people abroad. research and education related to the and inactions. thinking particularly about his or her larly on the computer and web side), Even some specifically “internation- physical sciences. This report repre- Scientists have an opportunity special area. With advice and guid- and making sure that the expenditures al” work produces better exchange sents views which have gained con- and a responsibility to bring our ance from my fellow members of do not exceed the available funds. of scientific information, hence bet- siderable support from both houses knowledge of the world to a broad- the presidential line, I hope to be ter science everywhere. Amy of Congress, both sides of the aisle, Q: What can APS do better for its Flatten's plugging for better imple- er public. That means improving the able to make wise suggestions to the members? and the executive branch as well. quality of education from kinder- operating officers. mentation of US visa policy falls All last year, under John Hopfield's garten through high school, college A: We run excellent meetings, into this category. Along these lines, leadership, APS worked hard to Q. What challenges do you see which are very well attended. We we have been very active in expand- and graduate school. That also means facing the APS in the next year? advocate the adoption of the research- making the public aware of scientif- run not only the big meetings in ing the possibilities for internation- related recommendations of this ic values and of the long-run value A: Each operating officer and March and April, but also smaller al exchange, both supporting report. Mike Lubell and the whole of attempts to understand the world. each function of the APS faces major meetings for the units and smaller American students learning abroad Washington office pitched in to sup- challenges. The editor-in-chief must groups. The journals are among the and helping people from everywhere port this report, as did the APS and Q: What do you plan to focus on work to improve the journals to meet best journals in the world and we're to go to our meetings. March Meeting leadership, together during your term as APS President? the very high quality of our compe- very proud of them. In addition, we We have been working especial- with many members of APS. A: Of course, I shall support Ted tition and the difficulty brought about have important programs in which ly hard to bring the full benefits of Now, following APS Council Hodapp (APS Director of Education) by the wide dissemination of we help colleges and universities our journals to people outside the and Executive Board action, we are in his fine work on teacher training preprints and reprints. We have a around the United States train high US. We look forward to extending prepared to work as well for the edu- programs. We intend to expand these major project in which we can pro- school teachers. We have important our range of activities for the devel- cation and outreach based recom- programs to include work with more duce extra value for the reader and activities in which we bring knowl- oping world and for all of Africa. mendations of the Gathering Storm universities and colleges. The APS subscriber to our journals by having edge of physics to the general pub- Q: Why did you decide to run for report. The APS will contribute to work has the very exciting charac- a website that has lots more stuff in lic. We work with all kinds of sub- APS President? making the public better aware of the teristic of bringing together profes- it than you can directly find in a groups of the members. We work nature and importance of physics sional physicists with education given Physical Review article. I argue with new faculty; we work with A: I was interested in seeing the research, starting with a DOE and researchers, schools of education, that this website development should chairs of departments. We provide APS concern itself more with issues NSF program for explaining particle and professional teachers. I want to be supplemented by an increased opportunities for job fairs and other of education and how the communi- physics and moving outward to the see this work continue and reach effort to improve the editorial process places where our members can go to ty related to science. I had been entirety of physics. Alan Chodos, more students. I also wish to make by having more editors devoting find appropriate employment. We involved in informal education. I ran APS Associate Executive Officer, us a leader across the board in advo- more editorial effort to each paper. provide information about the a program for developing materials will lead these efforts. We shall con- cating for education. Good citizens The Publisher and Treasurer also employment situation. We do as for science in museums at the tinue to expand our programs to bet- need to use evidence-based think- comes into this in that the journals much as we can, but we're always University of Chicago. I thought ter prepare high school and middle ing. Consequently, I will argue that must continue to pay for themselves, looking for new ways to serve the working with the APS was a natural school teachers of physics and other APS should advocate for spending despite the fact that we continue to members. And we hope to find some outgrowth of that kind of program. sciences. Education at all levels, for- aimed at improving educational face new models for how the costs mal and informal, will form a major attainment in mathematics and across of scientific publication will be Physics Departments Urged part of our advocacy and outreach the sciences. repaid. So, working in combination, efforts. Back home at the APS, I intend the Editor-In-Chief and the Publisher to Preserve Their Histories The APS Forum on the History tory of the department and/or Q: Why do you believe improving to work on coordinating the work of and Treasurer must keep our journals of Physics (FHP) is encouraging research laboratories, and send a education is so important? the three different APS work-places excellent and self-supporting. The and on coordinating the work of the people in these offices have done a department chairs and colleagues to copy to the Library, in care of A: I believe that what we are fac- three operating officers of the APS. wonderful job in recent years. The help preserve the history of their Spencer Weart, AIP Center for ing in the United States, and proba- Our organization is based upon the new people are poised to continue department and its accomplishments History of Physics, One Physics bly in many other countries, is a cri- work of three equal operating offi- this fine record. by updating an existing history or Ellipse, College Park MD 20740- sis. Many people who feel that they're cers, the Executive Officer (Judy I have already described some of preparing a new one and by deposit- 3843 ([email protected]). educated don't really know anything Franz), the Publisher and Treasurer the increase in our outreach and edu- ing it with the Niels Bohr Library and Separately, the Forum is establish- about science. They also don't real- (Joe Serene), and the Editor-in-Chief. cational work. The new outreach registering it with the Forum's new ing a Register of Departmental ly know anything about how the Joe is new to his job, replacing the work of Alan Chodos is a kind of Register of Departmental Histories Histories and Records to be pub- world works. They're not fully able retiring Tom McIlrath. Gene Sprouse advocacy rather new to APS. and Records. lished periodically in the FHP to think logically and form conclu- is soon to replace the retiring Marty Fortunately we have excellent means Preparing a history is a big job, Newsletter and on the Forum's web sions based on the evidence. I'd like Blume as Editor-in-Chief. With two for coordinating APS advocacy and but it’s an important job, said David site. Register entries should be stan- to see evidence-based thought more Jackson, a member of the Executive new officers, it behooves the outreach work in the Physics Policy dard bibliographic citations with commonplace among the educated Committee of PHP. President to pay lots of attention to Committee (PPC). I have asked PPC indications of availability in institu- population. Science can play an If starting