physicsworld.com Volume 26 No 7 July 2013

Physics OF cancer New tools and fresh perspectives Untitled-3 1 27/06/2013 11:57 physicsworld.com Contents: July 2013

Quanta 3 Frontiers 4 “Quantum microscope” peers into hydrogen atom ● Do dark-matter discs envelop galaxies? ● Novel 3D “ghost imaging” technique ● Monster gas cloud could unveil Milky Way’s black-hole hub News & Analysis 6 Radiation leak hits J-PARC facility ● SESAME receives Euro funding ● Physicist takes over Russian Academy of Sciences ● Restart of Japan’s Monju reactor put on hold ● Staff lay-offs hit US nuclear lab ● NASA buys quantum computer ● Carbon Science Picture Co/Science Faction/SuperStock Co/Science Picture Science capture in Europe branded a “farce” ● Report highlights top physics research ● Croatia hoping for science boost ● Update for European particle-physics strategy ● Heinrich Rohrer: 1933–2013 ● Boosting science in Korea: Se-Jung Oh

In a spin – how cancer cells move 28–29 Comment 15 Tackling cancer Forum 17 Tackling space debris head on Brian Weeden Critical Point 21 The Treiman effect Robert P Crease Shutterstock/In GreenShutterstock/In Feedback 22 Readers’ views on Niels Bohr’s philosophy, publication methods and a carbon- dioxide mix-up, plus comments from physicsworld.com about Stephen Hawking’s participation in an academic boycott Physics of cancer An electrical misunderstanding 25 Flash fiction – cancer gets personal 56 Cancerous cells are often described as “malignant” or as “good cells gone bad”. But what if tumour cells could be made to act normally, given the right motivation? Jon Cartwright investigates

On the cover Breast cells in a spin 28 Physics of cancer 15, 25–40 Physics offers novel insights into what makes breast cells become malignant, but (Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library) coming up with definitive answers is far from clear cut, as Edwin Cartlidge explains Killing me softly 33 Philip Ball describes how researchers are examining the mechanical properties of cancer cells by prodding and pulling on them using the needle-like tip of an atomic-force microscope

physic sw Exposing cancer’s deep evolutionary roots 37 o r l Could cancer be an ancient genetic programme with roots in our multicellular d past? Paul Davies outlines a new “evolutionary” theory of cancer Reviews 42 More ice, less politics ● Exploring the initial conditions ● Web life: Do the Math Physics World is published monthly as 12 issues per annual volume by IOP Publishing Ltd, Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol BS1 6HG, UK Careers 46 Mixing physics and engineering Steven Lawler ● Once a physicist: Steven Mackey United States Postal Identification Statement Physics World (ISSN 0953-8585) is published monthly by IOP Publishing Ltd, Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol Recruitment 50 BS1 6HG, UK. Air freight and mailing in the USA by Sheridan Press. 450 Fame Avenue, Hanover PA 17331. Lateral Thoughts 56 US Postmaster: send address changes to Physics World, IOP Publishing, PO Box 320, Congers, NY 10920-0320, USA. Alice2007 Kevlin Henney

Physics World July 2013 1 Untitled-2 1 27/06/2013 11:29 physicsworld.com Quanta

For the record Seen and heard I am a triumph of modern medicine, The physics of custody physics and chemistry NASA Divorce is a complex matter, even more US rock musician Lou Reed on Facebook so when children are involved. Many The 71-year-old former Velvet Underground custody arrangements instruct each frontman took to Facebook to reveal that he parent to have the kids every other is “bigger and stronger than ever” following a weekend, but what happens when divorced successful liver transplant in May. parents already have children with two or more ex-partners? Is it still possible At heart I am a physicist, I look at to arrange one’s affairs so that every everything in my life trying to find couple has either all the kids together on one weekend or no kids at all? Well, the single equation, the theory of Print your own food that problem has now been tackled by everything It may have first appeared on the Starship Andrés Gomberoff from the Universidad Actor Will Smith quoted in New York Magazine Enterprise, but a firm in the US is trying Andrés Bello in Santiago, Chile, and Smith, who recently starred together with his to bring something akin to the “food colleagues who have modelled all the son Jaden in the science-fiction film After Earth, replicator” into the real world. Texas- possible permutations using graph theory reveals his affinity to physics, adding that he is a based outfit Systems and Materials (arXiv:1305.0935). They conclude that “student of patterns”. Research Corp has been given a $125 000 no, such custody arrangements are not grant from NASA to develop a “3D food possible, saying that the problem turns printer” that could create custom meals for out to be equivalent to finding the ground I never got into Star Wars, maybe astronauts in space. Currently astronauts state of a spin-glass system. Gomberoff’s because they made no attempt to take with them pre-packaged nosh but the team is now extending its calculations portray real physics. At all company says the new printer would vastly to include other real-life issues such reduce waste – a key factor for future long- as a parent who must work every other Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden distance space missions. The printer would weekend. “We think that these problems Planetarium in New York, talking to Business create synthetic food in a low-gravity are an important source of stress in Insider environment layer-by-layer by combining modern life,” the authors write. Tyson was commenting after being asked if he powdered protein, starches, fats and preferred Star Trek over Star Wars. flavours with water or oil. “The 3D A musical reunion printing system will provide hot and quick Some 20 years after It’s based on new research that’s food in addition to personalized nutrition, hanging up their being done in particle physics flavour and taste,” the firm wrote in its drumsticks and guitars, proposal to NASA. So when exactly will the band formally known by the young men and women at astronauts be tucking into printed pizzas? as the Spontaneous Columbia University Don’t hold your breath. “These are very Emissions returned in May to perform a Actor Dan Akroyd speaking on the Larry King early-stage concepts that may or may not set of classic rock and roll at the University Now show mature into actual systems,” says NASA of Sheffield’s annual physics Hicks ball. Akroyd was speaking to veteran talk-show host spokesperson Allard Beutel. The band was formed in 1991 at Sheffield Larry King about plans for a Ghostbusters 3 film, by four then-PhD students: Nigel Clarke which will apparently be centred on work into Space fiction (drums), John Cockburn (bass guitar and extra dimensions. Still on space, next month sees the launch vocals), Lee Elliot Major (rhythm guitar of what could be one of the biggest films and harmonica) and Chris Hawkins (lead Working at CERN is one step up from of the summer. Elysium, starring Matt guitar and vocals). Clarke is now head of Damon and Jodie Foster, is a science- physics at Sheffield, Cockburn is a physics having any old PhD fiction blockbuster set in the year 2159. In lecturer in the department, while Major is Dominic Connor, head of quantitative finance the film there are two classes of people: director of development and policy at the recruitment firm P&D Quant recruitment, quoted the very wealthy who live on a space Sutton Trust and Hawkins works at the in eFinancialCareers station called Elysium and the rest who science consultancy firm Tessella. To the Connor claims that there are many people who live on a ruined Earth fighting poverty delight of students at the ball, the quartet have doctorates in physics but CERN is the place and disease. Although the film sounds like played a 40-minute set after dinner with to find top PhDs in physics and computing. the crazed dream of Virgin Galactic boss hits ranging from “Twist and shout” to Richard Branson, its promoters say it does “Brown eyed girl”. There is even talk of You will never think of your breakfast feature some parallels with the real world. more band performances to come, as One example they quote is the blossoming well as a possible UK university tour. Yet in the same way again industrial space sector depicted where one band members has some misgivings. Postdoc Andong He from Yale University quoted private firms transport people from Earth “Since my most vivid memory of touring in a Yale press release to the space station and back. Elysium is attempting to call the breakdown He and colleagues claim to have discovered how is also based on a “Stanford torus” – a services at 2 a.m. after our van ran out different shapes of cereals join together to form donut-shaped space station that was fuel following a gig in Hull, I’m in no great different patterns when they float in milk. proposed by researchers from Stanford hurry to repeat the experience!” Clarke University in 1975. Who’d have thought? told Physics World.

Physics World July 2013 3 physicsworld.com Frontiers In brief Quantum peek into hydrogen atom Ultracold quantum-magnetism simulation Quantum magnetism has been mimicked – or direct observation destroys the wavefunc- simulated – using ultracold fermionic atoms tion before it can be fully seen. for the first time. Researchers in Switzerland In the new work, Aneta Stodolna of and France placed potassium-40 atoms on the FOM Institute AMOLF in the Neth- a 2D square lattice created by criss-crossing erlands, along with Marc Vrakking at the laser beams. By controlling the interactions et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. Max Born Institute in Berlin, and other between atoms, the team put pairs of atoms colleagues in Europe and the US directly

into antiferromagnetic configurations, with Stodolna obtained the “nodal structure” of the elec- spins pointing in opposite directions. Quantum tronic orbital of a hydrogen atom by placing magnetism plays an important role in a range of the atom in an electric field and exciting it solid-state phenomena, but it can be difficult to with laser pulses to a Rydberg state. The calculate its effect on materials such as high- ionized electron escapes from the atom temperature superconductors. Such quantum Eye of the atom Experimental observation of the and follows a particular trajectory to the simulations should therefore lead to better nodal structure of a hydrogen atom. detector. Given that there are many such theoretical models of a range of solids and the trajectories that reach the same point on team is already collaborating with theorists on The first direct observation of the orbital the detector, interference patterns are pro- this effort (Science 10.1126/science.1236362). structure of an excited hydrogen atom has duced, which the researchers magnified by been made by an international team of a factor of more than 20 000 using an elec- Rethinking the wake pattern for ships researchers. The observation was made trostatic zoom lens. The pattern directly Physicists in France have studied the V-shaped using a newly developed “quantum micro- reflects the nodal structure of the wave- wakes created by boats as they move through scope”, which uses photoionization micro- function (a “node” being where there is a water, and claim that Lord Kelvin might have scopy to visualize the structure directly. The zero probability of finding an atom). been wrong to say that the wakes fan out at a team’s demonstration proves that this type of As the recorded patterns are on the milli- constant angle of 19.47°, no matter the speed of microscopy, which was first proposed more metre scale, they can be observed with the the vessel. Wakes are produced by interference than 30 years ago, can be experimentally naked eye on the 2D detector and recorded between water waves created by a boat, but it realized and can serve as a tool to explore with a camera system. “What you see on has long been unknown why fast-moving boats the subtleties of quantum mechanics. the detector is what exists in the atom,” produced smaller-angle or narrower wakes. The wavefunction contains the maxi- says Vrakking. The group observed several By analysing images from Google Earth, using mum knowledge that is available about the hundreds of thousands of ionization events measurements of boats’ hull lengths and wake state of a quantum system, with its square to obtain the results, with the same prepa- angles, and calculating their velocities, the describing the probability of where exactly ration of the wavefunction for each. researchers have built a new mathematical a particle might be located at a given time. Having visualized the hydrogen atom, model. They found that at higher speeds, boats Although it features prominently in quan- the team is now analysing the helium atom cannot produce waves longer than its hull; so the tum theory, directly measuring or visualiz- using the same method (Phys. Rev. Lett. wake angle then depends only on the speed of ing the wavefunction is no easy task, as any 110 213001). the boat, narrowing as it moves faster (Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 214503). causing it to form a thin disc just as ordi- Dark matter doubles up nary galactic matter does. They work out Pulsars map the way for space missions that the dark and visible discs would have A method for navigating spacecraft A new type of dark matter that could about the same mass, meaning that the autonomously using pulsars has been developed strongly interact with regular matter to densities of DDDM and normal matter in by a group of researchers in Germany. Although form large discs that would overlap gal- the universe would be roughly equal. the idea of using pulsars for stellar navigation axies has been postulated by a group of According to the team, DDDM discs was first proposed in the 1970s, the team researchers in the US. Dubbed “double- would contain the dark-matter equivalent has, for the first time, discussed the type of disc dark matter” (DDDM), it has been of protons and electrons interacting via pulsars best suited for such navigation and has proposed by a team led by Lisa Randall at an analogue of electromagnetism, so cre- determined what sort of detector would be used. Harvard University. If the matter exists, it ating “dark atoms”. Group member Mat- The new work determined that only “rotation- would suggest that leading candidates for thew Reece explains that evidence for the powered” pulsars are suitable for navigation dark matter – weakly interacting massive dark disc’s existence could come from the and that choosing the detector would depend particles (WIMPs) and axions, which rarely gravitational effect it has on the motion on mission specifications, such as size, orbit collide with one another – do not tell the of the billion Milky Way stars, which the and power consumption. A large craft would whole story. European Space Agency’s upcoming Gaia be more suited to a radio array; while compact By considering the characteristics of the mission will study. Annihilating DDDM X-ray detectors would work better with current dark matter surrounding our own Milky particles would, given enough sensitivity, missions, where there are space and weight Way galaxy, the researchers calculate also produce “strikingly different” signals restrictions (arXiv:1305.4842). that as much as 5% of this invisible stuff from those of the ordinary dark matter that might not be weakly interacting. They also existing space-based detectors PAMELA, Read these articles in full and sign up for free say that DDDM would probably dissipate Fermi and AMS-02 are looking out for. e-mail news alerts at physicsworld.com energy while retaining angular momentum Direct detection, however, would be more from its motion about the galactic centre, difficult (Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 211302).

