July 2012 • Vol. 21, No. 7 Dresselhaus Wins Kavli Prize A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY see page 5 WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS/INDEX APS Members Weigh in on Strategic Plan Back-to-back Conferences Confront In early May, APS unveiled its ers of the APS Divisions, Forums, own internal organizational struc- the Health of Physics Education five-year strategic plan in an email Topical Groups and Sections had ture. The plan stresses the need to By Bushraa Khatib sored by AAPT and APS, had over to its 50,000 members, inviting a chance to give detailed consider- enhance communication and en- June 8 through 12 were a busy 120 people registered, making this them to look at the document and ation to the strategic plan. gagement with the membership, five days at the American Cen- one of the largest, if not the larg- express their views. The member- “The plan itself has energized to maintain the high quality of its ter for Physics as APS and the est, Chairs Conference,” said Bob ship responded with dozens of a lot of members. I saw this in the meetings and peer-reviewed jour- American Association of Phys- Hilborn, AAPT Associate Execu- emails and comments, highlight- discussions with unit leaders and nals, and to build better support for ics Teachers (AAPT) jointly tive Officer and a key organizer of ing the members’ many concerns I see that in the comments,” said physics and science amongst the held back-to-back conferences– both conferences. and suggestions for the Society. APS Executive Officer Kate Kirby. public. It particularly highlights the Physics Department Chairs The Chairs Conference began Responders held a wide variety of “A number of people applauded the the goals of increasing diversity in Conference and the Building a on June 8 with an optional Con- opinions, both positive and nega- fact that APS had developed a stra- the physics community, better serv- Thriving Undergraduate Physics gressional Visitors Day, where tive, ranging from concerns over tegic plan.” ing industrial physicists and early- Program Workshop–designed to attendees spent a day on Capitol the details of implementing the plan The plan highlights four dif- career physicists, and encouraging bring physics department chairs Hill discussing issues with policy to the future role of science in the ferent areas in which APS aims to more international collaboration and faculty up-to-date on trends makers, and communicating the broader society. make progress over the next few and public outreach, as well as con- in physics research and educa- importance of science and educa- The rollout to the membership years. The goals of the plan are to tinuing leadership in physics edu- tion, and address building thriving tion funding. Keynote speaker S. followed closely on the APS Unit better serve the members of APS, cation. physics programs with sustain- James Gates, a professor of phys- Convocation, held at APS head- the physics community, and soci- Responses to the plan have been able, healthy physics enrollments. ics at the University of Maryland quarters in late April, when lead- ety at large, and to improve APS’s STRATEGIC continued on page 5 “The biennial Physics Depart- and a member of the President’s ment Chairs Conference, co-spon- CONFERENCES continued on page 7 All-electric Cars Need Battery Breakthrough Radio Telescope Boosts South By Fred Schlachter Despite their many poten- Africa’s Science Credentials tial advantages, all-electric ve- By Michael Lucibella dishes, antennas and aperture ar- hicles will not replace the stan- In the last week of May, the or- rays will total about one square ki- dard American family car in the ganizing body of the largest, most lometer. South Africa will be home foreseeable future. This was the advanced radio telescope, the to the mid- and high-frequency perhaps reluctant consensus at a Square Kilometer Array (SKA), antennas. The telescope will be recent symposium focused on bat- revealed its decision to divide spread out over a huge distance, tery research. construction between candidate with antennas as far away as 3,000 Hosted by Lawrence Berke- sites in New Zealand, Australia miles from its core cluster of dish- ley National Lab, the conference, and South Africa. Observers have es. Seen from afar, the telescope’s titled “Beyond Lithium Ion V: called the split decision a political layout resembles a spiral galaxy, Symposium on Scalable Energy Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt/Berkeley Lab move, but it reflects how strong with a dense five-kilometer diam- Storage,” took place in Berkeley both proposals were (Australia eter core of dishes and antennas at from June 5 to June 7. An estimat- Participants examine a Nissan Leaf on display at the