from scratch on a his- helping coordinate the work at the to oversee this outreach and advoca- tional or departmental libraries, important role in helping people think tory, it may help to sample some top. Luckily I can do that because cy program. through web links, and/or the Niels logically. There is a perception during my term both the jobs of Past Another major portion of our existing ones, the Forum suggests. Bohr Library. among the public that science is President and that of President Elect work is the various meetings we Several can be found in the Niels The register will provide anoth- mainly important because it pro- will be filled by people with a major sponsor. A committee on the April Bohr library catalog, which can be er tool for finding information about duces drugs and medical benefits. interest in and knowledge of the leg- Meeting under Chris Quigg has searched online by going to past activities in physics research In my view, science is important islative branch and the executive thought out ways of giving that meet- www.aip.org/history, clicking on because it enables us to better under- branch of US government. I therefore ing additional focus by adding a top- Book Catalog and then clicking on and education as a starting point for stand the world. In addition, science hope and expect to lean upon these ical component, the topic varying the tab labeled “archives keyword.” more focused searches. brings large long run effects on the elected officers, John Hopfield and from year to year. Integrated over In the “general” box, enter “physics Register entries for histories and quality of life, which tend to be Artie Bienenstock, asking them to different years and different topics, departments” and highlight “insti- other materials should be sent to: ignored in the short-ranged thinking each take a major role in our outreach the impact of the meeting will be tutional histories held at AIP” in the J.D. Jackson, 50A5104, Lawrence endemic to individuals, businesses, to Washington. As soon as our new broader than before. This year we Limits box. Berkeley National Laboratory, and governments. One potential Vice President, Cherry Murray, grabs shall begin to put their recommen- If an up-to-date historical record Berkeley CA 94720 (jdjackson effect of better education might be to hold (and tells me what kind of work dations into practice. Next, the is not already on file at the Niels @lbl.gov).The materials themselves produce increased awareness of long- she wishes to do) I shall try to have Bulletin of the APS serves all meet- Bohr Library, the Forum urges a should be sent to the Niels Bohr term consequences of present actions all four of us work in parallel, each ings. It is in the process of a major department to prepare or update a his- Library. 4 January • 2007 APS NEWS

Letters

Local Chapters Could Help Industrial Members Microfluidics, Bubble Logic, Robosnails Featured The article in the November APS ment of new members. The region- News about the APS Task Force on al divisions of APS are a step in at 2006 DFD Meeting industrial physics is correct in stat- the right direction but their meetings New microfluidic explosive Combining the FSF architecture strated that bubble nucleation at ing that “industrial physicists, who are too far-flung, too infrequent and detectors, an all-fluidic logic fam- with surface-enhanced Raman surfaces–commonly associated do not often attend APS meetings, too focused on undergraduates to ily based on bubbles, and robots spectroscopy allows real-time pro- with randomness–can in fact be need improved ways to network.” serve industrial physicists well. that mimic the movement of snails, filing of atmospheric species and perfectly controlled in both space Local chapters of APS with fre- When the late Ken Hass was slugs, and jellyfish were among detection of airborne agents–most and time. quent meetings are one possible chair of FIAP, he encouraged me to the many fascinating highlights of notably of 4-aminobenzenethiol, a Locomotive Robosnails. way to encourage networking. A form an experimental local APS the 2006 fall meeting of the APS chemical species similar in size Snails and slugs have a very ener- dozen local chapters of IEEE here chapter. Anyone interested in help- Division of Fluid Dynamics and structure to TNT. gy-efficient means of adhesive in Silicon Valley have well-attend- ing to start a Silicon Valley chap- (DFD), held November 19-21 at Bubble Logic. MIT’s Neil locomotion, producing muscular ed monthly meetings and there's no ter should contact me. the University of Florida in Tampa Gershenfel and Manu Prakash pre- waves of shear stress on a vis- reason that APS members couldn't Bay. The conference also featured sented their concept of microflu- coelastic mucus to propel them- do the same. Local meetings could Alison Chaiken a special US-Mexico Mini- idic bubble logic: specifically, a selves along a solid substrate. increase industrial members' feel- Palo Alto, CA Symposium on geophysical fluid new all-fluidic logic family based MIT’s Anette Hosoi described ing of connection to APS as well as (650) 236-2231 [daytime] dynamics, as well as mini-sym- on two-phase flow in micro-scale recent work on applying a simple being a potential route to recruit- [email protected] posia on quantum turbulence, con- geometries that exploits hydrody- mechanical model to derive crite- Words and Warfare Follow Zipf’s Law nections between fluid dynamics namic interactions as a primary ria for favorable fluid material In his Back Page in the according to how often they are and plasma physics, and educa- mechanism to introduce non-lin- properties to lower the energetic November APS News, Neil F. used, the frequency fk of use of any tion. earity. For instance, the presence cost of locomotion. She and her Johnson should have perhaps men- word is roughly inversely propor- Much Ado About or absence of a bubble would rep- MIT colleagues, Brian Chan and tioned that what he discovered tional to a power of its rank k, fk = Microfluidics. A collaboration resent a bit, so a bubble could carry Theresa Guo, have designed robot- regarding global terrorism is yet Ck-α. This power law correlation between scientists at Philips both information and a material ic machines–dubbed “Robosnail another example of Zipf’s law (see has since been observed in many Research and Eindhoven payload at the same time. The 1” and “Robosnail 2”–that use a George K. Zipf, Human Behaviour facets of human activities and social University of Technology has researchers presented rudimenta- waving foot to propel themselves and the Principle of Least-Effort, structure (see, for example, the entry developed “artificial cilia”: poly- ry microfluidic bubble logic gates over viscous fluid. Robosnail 2 Addison-Wesley, Cambridge MA, under Zipf’s Law in Wikipedia). mer micro-actuator devices, made (AND/OR/NOT), memory, and can climb walls and move upside 1949). Zipf, a Harvard linguist, dis- with standard micro-technology cascaded boolean circuits, which down on a layer of Carbopol, a covered some 70 years ago that Mikolaj “Mik” Sawicki processing techniques, which they believe could one day be gel-like water-based polymer solu- when English words are ranked Carterville, IL respond to an applied electrical or applied as a control scheme to tion. They presented new 3D mod- magnetic field by changing their large-scale integrate biochemical eling of finite-width snails and a BELTWAY continued from page 2 shape. The size and shape of the processors. design for future snails capable of the right, had said that the election issued during the election, the new polymer actuators mimics that of Controlling bubbles is a critical moving faster than their own wav- was going to be a referendum on Democratic House leadership is fair- the beating cilia covering the exter- aspect of many applications ing velocity. Iraq. Clift said that President Bush’s ly balanced between liberals and nal surface of micro-organisms involving fluid systems, such as Drawing on similar locomotive war negatives were enough to take moderates.” such as paramecium. The team ink-jet printing. Researchers con- examples in nature, scientists from down Republican candidates. What is in store for science is yet hopes to eventually apply this new tinually seek