4 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Frontiers

Innovation Science Hello to acoustically invisible walls , University of Glasgow/ A rigid wall can be transformed from a total et al. et reflector of sound to an almost perfect Sun Sun transmitter by perforating it with tiny, regularly spaced holes covered by a thin elastic membrane, say researchers in Japan and Korea. The discovery is an acoustic analogue to the phenomenon of extraordinary optical transmission (EOT), which allows electromagnetic waves to pass almost unhindered through a lattice of sub-wavelength holes in a barrier that would otherwise be opaque in some metamaterials. It has been known for a while that if the holes contain a material with a refractive index close to zero, the wavelength of light in the holes becomes extremely long, and thus its velocity becomes extremely large. The faster a wave travels, the more energy it carries, allowing the energy of the entire wavefront to squeeze ‘Ghostly’ 3D images taken without a camera through the tiny holes. Such media are called Imaging systems could be heading in a more simplified direction, now that a 3D system that does not require a epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials because conventional camera has been developed by researchers in the UK. Baoqing Sun, Miles Padgett and others refractive index depends on permittivity – a from the University of Glasgow, along with colleagues at the University of Cambridge, created a simple 3D kind of electrical inertia that represents the imaging system using nothing more than a basic light projector, four single-pixel detectors and a resistance encountered when forming an electric computational imaging technique known as “ghost imaging” that creates images using “intelligent field in a medium. An ENZ material offers almost illumination”. The team used the projector to illuminate a polystyrene model of a human head with computer- no resistance to such displacement. generated random binary speckle patterns. The light reflected from the head was collected by the detectors, Now, Sam Lee of Yonsei University in Seoul, which are placed at varying angles. Thanks to the random binary speckle patterns – which illuminate the object Oliver Wright of Hokkaido University and with a “chequered” pattern – and the varying angles of the detectors, the team was able to see a clear shading colleagues have produced an analogue of profile in the images. The image above shows different versions of the reconstructed head – the left head is a the ENZ metamaterial for sound waves. They 3D view of the greyscale image from the detectors, the middle image is the final reconstructed 3D head, while achieved this by covering the holes with a the right head shows the binary speckle patterns used by the groupScience ( 10.1126/science.1234454). thin membrane of ordinary cling film. With the tension tuned so that the membrane’s resonant holes could be seen by NASA’s NuSTAR frequency is the same as the frequency of the Galaxy’s black-hole hub and Chandra telescopes. incident waves, the membrane’s resonance Imre Bartos of Columbia University in amplifies its oscillations. The resonance moves Astrophysicists in the US think that an New York, and colleagues, carried out sim- the air through the holes as though the air has no immense cloud of gas currently swooping ulations depicting the number and distri- inertia, allowing it to move in response to even a around the centre of our galaxy could reveal bution of stellar black holes, together with small displacement, transporting all the energy a multitude of small black holes nestled the predicted trajectory of the gas cloud, of the waves through the barrier. there. The G2 gas cloud will pass through and calculated that G2 should encoun- On the other side of the barrier, Huygens’ the galactic centre over the next 12 months, ter around 16 such objects on its journey. principle dictates that each hole produces where it will encounter the small black holes The team looked at how much radiation spherical wavefronts. The separation between and produce bursts of detectable X-ray these encounters should produce, and the holes is much less than the wavelength of radiation (Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 221102). the chances of existing instrumentation the sound, meaning the interference pattern Since the 1970s astronomers have postu- being able to spot their faint signals from reconstructs the plane wave in much less than lated that a hub of small black holes lurks 25 000 light-years away. one wavelength, so the barrier is effectively incognito near Sagittarius A* – the super- Bartos stresses that uncertainties linked invisible to the propagating waves. massive black hole at the centre of the Milky to limited information about the cloud’s den- The researchers tested their metamaterial Way. Based on star formation and death sity and speed can cause the radiation value design by placing an acrylic barrier perforated rates, simulations predict as many as 20 000 to change by a factor of 100. More promising, with four small holes in a tube. They found that small black holes in the innermost region of perhaps, is the prospect of finding evidence with the barrier perforated by bare holes, only the galaxy, each with a mass several times for so-called intermediate-mass black holes 9% of the waves’ energy was transmitted. With a that of our Sun. With the G2 cloud set to – their encounters with G2 would produce membrane placed over the holes, this proportion make its closest approach to Sagittarius A* significantly more and brighter radiation jumped to 81% (Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 244302). in early 2014, its impact on the small black than their smaller counterparts.

Physics World July 2013 5 physicsworld.com News & Analysis J-PARC hit by radiation leak Japan’s massive J-PARC physics facility has been shut down after 34 workers were exposed to increased levels of radiation. Michael Banks reports on the fallout from the incident

Experiments at the $1.5bn Japan 23 May at the Hadron Experimental

Proton Accelerator Research Com- J-PARC Facility. According to an accident plex (J-PARC) have been cancelled statement released on J-PARC’s until further notice following a leak website, at 11.55 a.m. a malfunction at the facility that exposed workers occurred as the proton beam was to small amounts of radiation. It is being delivered from the 50 GeV expected that J-PARC will not be synchrotron to a gold target that fully online until early next year once produces the subatomic particles. a full investigation has been carried Under normal conditions around out. In an English statement on its 3 × 1013 protons are slowly extracted website, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation to the target over a period of 2 s, Authority (NRA) says that “radia- but the malfunction instead deliv- tion control was not appropriately ered 2 × 1013 protons in under 5 ms managed” and that the incident – some 400 times the intensity of showed a lack of a proper safety cul- normal operation. This damaged ture at the lab. the 6 × 6 × 66 mm gold rod target, Writing to J-PARC users, the particles. One is the Materials and Out of action causing radioactive material to be facility’s director Yujiro Ikeda has Life Science Experimental Facility, Lying on the north- discharged into the target area and apologised for the incident and the which uses the 3 GeV proton beam east coast of Japan, beamline as well as to leak into the failure to prevent some users and to generate neutrons and muons for the $1.5bn Japan experimental hall, which contains workers from being exposed to a range of experiments in materials Proton Accelerator four experimental stations that were higher-than-normal levels of radia- science and biology. The Hadron Research Complex at the time occupied by users. tion. He says that a full investigation Experimental Facility produces generates and Upon detecting an anomalous into the cause of the accident is now kaons and antiprotons, while the studies a range of reading, the “machine protection taking place together with a com- Tokai to Kamioka (T2K) neutrino particles such as system”, which controls the delivery plete review of safety practices and experiment fires these almost mass- neutrons, neutrinos, of the beam to the Hadron Experi- emergency procedures. “Our first less ghostly particles some 300 km kaons and muons. mental Facility, did stop the beam. priority is to restore public trust in through the Earth to the Super- However, after almost 10 minutes of the facility by developing and imple- Kamiokande detector located 1 km checks and test shots to the target, menting measures to prevent the underground in the Mozumi mine in engineers reset the beam, thinking reoccurrence of an accident and to the city of Hida. nothing was wrong. Yet gamma-ray provide a safe experimental envi- The radiation leak occurred on monitors located in the Hadron ronment for users and workers,” he Experimental Hall measured an writes. Naohito Saito, deputy direc- The bumpy road for a world-class facility increase in radiation levels of around tor of J-PARC, told Physics World 4 µSv/hr – some 10 times higher that rebuilding trust within the local June 2002 Delegates attend the groundbreaking ceremony for than normal. community “would take some time”. the $1.5bn Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex Engineers then began to test if the detectors were picking up radia- Elevated levels June 2008 First neutrons are produced at J-PARC’s Materials tion from inside or outside the hall Lying on the north-east coast of and Life Science Experimental Facility and decided to turn on the ventila- Japan, 120 km from Tokyo, J-PARC tion fans mounted on the building’s is located in Tokai and is jointly oper- July 2009 Official inauguration of J-PARC in Tokyo is attended walls. As this was found to reduce ated by the Japan Atomic Energy by more than 1000 scientists from all over the world the level of radiation picked up by the Agency (JAEA) and the KEK parti- gamma-ray monitors, the beam was cle-physics lab in Tsukuba. The facil- March 2010 First neutrinos sent from J-PARC are detected at turned back on, the thinking being ity boasts three massive machines – a the SuperKamiokande detector located 1 km underground in that the elevated levels of radiation 200 MeV linear accelerator, a 3 GeV the Mozumi mine in the city of Hida originated from outside. However, proton synchrotron and a 50 GeV when the dose rate increased again proton synchrotron. These are used March 2011 J-PARC is shut down for nine months following 45 minutes later, J-PARC engineers to generate a range of particles such a 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Tohoku, Japan, with stopped the beam once more. as neutrons, neutrinos, kaons and roads and buildings at the facility badly hit As the radiation rate was still much muons by accelerating protons and lower than the 25 µSv/hr maximum smashing them into various targets. 23 May 2013 Leak hits the lab, exposing 34 workers to dose as stipulated by government J-PARC also has three big scien- elevated levels of radiation, triggering a temporary closure regulations, it was assumed there tific labs designed to exploit such would be no danger to the environ-

6 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com News & Analysis

ment and so engineers turned the J-PARC began to ventilate the exper- Hopefully the later this year to upgrade the linac, ventilation fans back on to further imental hall – although the levels shutdown which would have run until January. reduce the radiation rate in the hall. were still within normal range. It was He hopes that this could minimize It was not until 5.30 p.m. that all not until around 10 p.m. on 24 May won’t be for the delays to the facility. workers were evacuated. Although that J-PARC bosses reported the too long and Also affected by the shutdown is around 100 individuals were in accident to the NRA and the Atomic the impact not T2K, which will not receive a beam the controlled area of the Hadron Energy Regulatory Committee – a of neutrinos from J-PARC as long Experimental Facility during this legal requirement. too severe as the accelerator is offline. Dave incident, only 34 were exposed to Wark, a high-energy physicist at the higher radiation dose. Their total Minimizing delay Imperial College London and for- exposure was under 1.7 mSv – equiv- It is unknown when the facil- mer international co-spokesperson alent to a computerized tomography ity will come back online, but all of the T2K experiment, says that the scan of the head but still not exceed- experiments at J-PARC have been impact may not be so bad, given that ing that maximum dose as stipulated cancelled until the end of July. the facility was supposed to be shut by law for nuclear industry workers. According to Saito, J-PARC bosses down for an upgrade from the end The following day – 24 May – are not in a position to restart the of July until early February 2014. the JAEA’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle experiments and their first priority is “We already have data for the sum- Engineering Laboratories con- to investigate the causes of the acci- mer conferences, so we will have tacted J-PARC to say that three of dent to develop more robust systems interesting physics results for this their nearby monitoring posts had to prevent other “major failures”. year. Hopefully the shutdown won’t picked up a slight increase of radia- Indeed, Saito says that J-PARC is be for too long and the impact not tion – occurring at the same time as planning to have a long shutdown too severe.”