conference. and New Zealand submitted joint- its center and long arms spiraling ed 300 scientists and engineers at- grid would eliminate America’s than gasoline for a given driving ly as one single bid). South Africa, out across the continent. tended the symposium. dependence on imported oil and range. considered an underdog in the ear- Radio telescopes already dot As the talks at the symposium reduce emissions of CO into the Researchers agreed that the ly 1990s when the project was first the Northern Cape Province at the emphasized, powering cars with 2 atmosphere. However, the driving lithium-ion chemistry used in to- announced, has shown that it has site where the heart of South Afri- electricity is a dream whose re- range of a battery-electric car is day’s generation of batteries for become a scientific powerhouse ca’s SKA will be built. On the arid alization is drawing closer, if too limited for many Americans, electric cars–and laptops and cell on the African continent. Karoo plains in the western part not yet close enough. A battery- and the cost is high, even though phones–is reaching maturity, and The SKA is so named because of the country, seven radio dishes, electric car powered by a green electricity is much less expensive CARS continued on page 5 the total collecting area of all the TELESCOPE continued on page 4 Winning PhysicsQuest Class Helps Outwit Maxwell’s Demon Fellows by the Lake The winners of this year’s girl in school. The four physics changing pencils and a toy “drink- PhysicsQuest competition for experiments in the kit included ing bird.” middle school students have been comparing the evaporation rates “[The students] were over the announced by the APS Outreach of water and alcohol using a drink- moon that they got something that Department. The grand prize win- ing bird toy, examining the heat cool,” Harrison said. She added ner is Michelle Harrison’s eighth conductance of different metals by that she had been participating in grade class from the Holly Grove melting Hershey’s Kisses, demon- PhysicsQuest for years and was a Christian School in Westover, strating an exothermic reaction by big fan of the kits. “It has given me Maryland. letting steel wool rust, and watch- easily done experiments, that are “PhysicsQuest is a program ing warm air rise and turn a pin- written well and that the kids can where APS creates a kit with ev- wheel. follow along with, and it gives me erything you need to do four phys- Harrison’s class of 42 students the resources to do them.” ics experiments. They’re themed. correctly solved the four physics The second place winners were This year’s theme was heat,” said problems in the PhysicsQuest kit. from Lynne Towers’s class at Our Becky Thompson, APS’s Head of The winners were chosen at ran- Lady of Mount Carmel School in Public Outreach. The experiments dom from the hundreds of correct Bristol, Rhode Island. Her class in the kits are tied together through submissions received. Her class re- received a $300 gift certificate to Photo by Sarah Davis a comic book based on APS’s orig- ceived a $500 gift certificate to the Educational Innovations, drinking On April 11, APS hosted a reception for Chicago-area Fellows at the Adler inal laser superhero, the middle- teaching supply company Educa- birds, comics and pencils. Third Planetarium on the shores of Lake Michigan. Attendees had time to mingle, school-aged Spectra. tional Innovations, who produced place went to Kathy Peavey’s mid- and heard brief remarks from APS President-elect Michael Turner, who host- In her adventure this year Spec- the APS-designed kits. In addition dle school class at Wilbur Middle ed the reception, as well as Executive Officer Kate Kirby, Treasurer/Publisher tra had to save her friends from the the students in her class each re- School in Wichita, Kansas. The Joe Serene, and Director of Education and Diversity Ted Hodapp. In the pho- to, APS Fellows Laurie Brown, Murray Peshkin and Stanley Cohen enjoy the clutches of a demon belonging to ceived an iPod Nano, a complete class received a $100 gift certifi- refreshments, the conversation, and the view. Tiffany Maxwell, the new mean set of signed comic books, color OUTWIT continued on page 6 2 • July 2012 Members This Month in Physics History in the Media The point (of subsidies) is not quotient as well as IQ, I buy that… July 24, 1954: Operation Moon Bounce to make energy more expensive… There were, of course, warn- e think nothing today about the prolifera- ity that the moon had an ionosphere, which would The point is to make renewable ing signs that most people would Wtion of artificial telecommunications satel- mean certain radio frequencies could reflect off energy as inexpensive as pos- have viewed with great suspicion, lites orbiting Earth.