to improve their Tokyo University proposed build- Blankley said that, despite the dismal uncertain, we both agreed, but it’s a method of microfluidic actuation understanding of bubble forma- ing a micro-robot out of soft mate- White House approval rating, good bet that Congress will exert far to the building of biosensors. tion and interactions to better con- rial to resemble a jellyfish. The Republicans still had a shot at retain- more oversight over the executive At the same session, researchers trol such systems. Detlef Lohse of robot would propel itself much ing control because they had a supe- branch. During the last three weeks, from Stanford University report- the University of Twente in The like its biological counterpart, so rior “Get-Out-the-Vote” operation. three House committee chairs have ed on their development of a novel Netherlands reported on a new a greater understanding of the crea- As it turned out Clift was right indicated that they will delve into microfluidic, remote-sensing technique that enables him to ture’s swimming motion is desired about the outcome but not for the the Administration’s alleged misuse chemical detection platform for quantitatively study bubble-bubble –particularly how it produces right reason, at least not entirely. In of science and gagging of agency real-time sensing of airborne and bubble-surface interactions. thrust in its “expanding phase” of exit polls throughout the country, scientists who disagreed with White explosive agents. The key enabling He found that in piezo-acoustic its swimming motion. The Tokyo voters said that scandals and ethics House policies. technology is a newly developed ink-jet printing, bubbles can team studied those motions via a violations had been their prime ration- The Democratic leadership in concept termed Free-Surface become entrained, grow by recti- motion-capture camera and meas- ale for kicking out the Republicans. both chambers has also indicated that Fluidics (FSF), where one or more fied diffusion and eventually seri- ured the vector field of flow The Iraq war was second and the committee chairs will have more lat- fluidic surfaces, confined by sur- ously disturb the jetting process by around the jellyfish. It is known face tension forces, are exposed to counteracting the pressure build- that the jellyfish is principally pro- economy third. itude in developing their priorities the surrounding atmosphere. up at the nozzle. He also demon- “You know,” P.D. said, “they got than their Republican counterparts DFD MEETING continued on page 7 what they deserved! When you lose had during the last twelve years. And the trust of the public, you’re fin- the leadership has vowed to be more ished.” respectful of the Republican minor- “Of course,” he added, “they also ity and to accord them more of a role screwed up in another way: they tilt- in formulating legislation. Time will ed so far right, they marginalized tell. themselves. If you lose the center, you During the 2006 campaign, lose the election.” To validate his Democrats pledged not only to clean conclusion, he noted that both up the ethical mess but also to rein- Democrats and Republicans had stall pay-as-you-go budgeting. What turned out at the polls in roughly equal numbers and, by and large, “Pay-Go” means is either providing they had voted along party lines. But budgetary offsets for any new pro- Independents had voted Democratic grams or enhancing revenues. With by margins as large as two to one in the physical sciences slated for big many districts. percentage increases in the American “If House Democratic leaders take Competitiveness Initiative, “Pay- away one lesson from the last twelve Go” could spell trouble, although years,” P.D. said, “it should be that Speaker Pelosi has said that the you have to govern from the center. Democrat’s Innovation Agenda The question is, will they?” remains one of the top priorities. “I suspect so,” I told P.D., “if only But whatever else they do down because many of the new members the road, Democrats must immedi- are not ideologues. They won in con- ately pass the FY 2007 budget, which servative districts by advancing a the Republicans “irresponsibly” moderate philosophy.” dumped in their lap, as P.D. put it. “In fact,” I noted, “many new Otherwise, government will operate House members have already allied under a yearlong Continuing themselves with the Blue Dogs, [fis- Resolution with the science increas- cally conservative and, in most es vaporizing into political smoke. respects, socially moderate]. And “And that,” we agreed, “would be despite the warning Republicans had reprehensible.” Saffman-Taylor instability in a Hele-Shaw cell. This image was a winner in the 2004 Gallery of Fluid Motion. APS NEWS January • 2007 5

APS Presents Plaque to Honor Millikan New Congress Presents Challenge for APS District Advocates With many new faces in Congress other programs or by new revenues. Laboratory last year, Tuts embarked and a shift to a Democratic majori- With new members and new lead- on a lobbying mission to impress ty in both houses, the APS ership come new needs and new members of the New York congres- Washington Office is planning to opportunities for science advocates sional delegation how vital the lab- expand its District Advocate pro- to educate Congress on the impor- oratory’s programs are to the science gram in order to reach those new tance of science policy and research, and innovation future of their state Members of Congress. The DA pro- the APS Washington Office notes. and the nation. Tuts began his cam- gram, now in its second year, targets New representatives and senators are paign during the APS Units and trains APS members in key states often unaware of just how important Congressional Visits Day in February. and congressional districts to advo- science is, not only nationally, but He kept the pressure on in the follow- cate for science funding throughout also, more importantly, in their home ing weeks and months, and, in the the year. districts. With such a large freshman end, many of the offices he contact- On January 2, nine new senators class, beginning the dialog on the ed agreed to support the American and 54 new representatives took the support of science research and edu- Competitiveness Initiative. oath of office in the US Capitol. In cation takes on a serious urgency, The APS Washington Office plans the shake-up, science lost several the Washington Office says. To meet to recruit and train more members for supporters as appropriations chairs, this need, the Washington Office is the District Advocate network. “We including Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) planning to beef up the District are especially looking for more APS in the Senate and David Hobson (R- Advocate Program in its second year. members in areas where we have OH) in the House on the Energy and In its first year, three dozen APS only received sporadic support over Photo by Dan Dry Water Subcommittees. In addition, members volunteered their time to the years,” says Pierson. “It’s relative- On November 30, APS President-elect (now President) Leo Kadanoff (left) present- Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) retired as meet with their Members of Congress ly easy to get support from elected ed a plaque to the University of Chicago, to honor Robert A. Millikan, as part of the chairman of the House Science and their staff and to organize grass- APS News officials in Maryland and California APS Historic Sites initiative (see , May and October 2005, January and Committee, and Frank Wolf (R-VA) roots activities in their home districts February 2006, all available online). Millikan received the Nobel Prize in 1923 in because they have large science con- stepped down from the House and in the nation’s capital. For exam- recognition of two major achievements: measuring the charge of the electron in stituencies and major federal facili- APS News Science, Commerce, Justice and State ple, H. Dieter Hochheimer of his famous oil-drop experiment (see “This Month in Physics History,” , ties, but it’s much harder to convince August/September 2006), and verifying Einstein's prediction of the relationship Appropriations Subcommittee due Colorado State University conduct- between light frequency and electron energy in the photoelectric effect. Kadanoff to Republican term limits. ed a successful meeting in the office a representative from a district where is himself a faculty member in the Chicago physics department. Accepting on “It’s a challenge every two years,” of Congresswoman Marilyn science funding is not a top tier local behalf of the University was Thomas Rosenbaum (right), Vice-President for Research issue.” and for Argonne National Laboratory says Steve Pierson, Head of Musgrave (R-CO), and followed up Government Relations in the APS by hosting her on the Colorado State The District Advocates Program US Signs on as Non-Host Partner Washington Office, “but we look for- campus and escorting her on a labo- augments other activities orchestrat- ward to it.” Pierson noted that despite ratory tour. Hochheimer, who is chair- ed by the APS Washington Office, for Restructured ITER Project the change in party control, science man of his department, also organ- including letter writing campaigns “The world is counting on us to satisfactory funding mechanism funding remains a bipartisan issue. ized a successful letter-writing cam- at the March, April and DAMOP make ITER a success,” Under was not implemented. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the new paign by his faculty members to all meetings, numerous Capitol Hill vis- Secretary for Science, Department The funding requested for the Speaker of the House, has assured sci- of Colorado’s representatives and its by APS members and occasional of Energy, Raymond Orbach said Office of Science in the entists that innovation and competi- senators, urging federal support of sci- Washington e-mail alerts to the at the November signing ceremo- Administration's FY 2007 tiveness are high on the Democratic ence research. Society’s members. The DA Program ny for the ITER agreement. Joining American Competitiveness agenda. Basic research and science Another successful District can enhance the effectiveness of these Orbach at this ceremony in Paris Initiative alleviated concerns about education are likely to remain prior- Advocate was Michael Tuts of efforts. “Through the DA Program a were representatives of China, the ITER's financial impact on the ities for the 110th Congress. But Columbia University. Reacting to constituent can make an issue top European Union, India, Japan, the domestic fusion program. Under Democrats have said that any new the possibility of significant budget tier and more appealing,” says Republic of Korea, and the Russian this request, funding would increase spending must be offset by cuts to cuts at Brookhaven National Pierson. Federation. 10.9% for the Fusion Energy The ceremony occurred almost Sciences Program, which both the construction phase of the ITER four years after the Bush House and Senate versions of the Project. It is also the beginning of TASK FORCE continued from page 1 Administration announced that the FY 2007 DOE appropriations bill a commitment to solve the world's the meeting, the task force mem- US would rejoin the ITER negoti- would provide (although the Senate energy problem by scientists rep- bers did not agree on the location Members of the ations. The US had withdrawn from bill proposes shifting some funding resenting more than half of the and date, but encourage experi- Task Force: participation in ITER during the to a new office of High Energy world's population.” mentation. They recommend a James A. Isenberg (GGR; design phase in 1998 because of Density Science). He concluded, “As we move four year trial of holding the meet- University of Oregon) concerns about the facility's pre- ITER will be built at Cadarache, forward to implement this agree- ing alternately in Washington and dicted costs and project manage- France and is scheduled to be com- ment, let us all keep in mind the Benjamin F. Gibson then elsewhere at dates between ment. The project was significant- pleted in 2015. The US, as a non- enormous responsibility we all (DNP; Los Alamos) January and May. This trial would ly restructured after the US with- host partner, will participate in the share. The world is counting on us begin with the February 2010 Bradley M. Sherrill (DNP; drawal. construction phase at the level of to make ITER a success. The meeting, to be held in collabora- Michigan State) The agreement was subject to a 9.09%. The total value of the US [DOE] will work with you to tion with AAPT. 120-day review by Congress as contribution is $1.122 billion. The achieve that success, to providing John F. Beacom (DAP; Some examples of possible required by the Energy Policy Act European Union, as ITER's host, to succeeding generations a source Ohio State) themes would be: “first light” of 2005. On September 29, 2006, will provide 45.46% of construction of unlimited, environmentally from the Large Hadron Collider, Joan Centrella (DAP; House Science Committee phase funding. benign, energy. There is no greater neutrinos, the chemical history of Laboratory for Gravitational Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R- Orbach described the signing contribution to world security and the universe, the high-energy Astrophysics,NSAS/GSFC) NY) wrote to Energy Secretary ceremony as representing “both a prosperity.” gamma-ray sky, physics and Samuel Bodman, stating his satis- conclusion and a beginning. It is the Courtesy of FYI, the American Andrew G. Cohen (DPF; homeland security, global warm- faction with the revised agreement. final closure of the negotiations. Institute of Physics Bulletin of Boston University) ing and physics of energy, nuclear Boehlert had threatened in 2005 to And, it is the beginning of the ITER Science Policy News (http://aip.org Chris Quigg , Chair weapons and proliferation, impli- kill US participation in ITER if a International Organization and the /fyi). (DPF; Fermilab) cations of the string-theory land- INNOVATION continued from page 1 scape, observation of gravitation- Vincent S. Chan (DPP; event, former House Speaker Newt China and India will have scientif- scientists who trained in the United al waves, physics in medicine, General Atomics) Gingrich said that innovation is ic abilities we won’t even under- States. He said that if the US does- computational physics, symme- Lawrence M. Krauss certain to occur at a rapidly increas- stand. “We will be in a nightmare,” n’t invest more in science, all the try and symmetry violations, and (FPS; Case Western Reserve) ing rate. He predicted a massive he said. innovation work is going to China. the National Ignition Facility. increase in total knowledge in the At the November 16 event, Federal investment in physical next 25 years. “The question is not David Abshire, president of the sciences and engineering as a share American teenagers continue to lag are working in science and technol- will it occur, but how much will Center for the Study of the of GDP has been in significant those in most developed countries ogy. From 1994 to 2003, the pro- occur in the US,” said Gingrich. Presidency, said that in order for the decline for decades, according to in math and science literacy, and the portion of the workforce in those “For the first time in 100 years we United States to remain competi- the report. The US share of patents percentage of US students earning fields increased from 17% to 23%, are at a crisis point in American tive, we must elect a president in and scientific publications is shrink- undergraduate degrees in science but the United States is relying on and engineering fields has fallen science,” he said. Gingrich called 2008 who will be a strategist and ing. China in particular is rapidly foreign- born talent to fill many of behind many other countries. While for increased investment in science an innovator. increasing its output of research those positions, the report says. and technology. “It is not a question Also speaking at the November articles, the report notes. In addi- American universities are still the Unlike in many areas of science of money, it’s a question of priori- event, Larry Wortzel, chairman of tion, the high tech trade deficit is best in the world, China has made and technology where we rely on ties,” he said. He also suggested the U.S.-China Economic and continuing to widen, and more it a priority to make its universities foreign talent, defense and nation- the government could inspire inno- Security Review Commission, R&D facilities are being located world class, the report says. US vation by offering prizes for devel- emphasized that China is increas- abroad. China has overtaken the production of PhD scientists has al security work requires US citi- opments such as a hydrogen car. ing its support of scientific research, United States as the largest exporter been essentially flat, while Asian zens who can obtain clearances, If we don’t invest in science and attracting more and more research of information technology. production of PhD scientists has the task force notes. technology, warned Gingrich, we and development, and providing Troublesome education trends been increasing rapidly. The full report can be found at will end up in a situation in which incentives to attract back Chinese continue as well, the report says. Increasing numbers of people http://futureofinnovation.org/. 6 January • 2007 APS NEWS