Middle East Europe backs SESAME with magnets and cash

A synchrotron radiation facility being the facility, which was completed in cut and a US contribution is by no built in Jordan to stimulate regional 2008, as well as a source and booster means assured”. co-operation in the Middle East accelerator recycled from the now Although Llewellyn Smith says

is to receive fresh European fund- Banks Michael decommissioned BESSY-1 synchro- SESAME “will not be the world’s ing. The $100m-plus Synchrotron- tron in Berlin. However, another best synchrotron”, since it will light for Experimental Science and $35m is needed to construct the neither produce the highest ener- Applications in the Middle East facility’s 40 m-diameter main storage gies nor the greatest intensities, he (SESAME) is to get 75m from the ring, which will use the CERN mag- believes it will “certainly be competi- European Commission to build nets to hold electrons at 2.5 GeV, and tive”, adding that “if you have the magnets at the CERN laboratory Plugging the gap to attach four beamlines. With Iran, right idea you could use it to win a in Geneva, with CERN providing The European Israel, Jordan and Turkey each hav- Nobel prize”. He also thinks that the much of the necessary manpower Commission is to ing pledged $5m last year, the latest machine’s scientific credentials will and expertise. The Italian govern- provide 75m European funding still leaves a hole determine its political impact. “If it ment, meanwhile, has said it will also towards the of around $8m. SESAME member is a first class scientific instrument provide 71m for the project, subject construction of the states will also have to find $10m to then scientists will want to go there,” to approval of its 2013 budget by a SESAME synchrotron cover running costs that they have he says. parliamentary commission. in Jordan. already agreed to pay. SESAME’s scientific director SESAME will be a third-genera- The president of SESAME’s coun- Hafeez Hoorani admits that the tion synchrotron source producing cil, Christopher Llewellyn Smith quality of the facility’s experiments intense X-ray beams for use by scien- from the University of Oxford, told could prove a stumbling block, point- tists in fields from condensed-matter Physics World he is “optimistic” that ing out that one of the experimental physics and chemistry to biology and the remaining funds can be found or, stations to be used was first built for archeology. It is being built near the if necessary, partly deferred – mean- another synchrotron nearly 30 years Jordanian capital of Amman by a ing that the machine could start up ago. He also believes it will prove nine-member collaboration – com- by the end of 2015, with experiments tough attracting scientists from the prising Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, kicking off the following year. He region’s “major players” – Israel, Tur- Iran, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, the hopes that the US can help to plug key and Egypt – given their access Palestinian Authority and Turkey the gap and perhaps also contribute to established synchrotron sources – and will be the first synchrotron some of the extra $25m needed to in Europe and elsewhere. But he source in the region (see February increase the beam’s intensity and add notes that the project has had posi- 2012 pp12–13). a further three beamlines once the tive effects even before switching on. Some $50m – supplied by host Jor- machine is online. “There is a lot of “Scientists from Iran are speaking dan and others – has already been support and goodwill towards SES- with scientists from Israel,” he says. invested in the project. This includes AME in the US,” he says, although “This is already an achievement.” the land and building that will house he cautions that “budgets are being Edwin Cartlidge

Physics World July 2013 7 News & Analysis physicsworld.com

Russia New Russian academy chief targets reforms

Physicist Vladimir Fortov has been Changes ahead been left with meagre salaries and lit- named as the new president of the MIPT Physicist Vladimir tle money to carry out experiments. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Fortov is looking to Few young people are becoming – one of the world’s largest research make reforms to how researchers and the average age of organizations. Fortov won 58% of the 289-year-old RAS scientists is increasing rapidly. the votes of RAS academicians, Russian Academy of These problems have diminished beating off two RAS vice-presidents: Sciences operates. the RAS’s stature in recent years. economist Alexandr Nekipelov and Relations between the ministry and the 2000 Nobel-prize-winning physi- academy have also soured since cist Zhores Alferov. Fortov plans to Dmitry Livanov was appointed Rus- reform the 289-year-old body, which sian science minister last year. He runs more than 400 institutes and said he wants to transfer research employs nearly 100 000 scientists. activity from RAS institutes to uni- Fortov is director of the RAS Joint with the RAS were at a low ebb, but versities and to create a “scientific Institute for High Temperatures in he managed to keep the peace dur- council” to oversee all basic research. Moscow working in areas such as ing his two years in the job. “The Aleksei Zheltikov, a physicist at shock waves and detonation, plasma conflict between the ministry and the RAS Photochemistry Centre in physics, and physical mechanics. In the academy was a real vendetta, a Moscow thinks that having a fair 1993, during the turbulent period fol- battle of annihilation,” Fortov said funding system in place to support lowing the dissolution of the Soviet during the recent election campaign, research in RAS institutes is impor- Union, Fortov was put in charge of adding that he wanted to normalize tant. However, for him one of the the Russian Foundation for Basic relations if elected president. most urgent issues to be addressed Research, a new government-backed Fortov takes over as RAS boss is the “lack of an adequate system of funding organization outside the from mathematician Yuri Osipov, regular salaries for scientists”. Yet RAS. The foundation grew rapidly who has been in charge since 1991 hopes are high that Fortov can turn under Fortov’s leadership, adopting and is widely credited with protecting things around. “He has an indis- western methods of peer review and the former Soviet Academy during putable academic record in plasma competitive funding, despite strong the collapse of communism so that physics and is a very good organizer opposition from the RAS. it emerged, largely unscathed, as the of science,” says polymer physicist In 1996 Fortov was made science Russian Academy. But with govern- Alexei Khokhlov, vice-rector of minister and deputy prime minister ment funding a fraction of what it was Moscow State University. at a time when government relations in the Soviet era, researchers have Daniel Clery

Japan on hold, pending a review of the nation’s energy policy. That deci- sion was reversed when the current Monju reactor back on hold over safety concerns administration came to power last December and the JAEA was aim- The restart of Japan’s Monju experi- Uncertain future ing to restart Monju by March 2014. mental fast-breeder reactor has been Japan’s Nuclear However, the NRA has now uncov- postponed due to safety concerns. Regulation Authority ered that there have been inadequate On 30 May Japan’s Nuclear Regula- has blocked plans to inspections of more than 10 000 key tion Authority (NRA) slapped the restart the troubled components at Monju, including plant’s operator – the Japan Atomic Monju fast-breeder safety-critical equipment. The NRA Energy Agency (JAEA) – with an nuclear reactor in has therefore blocked any work order barring any work towards March 2014. towards a restart, with NRA chair- restarting Monju until safety pro- person Shunichi Tanaka telling the cedures are overhauled. As Physics Japanese press that the JAEA lacks World went to press it was unclear a suitable “safety culture”. A JAEA when the plant would reopen. coolant and the fire that followed. spokesperson says that the agency Located in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefec- Public and political outrage over the is now reviewing the NRA order ture, Monju is intended to be a key cover-up – together with technical and that a target date for restarting piece of Japan’s nuclear-fuel-cycle glitches – delayed a restart until May Monju cannot be set until the investi- strategy. The reactor, which went 2010. Three months later a 3.3 tonne gation is complete. Shojiro Matsuura, critical in April 1994, is designed to piece of the fuel-handling system fell who took over the JAEA presidency burn a mixed uranium–plutonium- into the reactor vessel during refuel- on 3 June, visited Monju three days oxide fuel and produce more fis- ling and remained stuck there until later and according to the local news- sile material than it consumes. But June 2011. paper Fukui Shimbun urged staff “to Monju has been offline for most In the wake of the March 2011 reconsider the meaning of a culture of its life. A year after starting up, disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi of safety and work to enhance it”. plant operators tried to conceal the nuclear power plant, the Japanese Dennis Normile extent of a massive leak of sodium government put the Monju project Tokyo

8 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com News & Analysis

US research reduced budget and little prospect of increases. LLNL itself offered voluntary redundancies in 2008 but, according to Seaver, did not get “the Livermore slashes 10% of workforce numbers we had hoped for”. The lab then resorted to compulsory redun- The Lawrence Livermore National dancies, which some employees Laboratory (LLNL) in the US has challenged in the courts. Indeed, in begun laying off around 10% of its late May five lab staff were awarded 6500-strong workforce in prepara- more than $2.7m when a local jury tion for “challenges” in the lab’s 2014 found that the LLNL had violated a budget, which will start on 1 Octo- contractual promise that it would lay ber. The lab’s redundancy offer gives McBrideLLNL/Jacqueline the workers off only for a “reasonable workers one week of base salary for cause”. The LLNL will reconsider its each year of continuous service, up to response to the impending financial a maximum of 26 weeks. As Physics situation – which could still include World went to press, 399 individuals forced redundancies – as soon as it had accepted the lay-off’s terms. knows its final budget for 2014. The Obama administration’s Meanwhile, further budget woes budget request for 2014 includes are threatening the Massachusetts about $1.48bn for the LLNL – a sum Institute of Technology’s Alcator that lab director Parney Albright told C-Mod fusion project, which faces a Senate subcommittee last month closure within a year as the US gov- “will significantly limit our ability to ernment moves fusion funds from utilize the National Ignition Facil- Cutting costs ing the [redundancy programme] home-grown projects to interna- ity and undermine [our nuclear] The Lawrence now, rather than waiting for addi- tional collaborations such as ITER. stewardship programme”. However, Livermore National tional details on the 2014 budget, The administration’s proposed even this figure is uncertain, given Laboratory is will put the laboratory in a better 2014 budget includes no funding for the political disputes between the offering voluntary position to address whatever budget C-Mod and its shutdown would lead Democratic administration and the redundancies to realities we’ll face.” According to lab to 70 staff losing their jobs and leave Republicans who have a majority in prepare for budget spokesperson Lynda Seaver, “the only two fusion experiments in the the House of Representatives and a cuts in 2014. voluntary redundancy is available to US. The Massachusetts Congres- blocking minority in the Senate. all employees, though some could be sional delegation has called for res- Albright adds that there are still denied due to critical skills”. toration of funds for the programme, a number of “unknowns” in the The lay-offs at LLNL follow more which produces more PhDs in fusion 2014 budget request. “It is clear the than 550 permanent employees and plasma physics than any other budget proposal will face an uphill having accepted severance pack- US institution. battle in Congress this summer,” he ages last year from the Los Alamos Peter Gwynne says. “It is our hope that implement- National Laboratory when it faced a Boston, MA

Industry D-Wave sells second quantum computer – this time to NASA

Canadian firm D-Wave Systems has range of complex problems such as annealing uses quantum tunnelling announced it will install one of its machine learning, Web search, speech to cross barriers between local quantum computers at the Quantum recognition, planning and scheduling, minima to find the absolute minimum Artificial Intelligence Lab, which opened search for exoplanets, and support in a much more efficient way than in May at NASA’s Ames Research Center operations in mission control centres”. Systems D-Wave conventional methods. in California. The new 512-qubit system, Hartmut Neven, director of This approach also differs from called “D-Wave Two”, will be used by engineering at Google, says that the conventional quantum computers – NASA, Google and the Universities firm is involved in the project “to study Cashing in which are kept in a fragile quantum Space Research Association (USRA), how quantum computing might advance NASA, Google and state throughout the calculation – in which jointly run the lab. This is only the machine learning”. NASA, meanwhile, the Universities that it involves making a transition from second system that the company has says that it is interested in using Space Research a quantum to classical system. As a supplied to a customer, with its first – a quantum computers to “solve difficult Association will use result, D-Wave’s approach may be more 128-qubit system – having been bought optimization problems in aeronautics, one of D-Wave’s robust to environmental noise than in May 2011 by the US-based defence earth and space sciences, and quantum computers conventional approaches. and security contractor Lockheed space exploration”. to solve a broad D-Wave says that Google, NASA Martin in a deal believed to be worth D-Wave Two uses a process called range of “complex and the USRA subjected its 512-qubit more than $10m. “quantum annealing”, which is a problems”. system to a series of benchmark and According to Vancouver-based technique for finding the global acceptance tests before installation. “In D-Wave, the computer will be available minimum of a function. When all cases, the D-Wave Two system met for use in October and will be accessible solving such problems, conventional or exceeded the required performance to researchers via the USRA. The computers often get stuck in a local specifications, in some cases by a large firm says that the system will be used minimum that has a greater value margin,” claims the company. “to develop applications for a broad than the global minimum. Quantum Hamish Johnston

