July 2006 Volume 15, No. 7 www.aps.org/apsnews Highlights APS NEWS APS Election Preview A Publication of the American Physical Society Page 7 APS Task Force Calls for Website on Ethics Education The Truth, The Whole Truth.... he APS should create and misconduct are easy to identify, there there has been the occasional work- maintain a web site to serve are plenty of murky gray areas where shop or introductory course on Tas a resource for ethics edu- the boundaries between acceptable scientific ethics, as well as an Online cation, according to a report of the and unacceptable behavior are not Ethics Center for Engineering and APS Task Force on Ethics Education, as clearly drawn. Many physicists Science. Task force member presented to the APS Council at its may be confused or unaware of what Marshall Thomsen, a professor at April Meeting. Appointed last year, constitutes misconduct. Incoming Eastern Michigan University, also the task force was charged with physics graduate students in maintains an extensive online collec- examining how the Society might particular are in need of a little guid- tion of ethics resources, gleaned from encourage physics departments ance in this area, on their way to two NAS-funded workshops he around the country to do a better job becoming practicing scientists. organized in the late 1990s, plus of educating students, postdocs and "Ethics education is essential to materials from his own course on the faculty alike about scientific ethics. the intrinsic health of the enterprise, subject. A handful of cases of scientific as well as for the need to assure The APS task force reviewed all misconduct in various fields (includ- public trust," the task force said in these ongoing efforts and existing ing physics) over the past several the introduction to its report. "The resources. The report recommended years have cast a shadow on the community cannot take for granted that the Society regularly remind its Photo credit: US Department of Energy entire research enterprise. According that all of its members will behave members of the existence of its On May 26th, Raymond Orbach was confirmed by the US Senate to task force chair Allen Goldman ethically." “Guidelines for Professional as Undersecretary for Science in the Department of Energy. On June (University of Minnesota), there is There are some scattered Conduct” (http://www.aps.org/ 1, Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman (right) administered the oath a very real need to develop resources existing resources. For instance, statements/02_2.cfm). However, the of office to Orbach, as Orbach's wife Eva looked on. President Bush and materials to educate the commu- the APS has an official statement on task force members decided what nominated Orbach for the new position, created by the Energy nity about the various ethical the issue (http://www.aps.org/ was really needed was a central Web Policy Act of 2005, in December 2005. He will continue to serve as dilemmas they may encounter in statements/02_4.cfm), while the site devoted to ethics education, the Director of the DOE Office of Science, a position he has held the course of their careers. National Academy Press published featuring not just links to useful since March 2002. While certain cases of gross On Being a Scientist in 1995. And APS Task Force continued on page 3 Practice Makes Perfect Atomic Clocks, Fast Lasers Highlight DAMOP Meeting Sophie Cai, one The latest research in atomic spectroscopy for highly precise tim- than 200 mW of power to of the 24 members of clocks, attosecond laser experi- ing and sensing applications. Such operate–include GPS receivers, the 2006 US Physics ments, and ultracold neutral plasmas structures rely on miniature alkali wireless communication devices, Olympic Team, were among the featured topics at vapor cells–fabricated using remote monitoring, and explosives investigates the the 2006 annual meeting of the APS standard MEMS techniques–that detection. mysteries of nature Division of Atomic, Molecular and allow atoms to be confined along For all the advances in atomic at the training camp Optical Physics. The DAMOP with a buffer gas. The atoms in the clocks, most commercial atomic held at the University meeting took place May 16-20 in cell are excited using laser light, as frequency standards (AFS) still rely of Maryland in May. Knoxville, Tennessee. well as magnetic fields generated on conventional technology devel- Cai is a junior at In addition to the technical pro- by microfabricated current loops. oped in the 1950s. Symmetricom Ridgefield High gram, the meeting featured a Potential applications for such Technology Realization Center has School in Ridgefield, Wednesday evening public lecture units–which are about the size developed specialized laser sources Connecticut. For by the University of Nebraska’s of a grain of rice and require less DAMOP continued on page 6 more details about this year's Physics Timothy Gay, and banquet