MIT Team Devises Scheme for Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer Many consumers long for the lenges still remain to ensure effi- gadget’s antenna, which must also day when they can recharge lap- cient conversion of power into a resonate at 6.4 MHz, and that ener- Charging Ahead tops, cell phones and other ubiqui- form useful as input for electronic gy would be used to recharge the tous electronic gadgets without hav- gadgets. device. Sometimes scientific inspira- energy, with minimal energy loss. ing to lug around a separate bulky That is the primary stumbling Only objects designed to res- tion can come from the most mun- So he set about making that vision charger for each. That day might be block. Wireless energy transfer in onate with the frequency of that dane unlikely sources. In Marin a reality. And the most obvious closer than we think. A team of such products is far from efficient: field would be able to detect and Soljacic’s case, it was his wife’s physical phenomenon for such a MIT physicists, led by Marin the emitted waves spread in all absorb that energy. Any energy not Nokia cell phone that inspired his purpose, he decided, was strong- Soljacic, has been investigating the directions, and dissipate too rapid- transferred to the gadget would be approach to non-radiative wire- ly coupled resonance. physics of electromagnetic fields, ly over distance. Only a small frac- reabsorbed by the source antenna. less energy transfer. She continu- Soljacic grew up in Croatia and has devised a demonstrable tion of the emitted energy is picked There would still be substantial ally forgot to recharge the device, before moving to the US after fin- scheme for using wireless energy to up by the receiver. That’s why most losses, but the rate of transfer could and whenever the battery ran too ishing high school, and is a fervent power future gadgets. such approaches require the device reach tens of watts, sufficient to low, the phone would emit a loud admirer of fellow Serbo-Croation, Soljacic isn’t the first to pursue to be extremely close to –or in direct recharge a laptop within a few noise to alert the user to the Nikoa Tesla. He is also a big fan this concept. In the late 19th/early contact with–the recharging pad or meters of the power source, accord- impending battery death. of iRobot’s Roomba robotic vac- 20th century, Nikola Tesla conduct- similar element. ing to Soljacic’s simulations. His This often happened late at uum cleaner, but laments, “It does ed experiments in which he was So there was considerable buzz team is now embarking on a series night or in the wee hours of the a fantastic job, but after it cleans able to light gas discharge lamps in the physics community when it of experiments to test those simu- morning, to Soljacic’s annoyance. one or two rooms, the battery from over 25 miles away, without was announced that Soljacic and lations. He thought it would be nice if the dies.” That’s why he owns sever- using wires. The recent Hollywood his colleagues–Aristeidis Karalis Currently, this method of wire- cell phone could recharge itself. To al Roombas, but he envisions a blockbuster film, The Prestige, and John Joannopoulos–had come less non-radiative energy transfer do so, however, would require a day when Roomba could recharge depicts a fictional Tesla using a up with a scheme for wireless non- works over distances between three wireless means of transferring using wireless energy transfer. form of wireless energy transfer to radiative energy transfer. They to five meters and shows between light hundreds of electric light bulbs investigated a special class of non- 30 to 60 percent energy efficiency planted in an open field some 25 radiative objects that demonstrated –not ideal, but certainly an improve- miles from his energy source. long-lived resonances. When ener- ment over prior methods. Soljacic Lab’s Past and Future Featured at That scene is based on contem- gy is applied to such objects, it believes he can improve on these 2006 SESAPS Fall Meeting porary accounts of such an inci- remains bound to them as “tails” efficiencies, so that his approach dent. But Tesla had a more ambi- The APS Southeastern Section University and JLab spoke about tious goal than merely powering held its annual meeting November the upcoming proton therapy cen- light bulbs from a distance. He envi- 9-11 in Williamsburg, Virginia, ter being set up at Hampton Roads. sioned the construction of a glob- offering a broad program of pre- It is the sixth and largest of its al system of interconnected tow- sentations in fields ranging from kind for treating cancer patients. ers for wireless telegraphy, teleph- neutrino physics, gamma-ray According to Keppel, proton ther- ony, and power transmission, and bursts, nanostructures, biomateri- apy provides radiation oncologists began building a prototype, als and NMR measurements with with a highly exact method of Wardenclyffe Tower in Long Island, sessions enumerating the past suc- localizing treatment within a New York. He was forced to aban- cesses and future aspirations of patient, thereby minimizing side don the project for lack of invest- the nuclear physics program at the effects as well as controlling the ment funds, and the structure was Thomas Jefferson National progression of the disease. The ultimately razed and sold for scrap Accelerator Facility (JLab). result: maximal radiation doses metal. Special events included a tour of for cancerous tumors, with mini- However, the notion of the so- JLab, and the traditional banquet. mal doses to surrounding healthy called “Tesla effect”–a type of high The keynote banquet speaker tissue. field gradient between electrode was Philip Bogden, program direc- New Frontiers. One session plates for wireless energy transfer tor for the SURA Coastal Ocean focused on current and near-future –has endured. The effect uses high “I love not having to plug things in anymore, but sometimes the side effects get to me.” Observing and Prediction facilities for performing cutting- frequency alternating current, pro- (SCOOP) program and CEO of edge high energy physics experi- ducing potential differences Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing ments. Talks naturally focused on between two plates. Because of the that flicker over the surface, rather can be adapted in the future for System (GoMOOS), who spoke the Large Hadron Collider, slated surrounding magnetic flux, power than dissipating into space. The application in a factory, or scaled of creating a virtual national lab- to come online at CERN in 2008. can be transferred to a conducting phenomenon is known as evanes- down to the microscopic or oratory for predicting hurricane Another session focused on the receiving device–such as Tesla’s cent coupling, and strongly resem- nanoscale realms. Thus, such a impacts. A national, multi-agency search for gravitational waves, wireless bulbs. bles quantum tunneling. scheme could power not just small initiative called the Integrated with status reports on the Laser Physicists have long known that Specifically, Soljacic and his consumer electronics, industrial Ocean Observing System would Interferometer Gravitational-wave it is possible to transfer energy wire- colleagues propose boosting the applications or electric vehicles