Physics World July 2013 9 News & Analysis physicsworld.com

Energy Europe’s carbon-capture plans branded a ‘farce’

Ambitious plans by Europe to Scaling back in Europe. One is a legally binding

develop carbon capture and stor- Statoil Although the EU requirement for member states age (CCS) have lost momentum and European Council to capture an agreed percentage of degenerated into a “farce”, accord- planned to have as their total CO2 emissions by 2030 ing to a new report from the CCS many as 12 and the other is a “complementary advocacy group ENGO Network. commercial-scale blend of CCS market incentive With the development of CCS in carbon capture and schemes” to encourage investment Europe now lagging behind other storage in CCS projects, such as feed-in tar- global regions, the report – Moving “demonstration iffs, grant schemes, loan guarantees CCS Forward in Europe – says CCS is projects” in and capacity auctions. not getting the same level of political, operation by 2015, Antony Benham, a senior geolo- industrial and non-governmental none has yet been gist and business development man- support as renewable energy, such as built. ager at the Nottingham Centre for wind and solar power. Carbon Capture and Storage, agrees CCS involves capturing the car- with the arguments outlined in the bon dioxide (CO2) emitted from report, particularly “the need for the burning of fossil fuels and then concerted action from the EU and transporting it to secure geological other governments to assist in the storage sites underground. Cur- deployment of CCS at a commer- rently there are no commercial-scale cial scale”. Noting that CCS can cut CCS projects under construction, CO2 emissions by up to 90%, he says even though in 2007 the European it is a “vital and necessary bridging Council agreed to have up to 12 failing to attract investment”. Little- technology” until sufficient electric- CCS commercial-scale “demonstra- cott adds that if Europe is truly seri- ity can be produced from non-fossil- tion projects” in operation by 2015. ous about fighting climate change, fuel sources. “At present, the costs “What should have been an interna- then CCS policies urgently need to of CCS, principally those associated tional success story for Europe has be refreshed. “But that requires a with extracting and concentrating turned into a farce,” the report adds. broader vision and creative think- the CO2 from its source, are rela- Chris Littlecott, senior author of ing to accelerate action. More of tively high,” he says. “However, as the report and a policy adviser at the the same foot dragging won’t be more CCS plants come online, the independent not-for-profit organi- enough,” he says. cheaper the technology will become zation E3G, told Physics World that The report suggests two main in the future.” EU efforts to advance CCS “are too “policy options” to accelerate the Ned Stafford slow, lack strategic vision and are development of CCS technology Hamburg

Publishing followed in second place by papers on the redshift of galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, with 31 core papers Iron-selenide superconductivity is top topic and 2415 citations. Work on sterile neutrinos at the electronvolt scale Research into a new breed of comes third with 41 core papers and EPL superconductors that were only 2472 citations, again losing out on the discovered in 2009 is the leading field in top spot as a result of the older average physics, according to analysis from the age of the core papers. information provider Thomson Reuters. Another report published last month Work on iron-selenide superconductors by Thomson Reuters – The Hottest comes out top in the Research Fronts Scientific Researchers and Research – 2013 survey, garnering a total of picks out the top papers in 2012 by 49 “core” publications – papers that are Big attraction literature as well as the number of citing the number of citations received over frequently cited together – with the field An analysis of papers and citations – to search for a short time, with research into the as a whole having around 2000 citations citation data has areas of research that are achieving Higgs boson occupying the top two in total. Work on spin-orbit coupled revealed that work “particular mass and momentum”. spots. Top of the list was a paper by Bose–Einstein condensates is second on iron-selenide Pendlebury admits that citation analysis the ATLAS collaboration, which bagged with 48 core papers and 1752 citations, superconductors is is by definition a retrospective view, 202 citations by the end of 2012 (Phys. while direct detection of dark matter a leading field in but says that “by focusing on the Lett. B 710 49). In second place was a is third with 48 core papers and 3285 physics. research fronts with the youngest core paper on the combined search for the citations – edged out as its core papers literatures, we were trying to bring Higgs that had garnered 195 citations have an older average age. things as near to real time as possible”. by then (Phys. Lett. B 710 26). In total, 11 The report, co-authored by David In astronomy and astrophysics the top papers, accounting for more than a fifth Pendlebury and Christopher King, research front is work on the expansion of the 51 featured papers in the report, examines citation patterns – including of the universe – Galilean cosmology – related to work on the Higgs. the size and average age of the core with 34 core papers and 1584 citations, Andrew Williams

10 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com News & Analysis

Europe Sidebands

Brazil builds new synchrotron Croatian scientists look to EU boost Construction has begun on a new synchrotron in Brazil that will be the After 10 years of negotiation and Joining the club first high-intensity X-ray source in Latin debate, Croatia this month becomes Croatian scientists America. Called Sirius, the $330m the 28th member of the EU. Only the will be hoping to tap synchrotron is a third-generation light second former-Yugoslav state to join into more funding source that will generate intense beams the bloc after Slovenia, many hope after the country of X-rays for experiments in fields such as that Croatia’s entry to the EU – and joins the EU on condensed-matter physics and biology. Shutterstock/bunyos30 the estimated 711.5bn of funding 1 July. Sirius, which will have a circumference available to the country between of 518 m, will contain 13 beamlines now and 2020 – will help to boost and is expected to be open for users Croatian science and let its research- in 2017. The 3 GeV synchrotron will be ers collaborate better with the rest of located at the Brazilian Synchrotron their EU colleagues. government agencies lack expertise Light Laboratory (LNLS) in São Paulo, Croatia currently has around 6000 to support scientists’ applications which has been operating a smaller full-time scientists and many have to EU funds. “There are more and 93 m-circumference X-ray source since already won cash from the EU’s Sev- more announcements about work- 1997, providing 16 beamlines for around enth Framework Programme (FP7), shops that are supposed to prepare 1500 users each year. which Croatia joined as an “associ- participants [for applying to EU ated country” in 2006. There have so funds],” he says. “I am not sure that Cambridge plans Maxwell Centre far been 232 successful applications all of those workshops are run by A new £63m centre that will bring for FP7 funding, which corresponds people with real qualifications.” basic research in physics together with to a success rate of 17.2% – slightly Srete Nikolovski, an electrical industry is to be built at the University of below the EU average of 21.7%. engineer from the University of Osi- Cambridge. Called the Maxwell Centre, it However, the science ministry points jek, agrees that there is a problem of is designed to house around 230 people out the 759m that Croatia’s scientists government support for research- and will contain lab space, seminar received through the seven-year pro- ers. His team was the first in Croatia rooms and “interactive spaces” when gramme is almost 40% more than to be awarded a EUREKA Infor- open in 2015. Funding for the project will Croatia has contributed to it. There mation Technology for European come from the Higher Education Funding is also a new plan in place to raise Advancement (ITEA) grant, and Council for England as well as from the Croatia’s capacity to win more fund- he claims that bad or inconsistent Winton Programme for the Physics of ing from Horizon 2020, the succes- administration “destroyed” his pro- Sustainability and firms such as Hitachi, sor to FP7, which will have almost jects, with the government cutting or Toshiba and Tata Steel. Scientists from twice as much cash up for grabs. cancelling its co-funding commit- academia and industry will work at But not everything is rosy for ment. This meant he had to abandon the centre in areas such as scientific Croatia’s scientists, with the country some projects that had already been computing, advanced materials and spending only 0.75% of its GDP on approved by the ITEA board. the physics of biology and medicine. science compared with the EU aver- “Our administration and bureau- The centre will also run a graduate age of 2%. Another problem is that cracy are not capable of backing up programme to help students prepare for the success rate for domestic grant scientists in applications,” he says. working in industry. applications in Croatia is 85% – a Government agencies for EU pro- figure many say is far too high to be jects are filled with economists who Gamma-ray telescope kicks off meritocratic or promote excellence. know little about specific science The DESY laboratory in Germany has One issue at stake is that many issues, says Nikolovski, for whom the commissioned the first telescope research groups are too small. experience of working with the agen- prototype for the 7150m Cherenkov According to Croatia’s science min- cies responsible for co-financing EU Telescope Array (CTA). Designed at DESY, istry, some 2000 government-funded funds was “negative and frustrating”. the prototype will be built in the next research projects are worth a total of Despite scientists in Nikolov ski’s couple of months before researchers just 76500 a year and each involves, field of information technology and perform tests on the 12 m telescope. on average, only two scientists and renewable energy “showing they Due to begin construction in 2015, one PhD or postdoc researcher. are capable of getting and conduct- the CTA will study gamma rays with “The problem is that only a rela- ing EU projects”, he plans to avoid energies in the 0.1–100 TeV range, tively small percentage of our sci- applying for any EU funds adminis- allowing astronomers to study supernova entific groups are competitive on tered by Croatian agencies. explosions, binary star systems and a world stage,” says Stipan Jonjic´, a Another issue is that a 2008 min- active galactic nuclei. CTA telescopes medical researcher from the Univer- istry decision to co-fund successful will be split between the northern and sity of Rijeka, the first scientist from FP7 projects and reward scientific southern hemispheres, the sites of which Croatia to be awarded a European excellence for those projects that have yet to be decided. The northern Research Council grant. “This puts receive over 7100 000 was shelved in hemisphere site will contain around us into an inferior place when apply- the wake of the 2009 economic cri- 20–30 telescopes distributed over a ing for EU and other scientific funds.” sis, though the ministry now says it square kilometre while the southern area Vlatko Silobrcˇic´, a member of will co-fund future projects to 15% will include 70–100 telescopes extended the Croatian Academy of Sciences of their value. over 10 square kilometres. and Arts, says one problem is that Mic´o Tatalovic´

Physics World July 2013 11 News & Analysis physicsworld.com

Particle physics Europe prioritizes LHC upgrade and beyond

A series of planned upgrades to the our effort is to be received in Japan,” Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that CERN Yasuhiro Okada, a trustee at KEK, will enhance the machine’s poten- Japan’s high-energy physics labora- tial over the next couple of decades tory, told Physics World. should be a top priority for particle The report also stresses the con- physics, according to an update to tinued importance of investing the European Strategy for Parti- in outreach, scientific education cle Physics released by the CERN and technology transfer to enable Council at the end of May. The strat- the public to engage better with, egy also stresses the importance of and benefit from, particle-physics global collaboration to the future research. “The strategy recognizes of European particle physics, par- Europe’s strength [and] depth in ticularly in designing a future linear particle physics,” says Agnieszka collider as the next big experiment in Zalewska, president of the CERN’s particle physics after the LHC. council and member of the group Two main options for it are cur- CERN Council in 2006, focused One for the future that developed the strategy update. rently on the table including the on developing the LHC, laying the An update to the “The new European strategy is International Linear Collider groundwork for a linear collider European Strategy a tribute to the great strength that (ILC), the technical design of which and investigating the case for future for Particle Physics international collaboration brings was completed last month. If built, neutrino experiments. The revision stresses the to science,” says Paris Sphicas, a it would feature a 31 km-long track builds on this, taking into account importance of global physicist at CERN and the Univer- of superconducting cavities that can subsequent progress – notably the collaboration in sity of Athens, who is chair of the accelerate electrons to energies of up LHC’s discovery of the Higgs boson. building the next big European Physical Society’s high- to 500 GeV. The other option is the The strategy calls Japan’s offer to experiment in energy and particle-physics division. Compact Linear Collider – still in host the ILC “most welcome”, add- particle physics. “The update to the strategy, which is the research and development phase ing that it “looks forward” to dis- firmly based on the continuation of – which would operate at higher cussing possible participation with the current successful model, paves energies than the ILC and rely on a Japan in its bid. “A strong interest the way to a road full of promise for a “two-beam” concept. expressed in the European Strategy rich and exciting physics programme Europe’s original particle-physics for Particle Physics will definitely in the coming decades.” strategy, which was adopted by the bring in a positive influence on how Ian Randall

People Rohrer and Binnig built the first STM in 1981. An STM works by scanning an Heinrich Rohrer: 1933–2013 atomically sharp tip over the surface of a sample to create a topographical The Swiss condensed-matter physi- map that reveals individual atoms. cist Heinrich Rohrer, who shared the The tip is held less than one nano- 1986 Nobel Prize for Physics, died in metre from the surface and a voltage May at the age of 79. Rohrer won the is applied so that electrons can quan-