keynote Olympiad, see the address by Patricia Dehmer, asso- Women Who Choose Physics story on page 4. ciate director of the DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, on the- Photo credit: Ernie Tretkoff Love It, AIP Survey Discovers new “American Competitiveness Initiative.” Conference attendees Women in physics around the The study compared respons- Global Nuclear Plan Shares Key were also given the opportunity to world say they face negative atti- es from women in developed tour the Spallation Neutron Source tudes towards women in science, and developing countries. Elements with APS Report and Center for Nanophase materi- but they are also passionate and Unsurprisingly, women in devel- A key component of the Bush alternative to petroleum-based als at Oak Ridge National excited about physics, according oping countries were much more Administration Advanced Energy energy sources, particularly in light Laboratory. to a recent AIP Statistical Research likely to say they lacked adequate Initiative, announced during the 2006 of mounting concern about global Keeping Time with Atoms. Center report, titled Women funding and travel money. Sixty State of the Union Address, is the warming and US dependence on Kurt Gibble (Penn State University) Physicists Speak Again. percent of women in developing Global Nuclear Energy Partnership foreign sources of oil. Other countries reviewed some recent advances in More than 1350 women from countries said they did not have (GNEP), intended to enable the are also reconsidering the potential of the use of laser-cooled atoms in over 70 countries answered the adequate funding, compared with expansion worldwide of nuclear nuclear energy. atomic clocks that have resulted in survey, which was a follow-up to 33% of women in developed energy. The current GNEP proposal “The intent [of the POPA report] significant improvements in accu- a similar survey conducted in countries. 63% of women in before Congress shares key elements is to provide an informative, educa- racy. This requires finding creative 2002 in conjunction with the first developing countries lacked trav- with the recommendations of a tional document to help Congress by solutions to the frequency shifts that IUPAP International Conference el money, compared with 32% in May 2005 report issued by the APS clarifying the technical details sup- occur in cold collisions. Those solu- of Women in Physics. developed countries. Panel on Public Affairs (POPA). porting the issue, independent of any tions include using adiabatic fast While not a representative “I am not given a single cent Nuclear energy has long been political agendas,” said Hagengruber, passage to accurately evaluate the sample of women in physics, the for traveling. It’s very sad,” wrote viewed with suspicion by the gener- emphasizing that the report is "a con- cold collision frequency shift, as survey responses give a picture of one woman from Tanzania. al public because of various health and sensus document," although there well as “fountains” based on rubid- the challenges women face in “Right now I have a collaborator safety concerns, but over the last were some dissenting voices during ium atoms. physics and their attitudes about in the US but no funding to sup- decade, there has been a noticeable discussions. The report made sever- NIST scientists have built sim- their chosen field. port me. It is frustrating some- shift in public perception, according al recommendations. The issue that ilar fountain atomic clocks using The survey asked women how,” wrote a woman from to Roger Hagengruber (University provoked the most discussion, and cesium atoms, although the focus of about their education and careers, Nigeria. of New Mexico), who chaired the which is most relevant for the debate NIST’s John Kitching’s paper at and about issues that concern Worldwide, women reported POPAsubcommittee responsible for in Congress, had to do with reprocess- the DAMOP meeting was on recent women physicists, such as dis- both positive and negative effects drafting the APS report. Nuclear ing of nuclear fuel. In this area, the efforts to develop millimeter-sized crimination, marriage and child- of marriage on their career care, and funding. Women continued on page 3 energy is becoming an attractive GNEP continued on page 5 devices based on atomic 2 July 2006 APS NEWS This Month in Physics History Members in the Media July, 1977: MRI Uses Fundamental Physics for Clinical Diagnosis "As president, I'm responsible for golf balls fly farther. While our n July 3, 1977, the first of the right frequency. They them. Personally, I walked into a set research could be utilized by magnetic resonance would also emit this amount of of practices and lack of knowledge of industry, it can actually help us under- Oimaging (MRI) exam on energy in falling back to the lower the policies and as such, I feel that I stand any 'glassy' multi-particle a live human patient was per- energy orientation.