combine the knowledge, data-inte- Observatory (LIGO), its next-gen- lessly using this powerful near-field induced current via resonance, by (including helicopters), but also gration capacity, and computation- eration counterpart, the upgraded effect. The oscillations of the mag- introducing a short gap in a metal freely roaming nanorobots and netic field that surrounds a charged loop and attaching two small disks macroscale robotic factory workers. al power necessary for real-time Advanced LIGO, and the space- loop of metal can induce an elec- at either end. Such an object, when In fact, Soljacic foresees a day environmental prediction and haz- based Laser Interferometer Space tric current in another nearby metal charged, has a natural resonant fre- when there is a far-ranging infra- ard planning. Collectively, hurri- Antenna (LISA). Yet another ses- loop, which can act as a battery or quency–a byproduct of the current structure of such “midrange” ener- canes in 2005 caused more than sion focused on recent advances in recharger. There are a few applica- flowing back and forth along the gy nodes–akin to the wireless hot 2280 deaths and record damages neutrino physics, featuring status tions already for wireless recharg- loop from one disk to another. In spots that provide laptop users with of over $100 billion. reports on numerous experiments, ing, most notably electric tooth- theory, at least, two loops with the easy high-speed Internet access–in DNA Self-Assembly for including MINOS, Borexino, brushes that use wireless transfer to same frequency would mean that which entire buildings or other large Computing. How might the KamLAND, and MiniBooNE. recharge their batteries; the tran- one should be able to receive ener- areas would be able to automatical- migration of circuit fabrication JLab Upgrade. JLab is in the scutaneous energy transfer (TET) gy from the other through the mag- ly recharge wireless devices when- from the microscale to the process of its own major 12 GeV systems used in some artificial netic near field. ever they come within range. nanoscale change the way com- upgrade, which will enable numer- hearts; and some cellular phones. Soljacic’s key insight is that the Perhaps one day it will be possible puter systems are engineered, in ous key experimental measure- A British company called close-range induction occurring to send power to electric buses trav- light of the fundamental physics ments over the next five years, Splashpower has designed wireless inside a typical transformer could eling along a highway. limitations on the materials being according to JLab’s William recharging pads that also exploit potentially transfer energy over While numbers in the team’s used? Chris Dwyer of Duke Brooks. For instance, the energy- electromagnetic induction. Users short and mid-range distances, such simulated calculations are encour- University described recent doubled CEBAF electron accel- simply place their gadgets (cell as from one end of a room to anoth- aging, Soljacic cautions that it advances in programmable DNA erator will allow for more precise phones, MP3 players) on the pads er. A power transmitter would fill would be premature to start con- self-assembly that offer several measurements of the generalized to charge them. BBC News quoted the space with a non-radiative elec- structing homes without wall plugs new methods for synthesizing parton distributions (GPDs) that Splashpower co-founder James Hay tromagnetic field. This power of any kind. “We fairly strongly complex nanostructures suitable first emerged in the mid-1990s, pronouncing the MIT work interest- would be picked up by a copper believe in our theory, based on pre- for logic circuitry. They could lead which is revolutionizing how ing for future applications. antenna that radiates at a frequen- vious experience. But experiments to new modes of computation that physicists think about the intrin- “Consumers desire a simple uni- cy of 6.4 MHz. “Tails” of energy will be the ultimate judge,” he said. would be impractical with con- sic structure of the proton. Also, versal solution that frees them from from the antenna would be able to For more information, see the ventional technologies. the GlueX project will map the the hassles of plug-in chargers and “tunnel” up to 5 meters. This elec- original paper: http://arXiv.org/abs/ Proton Radiotherapy on the spectrum of gluon excitations with adaptors,” he said, although chal- tricity would be detected by the physics/0611063 Rise. Cynthia Keppel of Hampton photons. APS NEWS January • 2007 7

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Looking for the perfect job? Do you want to improve your negotiation skills? Do you have You will find the following in great ideas that you want to communicate to your colleagues? the online edition of Looking for the ideal job candidate? *** Reviews of Modern Physics at Let the APS March Meeting Job Fair do the work for you! If so, the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics http://rmp.aps.org invites you to attend one of the workshops entitled Electrostatic modification March 5-7, 2007 “Professional Skills Development for Women in Physics.” of novel materials These workshops will: Denver Convention Center Exhibit Hall C. H. Ahn, A. Bhattacharya,M. Denver, CO • Coach women in key skills that are needed to enhance their Di Ventra, J. N. Eckstein, C. careers. Daniel Frisbie, M. E. • Provide training in persuasive communication, negotiation, Gershenson, A. M. Goldman, Register today at: and leadership presented by experienced professionals, with I. H. Inoue, J. Mannhart, http://www.physicstoday.org/ an aim towards increasing the influence of female scientists Andrew J. Millis, Alberto F. jobs/APSMarch_jobfair.html within their own institutions. Morpurgo, Douglas Natelson • Provide a special opportunity for networking among partici- and Jean-MarcTriscone pants. The classic example of elec- For more information contact *** trostatic modification of mate- Workshops in 2007 will be aimed at women physicists in indus- Alix Brice at 301-209-3187 or rial properties is the silicon- try and government labs. Workshops will be offered on Sunday, based field-effect transistor, in at [email protected]. March 4 (Denver) and on April 13 (Jacksonville, FL) in associa- tion with the APS annual meetings. Deadline to apply for the which the external field of a March workshop was December 4, 2006 and is January 10, gate electrode controls the con- 2007 for the April workshop. ductivity of the substrate. In APS Bylaws Amendment Related to the recent years there has been Establishment of a Standing Budget Committee Workshops will be limited in size for optimal benefits. much effort devoted to making Participants are eligible to receive a stipend to help cover the and observing field-effect An ad hoc committee was first established in 2003 to work with cost of travel and up to two nights lodging. behavior in new materials, such the Treasurer to establish goals and objectives of the budget as correlated oxide films, for the next fiscal year and to review the budget carefully in the These workshops are funded by the National Science organic films, single-molecule final stages of its preparation. The committee was chaired by Foundation. devices, and ferromagnetic the President-Elect and consisted of three Council members. materials. This article reviews the progress on different mate- After 4 years of using this procedure, it was the view of the Details at http://www.aps.org/educ/cswp/index.cfm . Treasurer and others who were involved that the committee was rials, drawing attention to the a help and did provide valuable assistance in crafting new budg- challenges for future research. ets. It has been recommended that the Budget Committee become a permanent, standing committee of the Society. Below months, so the ecosystem could centrally at the bottom of the 5000 Hz using a high-frequency is proposed language to establish a standing Budget Committee. better cope with the large amount chamber. The scientists believe pulse laser, employing oil mist as ARTICLE III - STANDING COMMITTEES of waste and thick layer of accu- the phenomenon can be exploited tracer particles. They also tried to mulated organic matter on the for bioparticle trapping and