Nobel prize for inventing the scan- KarjalainenJesse tum-mechanically tunnel between ning tunnelling microscope (STM) tip and surface. This tunnelling at IBM’s Zurich Research Labora- current depends strongly on the tip– tory. Rohrer shared one half of the surface separation and this is used in prize with his IBM colleague Gerd a feedback loop to keep the tip the Binnig, while the other half went to same distance from the surface. Ernst Ruska for his invention of the The STM has become an impor- electron microscope. tant instrument for surface physics Rohrer was born on 6 June 1933 in and materials science. A number the small town of Buchs in the Swiss of related microscopy techniques canton of St Gallen. The family have since been developed in labs moved to Zurich in 1949 and Rohrer worldwide, including atomic force studied physics at ETH Zürich where micro scopy. Rohrer became an IBM he was taught as an undergraduate Atomic pioneer Zurich, where he worked initially on Fellow in 1986 and he headed the by Wolfgang Pauli and Paul Scher- Heinrich Rohrer magnetic materials. He encouraged physics department at IBM Zurich rer. He stayed on to do a PhD on the allowed us to see Binnig to join the lab in 1978 and from 1986 to 1988. The Binnig and mechanical properties of supercon- atoms on surfaces the pair studied tiny defects on the Rohrer Nanotechnology Center ductors and he continued working on for the first time. surface of silicon – which at the time was opened at IBM Zurich in 2011 superconductors at Rutgers Univer- were hindering the miniaturization in honour of the two laureates (see sity in the US. of electronic devices. To gain a bet- November 2012 pp12–13). In 1963 Rohrer joined IBM ter understanding of these defects, Hamish Johnston

12 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com News & Analysis

housing and subsidizing tuition for Creating physics stars their children. Is there a danger the IBS will lure top Korea has begun an ambitious $5bn plan to create 50 new institutes people away from Korean universities? dedicated to fundamental research. Michael Banks meets physicist Some people complain that too much Se-Jung Oh, president of the Institute for Basic Science, to find out more money is being spent on the IBS, but we have to create an environment

What is the Institute for Basic IBS where we can compete with places Science? such as the Max Planck institutes. The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) We don’t think the existing Korean is essentially modelled on the Max system can create superstars, such as Planck institutes in Germany. We Nobel laureates. will create some 50 research centres by 2017 with each having around Will funding for basic research at 50 researchers. Each will have one universities now fall? director and then three or four group I insisted that research grants for the leaders with their own PhD students National Research Foundation, the and postdocs. Each IBS institute will main grant body in Korea, should carry out research in a specific area not be reduced because of the IBS of basic science such as femtosecond as we don’t want to drain out exist- lasers or the interface of oxide mate- ing money for universities. Indeed, rials. We want to recruit the best sci- some scientists prefer the university entists and give them full autonomy environment and way of working as to carry out their own research. well as the social status and pension.

Where did the idea come from? Institute builder try at existing institute and univer- One major IBS initiative is building a Everybody in the Republic of Korea Se-Jung Oh. sity campuses. Initially they will be rare-isotope accelerator in Daejeon; agrees that we should invest more in based in university departments, but what is the status of the project? basic research. The question is how by 2017 we hope that each institute We are currently in the design phase to do it? Korea has developed rapidly will have its own separate building. of the facility, which will provide a over the last 40 years or so thanks to They will cover all the natural sci- wide variety of rare isotopes to carry our focus on applied commercial ences – mathematics, chemistry, life out research in nuclear and atomic technologies. However, basic science science, physics and earth sciences, physics as well as materials science. is still lacking. I believe we now need for example. The $1bn funding for the accelerator to focus on long-term team-based is secure in the long-term spending research in basic science. How much funding will each institute plan, but every year we will still have receive? to apply to get the money. So it could When did the plan start? We will support each centre with up be delayed one or two years beyond The idea for the IBS was conceived to $10m per year and we guarantee the 2017 target, but I am confident it by the former president of Korea, such support for 10 years. There will will be built. Myung-bak Lee. He pledged to be no need for scientists to apply for increase the proportion of money other funding, but they can apply for How does Korea’s new president view spent on basic science from 25% of foreign funds if they wish. We hope the IBS project? the $15bn government R&D budget this level of support will attract top President Geun-hye Park pledged in in 2012 to 35% over five years, as people to work here. Indeed, globali- her campaign that she will increase well as create an international sci- zation is an increasing factor now the basic science budget from 35% to ence business belt, where science and we have to be able to import the 40% of the government R&D budget and industry can come together. The best brains from abroad to compete. over five years. Her government also IBS initiative took three years to go cites the IBS as one of the core pro- through parliament and in Novem- Can anyone apply? jects it will support. ber 2011 it was finally established. Yes, and we encourage people to do so. A successful applicant’s main It must be an exciting time for you? What is the IBS’s current status? post will be at the IBS and they will It is a lot of pressure, but it is exciting We have about 150 applications for also have a post at a neighbouring to build a new institution. I guess it director positions, a third of which university, where they will be able to will be difficult to make them world come from scientists based overseas. teach one course per year. class in a short time, which may take So far we have selected 19 directors, a number of years. with 13 centres already in operation Globalization is How will you attract more foreign and we are still in negotiations with increasing and researchers? Is the IBS really about giving Korea the other six. Hopefully by the end We aim to have 30% of IBS research- its first Nobel winner in science? of the year we will have 25 directors. we have to be ers from foreign countries. Both We believe it will help foster poten- able to import Korean and English are official lan- tial Nobel prize winners. We do not Where will the institutes be based? the best brains guages at the IBS, so all documenta- say this is the purpose of the IBS but Some 15 of the 50 centres will be in tion will be in English. We will also rather aim to create an environment Daejeon, forming our headquarters, from abroad to give personal support such as help- where this can happen. with the rest dotted around the coun- compete ing with moving expenses, providing ●● www.ibs.re.kr

Physics World July 2013 13

physicsworld.com Comment Tackling cancer Physics World Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol BS1 6HG, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 929 7481 Physicists are opening up an invaluable new path in the fight against cancer E-mail: [email protected] Why, you might be wondering, is Physics World devoting a special issue to the Web: physicsworld.com “physics of cancer”. Well, we should first say that this issue is not about the treat- Twitter: @PhysicsWorld Facebook: facebook.com/physicsworld ment, diagnosis or imaging of cancer using X-rays, magnetic fields, protons or other subatomic particles. These are areas where medical physicists have made Editor Matin Durrani Associate Editor Dens Milne – and continue to make – many valuable contributions. In fact, the digital ver- News Editor Michael Banks sion of this special issue includes some recent videos Reviews and Careers Editor Margaret Harris Features Editor Louise Mayor we created examining these endeavours (see below). Production Editor Kate Gardner What this special issue instead focuses on is a Web Editor Hamish Johnston Multimedia Projects Editor James Dacey fledgling area of research in which physicists – and

Web Reporter Tushna Commissariat Scienceother Photo Library physical scientists – are trying to bring a new

Managing Editor Susan Curtis perspective to our fundamental understanding of Marketing and Circulation Gemma Bailey cancer. Biologists have spent decades and billions of Advertisement Sales Chris Thomas dollars chasing an elusive “cure” for cancer, largely Advertisement Production Mark Trimnell Diagram Artist Alison Tovey on the assumption that it is at heart a disease of the genes. Get to grips with Art Director Andrew Giaquinto those genetic mutations, the thinking goes, and powerful new therapies will Subscription information 2013 volume follow. But despite the massive sums spent, the death rate from cancer in the The subscription rate for institutions is £340 per annum for US, for example, has dropped by just 11% since the 1950s. Tackling tumours the magazine, £645 per annum for the archive. Single issues are £32. US orders to: IOP Publishing, PO Box 320, Congers NY with drugs, radiation or the surgeon’s scalpel can, it seems, only get you so far. 10920-0320, USA (tel: 800 358 4677 (toll free) or Rather than seeing cancer purely in terms of genetic mutations, some physi- 845 267 3018; fax: 845 267 3478; e-mail: ioppublishing@ cambeywest.com). Rest of world orders to: Subscriptions Dept, cists are instead examining the physical parameters that control how cancer IOP Publishing, Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol, BS1 6HG, cells grow, evolve and spread around the body. Atomic-force microscopists, UK (tel: +44 (0)117 929 7481; fax: +44 (0)117 929 4318; e-mail: [email protected]). Physics World is available on an for example, are exploring the curious finding that cancer cells are softer than individual basis, worldwide, through membership of the healthy cells whereas tumours are hard lumps (pp33–35). Other researchers are Institute of Physics seeing if tumorous cells can be prevented from proliferating by manipulating Copyright © 2013 by IOP Publishing Ltd and individual their electrical polarization (pp25–26). Meanwhile, experiments with confocal contributors. All rights reserved. IOP Publishing Ltd permits microscopy suggest that the physical rotation of breast-cancer cells could hold single photocopying of single articles for private study or research, irrespective of where the copying is done. Multiple clues as to why they can become malignant (pp28–29). copying of contents or parts thereof without permission is in But physics’ contribution to cancer involves more than just using new tech- breach of copyright, except in the UK under the terms of the agreement between the CVCP and the CLA. Authorization of niques. It is also about doing what physicists do best: namely looking at a prob- photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or lem (cancer) with fresh, unbiased eyes and seeking its underlying principles. personal use of specific clients, is granted by IOP Publishing Ltd for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright One physicist at the heart of this new effort – Paul Davies – is even proposing a Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, new theory of cancer (pp37–40). He suggests it is caused by malfunctions in the provided that the base fee of $2.50 per copy is paid directly to CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970, USA mechanisms that instruct cells when to multiply and when to die, which makes them revert to an ancient genetic “sub-routine” that dates back to our roots as Bibliographic codes ISSN: 0953-8585 CODEN: PHWOEW multicellular creatures. When this sub-routine is triggered, the cells start acting Printed in the UK by Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH selfishly and out of control. Davies might be wrong of course, but surely it is right for physicists like him to bring fresh insights and ask disruptive questions. Their work might not lead The Institute of Physics to a cure, but it could improve existing treatments, for example by letting drugs 76 Portland Place, London W1B 1NT, UK be carried directly to tumours in nanoparticles or by helping physicians to make Tel: +44 (0)20 7470 4800 Fax: +44 (0)20 7470 4848 an early diagnosis of metastasis. Physicists are sometimes accused of arrogance E-mail: [email protected] when they tread on others’ turf, but that seems a small price to pay for the Web: www.iop.org rewards that could be reaped. The contents of this magazine, including the views expressed above, are the responsibility of the Editor. They do not ­represent the views or policies of the Institute of Physics, Don’t miss our series of films we made at the Massachusetts General physic except where explicitly stated. sw Hospital in Boston – one of the leading medical centres in the US – about o r l Physics World is an award-winning magazine and website d the pioneering ways in which its researchers are improving the treatment of SIPAwards 2012: Best Use of Social Media cancer patients using the powerful technique of proton therapy. The films MemCom Awards 2012: Best Magazine – Professional are embedded in the digital issue and can be viewed at physicsworld.com. Association or Royal College

Physics World July 2013 15 MOXTEK® OPTICS Polarizing a world of color and beyond

Volume manufacturing capability and an extensive patent portfolio make Moxtek® your best source for nano-wire applications. Moxtek specializes in Nanowire polarizers, polarized beam splitters and sub-assemblies.

Moxtek Optic Applications are listed blelow: Industrial Instrumentation Display Imaging UV Exposure and Curing Medical Projection Systems Pixelation Micro-Array Spectroscopy Head-up Displays IR Imaging Surface Plasmon Resonance Security Systems Head Mounted Displays Night Vision

ISO 9001 & ITAR CERTIFIED ® 452 West 1260 North / Orem, UT 84057 USA/ Toll Free: 1.800.758.3110 / www.moxtek.com MOXTEK CoolLED_PhysWrldAd13_125x91_CMYK:Layout 1 11/06/2013 16:44 Page 1

The CoolLED pE-Series for LED Illumination iopscience.org/pb

SINGLE WAVELENGTH DUAL WAVELENGTH

THREE FOUR WAVELENGTHS WAVELENGTHS

Physics of cancer Visit iopscience.iop.org/pb/cancer for more information and to read a selection of the highest-rated and most popular papers published by Physical Biology in this area. www.CoolLED.com +44 (0)1264 323040 (Worldwide) 1-800-877-0128 (USA Toll Free)

iopscience.org/pb

A JOURNAL FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Physics of cancer A leading international journal at the interface between biology and the physical sciences, Physical Biology publishes many papers on the physics of cancer, including regular special issues or sections.

Visit iopscience.iop.org/pb/cancer for more information and to read a selection of the highest-rated and most popular papers published by Physical Biology in this area. physicsworld.com Comment: Forum Tackling space debris head on

The rapid growth of “space junk” ESA in low Earth orbit threatens to destroy existing and future satellites, Brian Weeden calls for more international co-operation to deal with the danger

“Space junk” is increasingly becoming a household term. Indeed, it features in a recent US Air Force TV advertisement and is even the main protagonist in the new film Gravity starring George Clooney and San- dra Bullock. The two stars play astronauts who must fight to return to Earth after a wayward piece of space debris destroys their space shuttle, with passion and dra- matic twists no doubt soon to follow. While the Hollywood depictions of space junk may be long on the drama and short Junk alert This image released in April maps all known man-made space objects on the physics, space debris and collisions in space are a real problem that is getting in low Earth orbit (LEO) will continue to greatly reduce the growth in the debris an increasing amount of attention. There grow over the next few decades through population over the next two centuries. Key are more than 22 000 pieces of human- debris–debris collisions. Such collisions are questions include which objects should be generated space debris bigger than 10 cm mostly the result of small pieces of space removed, when do they need to be removed, currently being tracked in orbit, and an debris hitting larger pieces, such as dead what the best methods of removal are and estimated 500 000 pieces as small as 1 cm satellites and spent rocket bodies, which who will pay for the removal. that are currently too small to track regu- creates many more pieces of small debris. A central element in all of these ques- larly. With the relative velocities between This process raises the collision threat in tions is the international nature of the objects in orbit routinely approaching certain regions of Earth orbit, and ulti- problem. More than 60 countries currently 10 km/s, even these small objects pose a mately the cost and risk of space activities. operate at least one satellite, and 12 coun- significant hazard to active satellites (see Delegates in Darmstadt also agreed on tries have demonstrated the ability to place June 2012 pp28–32). the need to begin removing space debris objects in orbit. Breaking the debris popu- Recent events such as the 2009 collision from orbit to help mitigate this collisional lation down by mass, Russia is responsible between an active US commercial commu- cascade process. Computer models show for roughly 40% of space junk, followed by nications satellite and a defunct Russian that reducing the amount of debris created the US (30%), China (20%) and the rest of military communications satellite have cre- from current operations as well as post- the world (10%). Under the current inter- ated thousands of new pieces of debris in mission disposal of satellites is not enough. national legal framework, a space object some of the most highly used and congested But combining these activities with remov- is owned by the launching state, or states, regions of Earth orbit. Satellite operators ing 5–10 large objects per year from the which placed it in orbit. This means that have already seen an increase in the fre- most congested regions of LEO could one country cannot just grab any piece of quency of close approaches between space space debris and do what it wants with it. junk and the 1000 or so active satellites. Tackling the space debris problem is thus Indeed, in 2012 operators performed more A space object is going to require international coopera- than 70 manoeuvres to reduce the probabil- tion at some level. At the very least, it will ity of a collision between their satellites and owned by the state involve discussions between scientists from another object in orbit. many countries to decide which objects are the most pressing priority to remove. It will Clean-up operations which placed it in also involve further development of con- Scientists at some of the world’s biggest cepts for removing large objects, most of space agencies have been examining the orbit. One country which have yet to be demonstrated in space. growth in the space debris population for Finally, there is the question of money. nearly 30 years now. At a recent confer- cannot just grab any Although there may be situations where ence on space debris in Darmstadt, Ger- countries decide to remove one or more of many, the results from six different space their own objects with their own funding, it agencies were presented that confirmed the piece of space is likely that the financial burden will not be bad news. Even without any new satellite evenly distributed. Countries will have to launches, the existing debris population debris it wants negotiate who will be responsible for what,

Physics World July 2013 17 Comment: Forum physicsworld.com and how to provide incentives for countries technical or political solution. Rather, we to either remove their own space objects or ESA should have multiple analysis hubs that give permission for others to do so. share data, which is likely to be a more pragmatic and workable solution. Shifting Building space awareness the responsibility for aspects of SSA essen- A technical demonstration mission to tial to safety of spaceflight away from the remove a large piece of space debris that military and towards civil agencies will also involves multiples countries would be a help reduce the barriers to cooperation and significant step forward. It would enable data sharing that currently exist. further progress on the technical and Taken together, improving SSA, devel- operational side, as well as providing a spe- oping and testing the technologies for cific example with actual legal and policy removing large debris objects, adopting issues to sort out. Currently, much of the best practices for minimizing the crea- legal and policy debate revolves around tion of debris during space operations, and notional scenarios that get bogged down committing to properly disposing of satel- in hypotheticals. An actual mission would lites and rocket bodies at the end of their present a concrete set of problems to solve usable life present the best way to deal and enable a more functional discussion. Danger zone This forecast of space debris density in with the threat of space debris. This is not The foundation for all these activities is 2055 shows that the highest debris collision risk is something that one country can implement “space situational awareness” (SSA), com- at the poles, now and in the future. alone. Rather, it will take an international monly defined as information about the effort and actions by multiple countries to space environment and activities in space. currently the US military operates the larg- ensure that humanity can continue to use SSA helps keep scientists informed about est network of radars and optical telescopes space for all the many benefits it provides the evolution of the space debris population for tracking space objects. However, more in the future. and develop better models of its long-term international cooperation is needed here growth. SSA also helps satellite operators to both expand the geographic coverage Brian Weeden is a technical predict close approaches between their sat- of these tracking efforts and combine the adviser at the Secure World ellites and other space objects that could tracking with the positional data that satel- Foundation based in Broomfield, result in collisions, and plan manoeuvres lite owners have on their own satellites. Colorado, e-mail bweeden@ to reduce that probability. The development of a single, interna- swfound.org SSA has historically been a mission per- tional entity to provide SSA for all satel- formed for national security reasons and lite operators is probably not the optimal Next month in Physics World Michael de Podesta/NPL Redefining temperature How researchers at the National Physical Laboratory have used the Boltzmann constant to make a new and more accurate definition of the kelvin in the quest for more robust SI units

Optimal support Naturally occurring self-similar structures that are light but strong, such as mother of pearl, are of interest to physicists keen to figure out how to design synthetic versions with similar properties

Open all areas Open-access publishing is fast becoming a reality for scientific research, but how is it being implemented at a practical level?

Plus News & Analysis, Forum, Critical Point, Feedback, Reviews, Careers and much more physicsworld.com

18 Physics World July 2013 Untitled-2 1 27/06/2013 11:30 Untitled-1 1 14/05/2013 08:52 physicsworld.com Comment: Robert P Crease Critical Point The Treiman effect

Robert P Crease discusses an day of each semester, hanging it in his office in case of sartorial emergency.) often-overlooked feature of the Yet Treiman was not warm and fuzzy. He discovery process was cool and clearheaded – reserved with- out being remote, dedicated without being distant. Treiman knew that a researcher The art of discovery comes in two versions. CERN Collaboration, CMS usually gropes about with a complex of One is the formal textbook version often assumptions, intuitions and speculations promoted by my philosophical colleagues. that form a kind of mental map. Any dis- The other is messy reality. The latter, how- covery you then make is also significant in ever, has few phenomenological traits that that it brings new trust in this map, even might help us construct a theory about when you find elements must be changed. discovery in general. A rare instance is Research is like filling in a crossword puz- something I call the Treiman effect, named zle: finding that a certain word fits solidly after the late Princeton University theorist and securely confirms not only that word Sam Treiman. but also the validity (or invalidity) of the I met Treiman just once – and that other pencilled-in words that had inspired was only briefly at a conference – yet the you to come up with it in the first place. encounter was enough to make me admire Treiman took an unconventional route the way he was not content with the usual into physics. He had originally studied formal and tidied-up pictures of scientific chemical engineering for two years at discovery. I’ve also spoken with many of his Northwestern University, attracted there former students, who remember his deep Multiplicity The route to a discovery, such as the in 1942 by the subject’s “nice mixture of and intuitive grasp of scientific practice. Higgs boson, has more than one consequence. science and practical usefulness appro- One of them, my colleague Alfred Gold- priate to a time of war”. After a spell in haber, recalls that whenever Treiman fin- they came from (singly ionized) helium, but the US Navy, where he learned to repair ished discussing some extraordinary new noted that – contrary to Bohr’s proposal – radio equipment, Treiman moved to the discovery, he would often say, almost as a the frequencies were not 4 but 4.0016 times University of Chicago, acquiring bachelor, catchphrase, “So…we are invited to jump their values for hydrogen. When Bohr Master’s and PhD degrees in physics. He to two conclusions at the same time.” One realized that he had not accounted for the then landed a job at Princeton, where he conclusion would be about the discovery increase in effective or “reduced” mass of was to spend virtually his entire academic itself. The other would be that the route the electron when it revolves around the career – first in an experimental cosmic- to the discovery has more than one conse- helium instead of the hydrogen nucleus, he ray physics group, then in particle-physics quence, and finding those consequences recalculated the frequency ratio and found theory. Treiman’s background in engineer- reinforces one’s confidence in them all. it should indeed be 4.0016. This agreed ing and experimental physics surely played As an example, Goldhaber cites Niels with experiment to five significant figures. a role in his clear-eyed assessments of the Bohr’s famous trilogy of papers of 1913– “Game, set, match!” Goldhaber says. research process. 1914, in which he proposed the then seem- Bohr had not only discovered that the ingly far-fetched idea that electrons in an Pickering series was indeed produced by The critical point atom can exist only in specific, discrete ionized helium, but had also greatly rein- It is easy to oversimplify the discovery pro- orbits. Bohr’s idea resolved at a stroke the forced scientific confidence in his then- cess – to portray it as moving progressively mechanical problems that plagued Ernest radical assumptions about atomic struc- from a solid base of what we know, guesses Rutherford’s “planetary” atomic model ture. This episode overwhelmed the scep- about what we don’t, tests of those guesses and, moreover, accounted for the spectral ticism of many scientists regarding Bohr’s and new knowledge added to the original lines of hydrogen that had been quantified audacious proposal. “It showed that you base. The Treiman effect, however, directs by the Swiss physicist Johann Jakob Balmer weren’t dealing with a single discovery,” our attention to a deeper process at work (see June pp34–38). But Bohr went further, says Goldhaber, “but with a complex of in which each new result affects our assess- arguing that lines in the spectra of the Sun things that snapped together as neatly as a ment of the path we have been taking all that had been seen by the Harvard astrono- car door slamming into place.” along. This is as true of the Higgs boson mer Edward Pickering with four times the discovery as of the Bohr atom; the Higgs frequencies of the Balmer lines must be A physicist’s physicist discovery does not simply give us another from helium. (Twice the nuclear charge Treiman, who died in 1999 at the age of particle, but reinforces our trust that we gives four times the frequency.) 74, specialized in quantum field theory, in were on the right track in the first place. Other scientists, however, argued that which he mentored many of the finest US The Treiman effect shows us that, in often Pickering’s lines came from hydrogen, but theoretical physicists, including the Nobel strange ways, our research programmes with denominators in Balmer’s formula laureate Steven Weinberg. Often called a continually feed back on all of what we that were four times smaller, and hence “physicists’ physicist”, Treiman was famous thought we already knew. frequencies that were four times bigger. for his beautifully organized and fluently Bohr faced a different challenge from the delivered lectures. He would give these as Robert P Crease is a professor in the Department of British astronomer and spectroscopist if prepared for manual labour, with shirt Philosophy, Stony Brook University, and historian Alfred Fowler. Fowler studied the Picker- sleeves rolled up to his elbows. (He did have at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, US, ing lines in his laboratory and verified that a jacket, but would wear it only on the first e-mail [email protected]