con- measure the flow when a human A. OPERATING COMMITTEES lagoon bed–the result of decades centration. At the DFD meeting, played the instrument using a CW of Cancun’s thriving tourist indus- they demonstrated the rapid sep- laser. They succeeded n measuring 11. Budget Committee: The membership of the Budget try. aration of red blood cells from the oscillating flow, finding that Committee shall consist of the President-Elect and four mem- Reading Einstein’s Tea blood plasma, for possible appli- near the hole of the bamboo flute, bers of the Council appointed by the President to staggered two- Leaves. Among Albert Einstein’s cation in miniaturized blood diag- the air went out from ad came into year terms. The President-Elect shall serve as Chairperson. The lesser-known interests was his par- nostic kits. the instrument at about 500 Hz Committee shall meet with the Operating Officers during the ini- adoxical observation of tea leaves Inside a Bamboo Flute. Wind depending on the tone. tial budget planning process to establish overall goals and centrally accumulating at the base instruments produce sound from objectives for the next fiscal year and again as the budget is in of a stirred teacup. A team of sci- the vibration of the air flow inside the final stages of preparation. The Committee shall provide the entists from Monash University the wind instrument. Trumpets or Treasurer with strategic guidance and with critical considera- has applied this basic concept to clarinets use a mouth or reed to tion of fundamental budget assumptions. the fluid flow patterns observed produce variable sounds, but there when they applied a voltage to a is no mechanical vibration mech- Visit sharp electrode tip above the liq- anism in a flute. A team of DFD MEETING continued from page 4 APS News uid surface of a microfluidic cham- researchers at the University of pelled by a vortex ring ejected at In the later case, the dune will con- ber. This generates an electrohy- Tokyo are working to measure in the contracting phase, and the tinue to boom and vibrate even drodynamic air thrust that shears greater detail the air flow and Online researchers found that a similar after the sand has visibly stopped the liquid surface and induces liq- vibration inside and outside the vortex ring with an opposite vor- moving. Hunt’s field measure- uid recirculation. The recircula- flute to improve the manufacture ticity seems to be at work in the ments show that the frequency tion sweeps colloidal particles sus- of quality instruments. They used expanding phase. ranges from 75 to 110 Hz depend- pended within the liquid in a hel- a traditional Japanese bamboo flute Booming Sand Dunes. For ing on the desert location and time ical swirling motion and deposits in their experiments. First they centuries desert explorers have of the year. Her measurements sug- them at a stagnation point located measured the argon gas flow at heard the booming sounds of the gest that the physical features (such desert–low frequency sustained as a moisture barrier) of the sand tones that accompany the dune plus the characteristics of the avalanching of sand on large shearing on the surface may con- dunes. These desert travelers, tribute to a wave-guide phenom- including Marco Polo, attributed ena that results in a resonate behav- the sounds to beating drums or ior at a characteristic frequency. harps, voices of spirits, lost horse- Also featured at the US-Mexico men or other superstitions. Melany mini-symposium was a talk on Hunt of Caltech discussed her granular flows in volcanic environ- recent work involving field and ments –multi-phase system flows laboratory measurements of the that involve some combination of booming sound at several loca- solid, liquid and air in response to www.aps.org/ tions and on different days as part applied shear stress–by Lucia of the US-Mexico mini-sympo- Capra (National University of publications/ sium on geophysical fluid dynam- Mexico, Juriquilla), drawing on apsnews ics. examples from several active It is not a noise composed of Mexican volcanoes. Other UNAM many frequencies but instead con- scientists reported on their pro- tains a dominant audible frequen- posal to flush a polluted lagoon in cy and several higher harmonics. Cancun using a wave and tide driv- The sound can be heard after a en seawater pump. They believe naturally occurring slumping event their approach could improve the or triggered by forcing sand down lagoon’s natural “flushing time” Photo by Melany Hunt, Caltech the leeward face of a large dune. form two to four years, down to six Booming sand dunes 8 January • 2007 APS NEWS The Back Page

direct a journalism program at a 2. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The science-oriented university where Phenomenon of Man (1959): “[M]an Imy colleagues are modern-day is seen not as a static centre of the alchemists, turning corn into fuel, Sound Science or Sound Bite? world—as he for long believed him- conjuring twisters in wind tunnels, self to be–but as the axis and leading or morphing visitors at our virtual By Michael Bugeja shoot of evolution, which is something reality lab into plant cells during pho- much finer” (p. 36). tosynthesis. These professors rank 3. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring among the most ingenious, passionate people I have ever (1962): “Future historians may well be amazed by our dis- met. Put some of them in front of a reporter, however, and torted sense of proportion. How could intelligent beings seek all bets are off. to control a few unwanted species by a method that con- Being misquoted in the media is commonplace, espe- taminated the entire environment and brought the threat of cially when the topic concerns science. Depending on the disease and death even to their own kind?” (p. 8.) error, a quotation out of context can catapult a scientist into 4. Benoit B. Mandelbrot, Fractals (1977): “Why is the national spotlight where the person gets to clarify the geometry often described as ‘cold’ and ‘dry’? One reason remarks and do it again, only this time for a mass audience. lies in its inability to describe the shape of a cloud, a moun- Analyzing cases of foot-in-mouth disease, I came to tain a coastline, or a tree.… Mathematicians have dis- this conclusion: When researchers simplify science, they dained this challenge, however, and have increasingly cho- often end up providing sound bites that overstate findings. sen to flee from nature by devising theories unrelated to Sound bites bite back. As early as 1993 Dorothy Nelkin, anything we can see or feel” (p. 2). author of Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science 5. Jane Goodall, In the Shadow of Man (1988): “Who and Technology (W.H. Freeman), warned that scientists tend knows what the chimpanzee will be like forty million years to oversell research when explaining it to reporters. hence? It should be of concern to us all that we permit him Journalists also are partly to blame for overselling sci- to live, that we at least give him the chance to evolve” (p. ence. Big national newspapers and broadcast outlets have 252). seasoned correspondents, but science happens everywhere, 6. Steven Weinberg, Dreams of a Final Theory (1992): humility.” A simple experiment underscores this conclusion. including college towns like Ames, Iowa, where agricul- “If there is a God that has special plans for humans, then Type “modest scientist” or “humble scientist” into the tural biotechnology is on display in fields and on shelves He has taken very great pains to hide His concern for us. Internet search engine Google and you’ll be lucky if you of supermarkets. Many reporters who cover science do not To me it would seem impolite if not impious to bother get more than a couple of hits. Then do the same thing with fully grasp it, interviewing sources with polar viewpoints such a God with our prayers” (p. 251). “arrogant scientist” and the number of hits increases by on genetically modified products or exotic animal dis- 7. Denise Schmandt-Besserat, How Writing Came About an order of magnitude. eases. (1996): “[W]riting emerged from a counting device.