Physics World July 2013 21 physicsworld.com

openly accessible, download monitored, automatically ranked and pre-digested brave new world of scientific publishing, Feedback can I be the only one who – while taking advantage of click here and a download Letters to the editor can be sent to Physics World, there – is heading just as quickly in the Temple Circus, Temple Way, Bristol BS1 6HG, UK, other direction? or to [email protected]. Please include your address and In a recent item in Nature (495 437), a telephone number. Letters should be no more than Jason Priem painted a picture of a 500 words and may be edited. Comments on articles world “Beyond the paper” in which a from physicsworld.com can be posted on the personalized recommendation engine will website; an edited selection appears here deliver “the five most important things for you to read that day”. In the maelstrom The right one A molecule of carbon dioxide: linear, that is way too many titles to scan, let double-bonded and depicted in black and red. alone articles to read, this new filtering Where’s the carbon? scheme is very appealing. In some In his article “Mopping up carbon” dioxide molecule is straight, not bent ways, we are already there, albeit in an (June pp23–27) David Appell states that through ~120°. This has major effects on embryonic way. But the online experience CO2 taken up by vegetation is returned its infrared spectroscopy, and hence on fails to deliver in the same way that the to the atmosphere when the vegetation its effect on global warming. The number photocopier failed to deliver. I don’t want dies. Some of the carbon content of dead of vibrational modes, selection rules and to increase the volume of information I vegetation actually becomes methane, and rotational energy levels are all radically process. What I want is to engage more this is both good news and bad. It is bad influenced by the fact that the molecule is deeply with the ideas, data etc. that news in that methane is a more powerful linear, not “bent”. interest me, to think it over, to reflect. greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. It is Harvey Rutt Making a photocopy didn’t get the good news in that methane from such a University of Southampton, UK paper into my head any more than storing source in sufficient concentration forms [email protected] a PDF file does, so in some sense it is not a carbon-neutral fuel. Such a fuel is of a question of technology but of approach. course referred to as landfill gas (LFG) The editor replies: I find that reading that paper version of and finds considerable application in I would like to pretend that we used an a paper/journal is much more effective, some countries. To blend “conventional” illustration of water instead of carbon but that’s just me – a product of my time. methane from natural gas with LFG is dioxide to test readers’ knowledge of Whatever medium you use, fight the siren to generate carbon credits. LFG is the triatomic molecules, but unfortunately it call to just graze information. only carbon-neutral form of methane that was just a mistake. Apologies. Bill Barnes we have. University of Exeter, UK J Clifford Jones [email protected] University of Aberdeen, UK Publication changes [email protected] A subtle point As a pedantic chemistry teacher I would not all for the better like to point out that the ball-and-stick models on the front cover of the June issue Physicists of a certain age will likely about Bohr are quite clearly of water and not carbon remember going to libraries to drag heavy dioxide. CO2 molecules have a linear copies of bound journals back to their Jon Cartwright’s interesting and geometry, double bonds between the departments for copying. The first part of informative article on quantum central carbon and the two oxygens, and this task involved muscular contortions philosophy (“The life of psi”, May colour-wise, it is standard to depict carbon as one broke the spine of the hard- pp26–31) mischaracterizes Niels Bohr’s as black and oxygen as red. bound volume in a fight to get the pages stance as anti-realist by suggesting (in the Gareth Owen-Smith of interest flat on the copy-glass. Then illustration on p29) that Bohr believed Bristol, UK came filling out a card index, and finally that “quantum theory [does not] describe [email protected] storage in a filing cabinet – a sarcophagus an objective reality, independent of the for information made of sharp-edged observer”. The mischaracterization Impressive cover picture on the June metal. Personally, I remember spending amounts to the difference between an issue – I didn’t know nanotechnology had many days as a PhD student and postdoc adjective and an adverb. The adjective advanced to the level of reconfiguring running between library and photocopier “independent” must refer to “reality”; interatomic bonds. I guess if normally while an experiment ran or a sample whereas “independently” would refer linear CO2 molecules could be disguised annealed in my vain attempt to get on to the verb “describe”. Bohr was well as water, it would make them easier to top of the literature. And how did I know known for not always being crystal clear extract from the air by “mopping up”, as which papers to look at? From references regarding his position, but in general, he David Appell’s article puts it? mentioned in copies of papers I already felt that an objective reality was being Steve Roberts had, or by using the monster printed studied by human experiments – albeit University of Oxford, UK compendium that was Chemical Abstracts. using human concepts that did not capture [email protected] Kids, you don’t know what you missed! the essence of that reality. Search tools and PDF files have Numerous quotations can be found Oh dear! The molecules all over the changed all that. But is all that is in Bohr’s writings to support this claim. cover of Physics World’s June issue on promised for the future of scientific In fact the very quote attributed to “Capturing CO2” appear to be water – publishing for the best? In the seemingly Bohr in that illustration speaks against they are certainly not CO2. The carbon- all-pervasive, headlong rush towards an Cartwright’s characterization: “It is wrong

22 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Feedback to think that the task of physics is to find Comments from physicsworld.com out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about nature.” Stephen Hawking gets a lot of conference governments, Netanyahu’s tends to be suspicious Allen Dotson invitations. By all accounts, he turns most of and hostile to academia, in which many of St Andrews University, North Carolina, US of them down – so when the 71-year-old its strongest critics teach. In fact, in the last [email protected] cosmologist agreed to speak at last month’s years there have been (so far unsuccessful) Israeli Presidential Conference, it must have government-inspired attempts to stifle academic come as a pleasant surprise for the event’s criticism. Hawking and others would have A shorter journey organizers. Their next surprise, however, been much more influential had they attended was anything but pleasant. In May Hawking their conferences and used the opportunities I really like the Lateral Thoughts article announced that he would not be attending to express ex cathedra their criticism of “A golden galactic journey” (May p60), after all, as he was joining an academic Israeli policies. in which the author describes how far he boycott against Israeli institutions (“Stephen Zvi Solow and his wife have travelled during their Hawking boycotts high-profile Israeli 50 years of marriage. The numbers are conference”, 8 May; “Hawking’s academic In 1992 Serbia (with Montenegro) was put very impressive, and as I was preparing boycott divides opinion”, 9 May; see also June under international sanctions for Milosevic’s a lecture, I thought that it might be of p8). Are such academic boycotts worthwhile? interference with Bosnian internal fighting. interest to my first year class – always And did Hawking make the right decision on Scientific organizations such as the Serbian good to show students really big numbers! this one? Association of Physicists were banished from But perhaps based on the caution of international groups such as the European age, I thought I would verify some of the I think Hawking was manipulated by people Physical Society (EPS). Supplies of scientific numbers in the article first. Unfortunately, whose motives he did not understand. journals were stopped, including those of the figure given for the distance the Earth Michael Lerman individual subscribers like myself. At a council of travels around the Sun over 50 years is the EPS the question was raised about whether approximately an order of magnitude too A perfect example of the universal concept that Serbian individuals should be expelled from large; I suspect an additional digit has great intelligence rarely results in great wisdom. international groups, too, but when one member crept into this number. B Cook from France reminded the council that not all Barry G Blundell Serbs support Milosevic (citing a letter I wrote Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Good for Hawking. He should be commended. to Physics World in June 1993), the discussion [email protected] Israel is a thug and is punishing the Palestinian stopped. By the way, it is me who has been people for their leaders’ actions. On that basis, boycotted by Serbian institutions, including my perhaps Hawking should boycott America as well. own, ever since, for this sort of activity. Early medical scans Carl Petar Grujic Another sad case of victory of propaganda over I think Hawking is exercising his right of used animals, too reason. I would understand if he refused to association, or more importantly, his right not to travel for health reasons. I would understand if be associated. Ian Pykett’s letter on “Pioneering veggie he refused to travel for fear of getting killed by a TDM MRIs” (May p23) reminded me of Palestinian rocket. But if the two above are not something I heard about Sir Godfrey the concern then I don’t understand why, if he A boycott of anything is what’s called “non-violent Hounsfield, who shared the 1979 Nobel has anything to criticize about Israel, he refuses resistance” and is simply saying “No thanks!” I Prize for Physiology or Medicine to travel to the best place to do so. And maybe applaud Hawking and hope that others take note. for developing the X-ray computed learn a bit about what really happens there. Kaylee Rob tomography (CT) scanner. After kasuha experimenting with scans of solid objects, Joining a boycott suggests that there is a clear he turned his attention to biological So he needs to travel to Israel to find out what transgressor and a clear victim. Claims of samples such as an animal stomach and a is going on? Seriously? I wonder how Hawking draconian Israeli oppression would be more fresh cow’s head. Due to bleeding in the calculated the entropy of a black hole without believable if Israel hadn’t (twice) proposed the cow’s head as a result of stunning before travelling to one? You must be a lobbyist for the creation of a Palestinian state and the end of slaughter, this scan did not show the airline industry. the conflict. ventricles of the brain. It was suggested Carl m lv that he obtain a cow’s head from an abattoir practising Jewish ritual slaughter, Hawking’s absence from a conference dealing I think Hawking himself expressed the self- where stunning is not used and the animal with “the human aspects that are shaping the defeating nature of the boycott when he stated, has its throat cut by a very sharp knife world, including issues such as geopolitics, “Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion used by a highly experienced practitioner. education and new media” will leave the that the policy of the present Israeli government I understand that he did so, and that this gathering to be satisfied with dilettantes such is likely to lead to disaster.” In other words, it’s was the first time the ventricles of the as Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, better to keep communication channels open brain were seen by X-rays. without the profound wisdom on these questions and be able to do something in a proactive way, Julian Marks that Hawking, from his vast experience, could rather than just stay away. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK have contributed. I say, cancel the conference! Julio Herrera [email protected] b s chandrasekhar

Correction Academic boycotts tend to be counterproductive. The cover of our Focus Issue on If the objective of the boycott is to protest the Nanotechnology showed a heterostructure policies of the Israeli government, it attacks Read these comments in full and add your own at of graphene and barium nitride, not the wrong target. Like many other right-wing physicsworld.com barium nitrate as stated (p1).

Physics World July 2013 23 Visit our booth in March: APS Baltimore, DPG Regensburg

Your Partner In Quantum Computing

Omicron NanoScience

Enabling your research Working with you to develop application specific solutions: Quantum Information Processing, graphene research, SPM, Ultra-High-Vacuum and spectroscopy.

Courtesy of Charles Marcus and Ferdinand Kuemmeth, Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute

Technology shaped to your needs • Proven Cryofree® technology: over 100 TritonTM dilution refrigerators in the field; patented magnet cool down acceleration technology and rapid sample exchange Advanced magnet technology: Proven record of custom We will be • exhibiting at engineered systems ICNS 2013, Measurement environment: custom wiring, sample Edinburgh • on Stand 26 exchange and software control enabling remote operation

Technical expertise supporting you all the way:

From product selection to installation and support in your laboratory.

TritonTM Top-loading dilution refrigerator Oxsoft IDK software

For further information: www.oxford-instruments.com/physicsworld

ad.indd 1 17/06/2013 14:56

PWJul13Ad_Oxford_full.indd 1 18/06/2013 09:41 physicsworld.com Physics of cancer: Cell polarization iStockphoto/BryanMalley

An electrical misunderstanding Cancer cells aren’t bad, they’re just not being treated right – or at least, that is what one US group’s research seems to suggest. Jon Cartwright reports on their findings

Few diseases instil more fear than cancer. More what if tumour cells can be made to act normally, Jon Cartwright is a than any other illness, the rhetoric surrounding the given the right motivation? That is the question being freelance journalist diagnosis and treatment of cancer conjures images asked by a group of researchers in the US, who have based in Bristol, UK, of an innate “badness” invading the body. The feel- found that simply regulating the voltage of tumor- http://jcartwright. ing is not just a popular impression but one that is ous cells could be enough to stop them spreading out co.uk reinforced through cancer therapy, which – be it of control. Their work is in its very early stages, but radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery – is generally already it is being viewed as a possible new way of aimed at eradicating “malignant” cells. detecting and treating cancer. But what if cancer isn’t some case of “cells gone “There’s been a little bit of disbelief, because it’s a bad”, some genetic defect? To put it another way, whole different ball game,” says Mustafa Djamgoz, a

Physics World July 2013 25 Physics of cancer: Cell polarization physicsworld.com

so-called transporter proteins, which pump signal- ling molecules through the channels. Through their experiments, Levin and Chernet have found that a lowered polarization inhibits the function of a trans- porter protein that draws in the signalling molecule butyrate, which, through various enzymes, controls the expression of growth genes. With less butyrate in

Michael Levin and Brook Chernet the cell, these genes are free to instigate abnormally high, cancerous growth.