… Arrogance is something both journalist and scientist Each change of reckoning device–tallies, plain tokens, Unintelligible Design seem to have in common because they also share another complex tokens–corresponded to a new form of economy: The language of science has many dialects. Much is lost trait, a passion for truth. Journalistic objectivity is partly hunting and gathering, agriculture, industry” (p. 122). in translation. Once I collaborated with a microbiologist based on scientific fact-finding. The great 19th century Those excerpts make great pull quotes in print or sound who kept referring to “p53” while I frantically paged British essayist Matthew Arnold wrote about “genuine sci- bites on air. However, taken out of context, they also pro- through a medical report that had 45 pages, only to real- entific passion” in the 1869 essay, “Culture and Anarchy.” voke as much as inform. That is why I caution scientists ize that he was speaking about a tumor suppression gene In it, he used the phrase–“to see things as they are,” not as to at least qualify similar remarks with humbler disclaimers, that encodes a protein with an atomic mass of 53 kilodal- we wish they were. This, he wrote, was a “social idea” that especially if they believe passionately in their assertions. tons. (As everyone knows, a kilodalton is 1000 times 1/12 made such persons, scientists especially, “the true apostles of the mass of one atom of Carbon-12.) I also collaborate of equality” who “have a passion for diffusing, for mak- Straight to the Source with scientists across disciplines, helping them communi- ing prevail, from one end of society to the other, the best How, indeed, do scientists successfully condense the data cate with the public. knowledge, the best ideas of their time.” of their passionate truths and convey them dispassionate- Perhaps you have followed the debate at Iowa State This also was the intent in the Ames lecture. However, ly to non-scientist reporters on a topic that is sure to spark University about intelligent design. Inside Higher Ed report- the passion for truth, condensed into a pull quote in the news- controversy and debate? ed the conclusion of that debate last year when 120 of my paper, often is mistaken for arrogance, especially when we I put that question to Robert Hazen, who responded at colleagues signed a statement urging the rejection of intel- attach pop cultural notions to topics as controversial as evo- length in this e-mail: ligent design as science. My intention in referencing the lutionary theory being able to substantiate the complex “[S]cientists must be ever so careful when talking to debate is not to rekindle it but to call to your attention to chemical sequences responsible for the origins of life. reporters, especially those not trained in science or who are a citation in the Ames (Iowa) Tribune made by a famous To put this into perspective, consider this: The scientist working on a tight deadline. Scientific progress can be scientist who delivered a speech here, titled, “Why intel- who visited my university and who reportedly made that halting, technically dense, often incomplete and filled with ligent design is not science.” He reportedly told the audi- comment happens to Robert Hazen, author of the extraor- caveats. The scientific story is often messy, with lingering ence that “the origin of life could have come from a dinary book, Gen-e-sis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s doubts, rival hypotheses, and always lots more work to be sequence of emergent chemical events, each one more Origins, and a professor of earth science at George Mason done (because the more we learn, the more we realize we complex than the last.” University. have yet to learn). Upon reading that statement, I sent an e-mail to a few His comment as reported in the Ames Tribune actually “Reporters, on the other hand, want a neat story, sim- scientists on campus who believe that intelligent design is is based on the molecular fossil record. Most reviews of ply told and unambiguous in its meaning. Reporters also philosophy rather than science. (So do I, by the way.) The his work note how fair and balanced his theories actually love a controversy, and (in the interests of ‘fair and bal- statement as reported seemed to use the same type of over- are. You can’t deduce that, however, by reading the 387 anced’ reporting) will often present two opposing viewpoints reaching argument often associated with creation science. words in the story about his talk at Iowa State University with equal weight, even when the scientific community over- On reading that someone had identified a sequence of on February 3, 2006. You need to glean the 339 pages in whelmingly endorses just one conclusion. chemical events accounting for the origins of life, my Hazen’s hard cover book. “So what’s a scientist to do? My approach is to explain immediate reaction was jealousy. Apparently, the scientist Book Bites three things: had spoken to God, and I wanted an interview, too. “First, describe what we think we know about the topic Below are some of the most influential books that helped “This is why the public and media put a stop to all man- (and, if possible, provide a little background about the shape a century of science, according to The American ner of scientific projects,” I messaged my colleagues. measurements and theory that support that knowledge). How Scientist. I have reduced each work’s premise or conclu- “Cloning research is a case in point. People believe that do we arrive at our conclusions? sion into a sound bite–an excerpt taken out of context–the geneticists are engineering life–a hyperbole, at best; the cell “Second, explain what we DON’T know about the topic, way many reporters do speeches by scientists. Sometimes is engineering life. To state otherwise is to believe that the including the uncertainties, the controversies, and a sense those reporters jot down the premise and leave before the US Corps of Engineers created water, not the dam.” of how much weight to place on different ideas. It’s always conclusion, to make deadline, especially if the speech is My colleagues generally agreed. Based on the state- best to be honest about our imperfect state of understand- scheduled between 7-8 p.m., allowing little time to write ment at the Iowa State speech, which came off as sound ing. and file the report. Sometimes reporters working on mul- bite (or “pull quote,” in newspaper lingo) rather than as “Third, and equally important, explain what we’re doing tiple stories show up for the conclusion and miss the prem- sound science, the speaker subsequently was taken to task to find out more.” ise, asking a few quick questions afterward and then scoot- in letters. One noted that his view was “conjectural and According to Dr. Hazen, science is a never-ending ing. unsubstantiated” because no scientist “has been able to adventure. I feel the same way about journalism. It is the What would be the outcome, I wondered, if reporters synthesize a single nucleotide from a prebiotic environment. task of journalist and scientist to communicate that sense attended lectures by authors of these great books, quoting Amino acids yes, but nucleotide, no.” of adventure to the public without misquotation or over- them out of context in the year of publication, given the I had forgotten about all this. Then I received a journal statement. After all, in both our disciplines, the facts should social mores of those times? in the mail called In Character funded by a grant from the speak for themselves. 1. Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception & Heaven John Templeton Foundation. One article in this edition Michael Bugeja, who directs the Greenlee School of and Hell (1954): “Although obviously superior to cocaine, stood out as exemplary: “Creation Myths: What scientists Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University, opium, alcohol and tobacco, mescaline is not yet the ideal don’t–and can’t–know about the world”: is the author of Interpersonal Divide: the Search for drug. Along with the happily transfigured majority of What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Community in a Technological Age (Oxford University mescaline takers there is a minority that finds in the drug the word “scientist?” Chances are it isn’t “modesty or Press, 2005). only hell or purgatory” (p. 66).

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