From discovery to treatment The obvious way to stop such growth is to increase the polarization of the tumorous cells, so that more butyrate can be drawn in to curb growth-gene expres- sion. To test this hypothesis, Levin and Chernet split their oncogene-injected tadpoles into two groups. One group received injections of messenger RNA Electric dream Tumorous cells (highlighted in red) have consistently lower voltages than that encodes proteins for new ion channels. The new healthy cells. So could regulating cell voltage be a way to cure cancer? ion channels drew more negative ions into the tad- pole cells, thereby increasing the cells’ polarization. cancer biologist at Imperial College London who is The result was that the injected group of tadpoles did not involved with the research. “But it’s opened up a not develop nearly so many tumours as the untreated whole new set of opportunities.” group, demonstrating that polarization is indeed a way to reign in tumours – at least in tadpoles (Dis. A curious link Model Mech. 6 595). To pave the way for clinical tri- The link between voltage and cancer goes back to the als, Levin and Chernet will now have to show that the late 1930s, when the US anatomist Harold Saxton same results can be found in mammals. Burr used a new-fangled device called a voltmeter One question raised by the Tufts pair’s work is to show that tumour tissue has different electrical whether it sheds any light on why tumours arise in properties from normal tissue. In the early 1970s the first place. Levin is quick to point out that cell Clarence Cone, a biophysicist at NASA’s Langley voltages are not directly affected by external sources Research Center in Virginia, traced this difference of electromagnetic radiation, which means that his to a disparity in cell polarization, or how much more findings neither support nor detract from the notion negatively charged the inside of a cell is compared that electronic devices such as mobile phones can with its outside. Tumour cells, Cone found, are less cause cancer, as is sometimes claimed. However, he polarized than normal cells, and he suggested that does say that the growth of tumours would likely be electric polarization might somehow be a regulator provoked by anything that perturbs the normal elec- of cancer and other cell proliferation. trical communication between cells. One possible Some 40 years later, biologist Michael Levin at perturbation could lie with holes in cell membranes, Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and called “gap junctions”, that allow cells to “dock” with doctoral student Brook Chernet have found persua- one another and share ions. Tumour cells are known sive evidence that Cone was right. In their experi- to have lowered gap-junction communication com- ment, they injected messenger RNA that encodes pared with normal cells, which could be why their human oncogenes – genes that can transform nor- polarizations go awry. mal cells into tumour cells – into tadpoles. Next, they Biophysicist Geoffrey Abbott at the University of soaked the frog larvae in fluorescent dye. This dye California at Irvine thinks the Tufts research has was voltage-sensitive, fluorescing more brightly when promise. But he points out that any therapy involving the cell polarization was greater. the manipulation of ion channels has risks, since the Levin and Chernet did not know which tadpoles channels also play crucial roles in healthy tissue, such would develop tumours. However, as soon as a tad- as in the regulation of cardiac rhythm. If there were pole exhibited a dark patch of low fluorescence, a way to alter membrane potential by focusing on ion indicating lowered cell polarization, the research- channels only in tumorous tissue, and not healthy ers segregated it from the others to monitor it. tissue, he says, then “this direction could hold real They found that, over several days, such patches of therapeutic potential”. lowered polarization nearly always developed into In any case, Levin thinks his research is impor- tumours, confirming the link between cell polariza- tant because it is encouraging scientists to consider tion and cancer. the possibility that tumour cells are not irrevocably According to the Tufts pair, the two phenomena damaged. Various observations already support this – lowered polarization and tumour development – idea: implant aggressive carcinoma cells into a mouse are connected by a straightforward chain of events. embryo, for instance, and only healthy tissue will Cells become polarized when there is an imbalance develop, not tumours. “We have to get away from the of the positive and negative ions that flow in and idea that it’s always physical matter that’s at the root of out of cells through channels in cell membranes. the problem – that there’s a damaged gene, or a chem- But polarization itself regulates the operation of ical toxin,” says Levin. “It’s not always that.” n

26 Physics World July 2013 Feeling the way

Cancer cells are not simply limp, inactive entities that traverse the human body because they get caught up in some sort of flow, or are buffeted around by their surroundings. If they were so submissive, the dense, fibrous structure of the extracellular matrix would confine them and prevent their spread. Rather, cancer cells sense and respond to their mechanical and chemical environment, sending out feelers, which they also use to latch on to proteins and pull themselves along. Cynthia Reinhart-King’s lab at Cornell University is exploring how exactly cells physically respond to environmental forces. In particular her team is trying to identify ways to prevent the spread of cells in metastasis by learning how they navigate through the tissue once they leave the tumour. In this image, taken using a confocal microscope, a metastatic breast cancer cell uses narrow projections of cytoplasm known as filopodia (the purple/turquoise spikes) to probe and move through the surrounding 3D structure of collagen fibres (grey). Shawn Carey and Cynthia Reinhart-KingCynthia and Carey Shawn Physics of cancer: Cell rotation physicsworld.com Breast cells in a spin

Physics is providing some clues about what causes breast cells to turn malignant, although, as Edwin Cartlidge discusses, a full understanding is probably some way off

Edwin Cartlidge is For years conventional wisdom has held that can- a science journalist cer is essentially a genetic phenomenon. Mutations based in Rome, of DNA inside cells’ nuclei get blamed for causing e-mail cells to reproduce uncontrollably and form poten- edwin.cartlidge@ tially malignant tumours. However, one researcher yahoo.com who has been challenging this gene-centred view is the Iranian-American biologist Mina Bissell, who has argued since the early 1980s that cancer also depends on how cells interact with their environ- ment. Her ideas were at first ignored by experts, but 30 years of persistent research have won many crit- ics round. In particular, she showed that changes to the protein scaffold surrounding breast cells known as the extracellular matrix (ECM) can determine whether or not those cells behave malignantly. “We are learning more and more that although mutations might be the trigger, much of the subse- quent dynamics of cancer is determined by cells’ environment,” says Paul Davies, a physicist at Ari- zona State University who studies the evolutionary origins of cancer. “It is nature versus nurture again, and it looks like the latter is at least as important as the former.” (Davies expands on this point elsewhere in this special issue in his article “Exposing cancer’s deep evolutionary roots”, pp37–40.) Malignant breast cells usually clump together in amorphous lumps, but Bissell and colleagues at the Persistent offender Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Califor- Breast cancer cell on nia have shown that such cells can be coaxed into a surface. forming spherical shapes, just as healthy cells do. using a technique known as confocal microscopy. They have done this by placing the cells in a gel that This involves building up 3D images of objects, in serves as a laboratory surrogate for the ECM and this case cells, by scanning multiple thin sections then manipulating the cells using chemicals known of the objects using a small depth of field. Such 3D as inhibitors. These inhibitors disrupt the signalling imaging allows cells to be suspended in a gel, avoid- in integrins – proteins that stick out either side of the ing the physical distortion that takes place when cells cell wall and allow a cell to communicate with the are mounted on slides during 2D imaging. ECM. However, their finding raised the question of Using the fourth dimension – time – Tanner was how exactly this manipulation caused the spherical able to track both healthy and (coaxed) malignant cells structures, known as acini, to form. as they formed the acini. These spherical structures Enter physicist Kandice Tanner, who joined Bis- measure around a tenth of a millimetre across and sell’s group in 2008. Having specialized in imaging inside the breast consist of two shells each containing biological tissue during her doctoral and postdoc- a different kind of so-called epithelial cell – one to toral research, Tanner approached the problem turn nutrients from the blood into milk, and the other

28 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Physics of cancer: Cell rotation

that regulates cell movement. This resulted in cells that no longer rotated but instead moved in a ran- dom motion and formed loose aggregates rather than spherical acini.

A cause of disagreement The results appear clear cut. However, the inter- pretation does not. A press release accompanying the researchers’ paper, published in 2012 (Tanner et al. PNAS 109 1973), confidently stated that the researchers had “discovered a rotational motion that Science Picture Co/Science Faction/SuperStock Co/Science Picture Science plays a critical role in the ability of breast cells to form the spherical structures”. It is not clear, how- ever, whether the links between the rotation and the formation of acini, and between acini formation and non-malignancy, are causal or are simply correla- tions, and, if they are causal, in which direction the causality acts. “This work may eventually provide some insight into how cells create complex structures,” says Rob- ert Weinberg, director of the Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. “The processes described in this paper appear to be disrupted in cancer cells. However, it’s a real stretch to conclude that this represents a cause of cancer rather than one of the multiple consequences of normal cells undergoing transformation into tumour cells.” A big help in interpreting the results would be a well-founded model. Tanner says that the cellular rotation is “like a spider spinning its web, with the cell remodelling the matrix and setting up a road- map to guide successive divisions”. But as of yet she is not sure why exactly such a process would produce spherical structures. Davies believes that the explanation is unlikely to be purely physical, such as the direct action of an apparent centrifugal force, but thinks it is instead probably mediated by biology – pointing out that mechanical forces can switch genes on and off. On the other hand, biophysicist Stuart Lindsay, also at Arizona State University, thinks the answer could actually lie in simple geometry. But he admits he is making only a well-informed guess.

Biology’s limits Lindsay in fact regards anyone attempting to create biological theories as “extremely optimistic”, adding that he prefers to “go and measure” as well as he can. Davies too says “there is no such thing as theoreti- to contract the sphere in order to inject that milk into cal biology”, arguing that within biology “there are a network of ducts that connect with the nipple. no obvious underlying principles” (with the exception Playing back the images as a video, Tanner found of Darwinian evolution), but, he says, “just a load of something no-one had predicted. She saw that while special cases”. He explains that drawing out patterns forming acini the cells rotated. The process starts is made difficult by the individual nature of cells, off with just one cell rotating, either clockwise or but he remains optimistic that physicists can help to anticlockwise, at a rate of around one revolution an improve things. “Biologists trawl through facts look- hour. That rotation is then maintained while the cell ing for correlations,” he says. “But the great thing divides and its progeny in turn divide, leading to a about physicists is that they can connect the dots. Fletcher Lab, University of California, Berkeley coherent motion in which the 12–15 cells that eventu- They are trained to spot significant facts amid a wel- Good and bad ally make up each of the (single-layered) acini rotate ter of detail.” While it is not possible to say that the A healthy-looking in step as a sphere. non-rotation of breast cells causes cancer, Tanner’s acinus compared To investigate the effect further, the group dis- work nevertheless sheds some light on the behaviour with an amorphous rupted the rotation of cells by disabling a protein of cancerous and non-cancerous cells. n structure.

Physics World July 2013 29 Need a chemical sensor at the nanoscale?

Raman spectroscopy brings the chemical specificity you’ve been looking for in nano- materials characterization. When it comes to AFM-Raman, team up with the experts.

HORIBA Scientific offers the most comprehensive selection of integrated AFM-Raman systems optimized for optical throughput. Working with the leading scanning probe manufacturers, we deliver TERS*-ready solutions for all your molecular imaging needs.

TERS resolution of 2nm was achieved on HORIBA equipment.1 Contact us to learn more about this technology.

* TERS: Tip-Enhanced Raman Scattering.

1 Deckert-Gaudig, T., Kämmer, E. and Deckert, V. (2012), J. Biophoton., 5: 215–219. doi: 10.1002/jbio.201100142

horiba.com/scientific [email protected]

Untitled-2 1 17/06/2013 13:50 Life in 3D

Cancer researchers used to look at cells under the microscope by mounting them on glass slides – a 2D environment. But as we now know that the physical environment significantly affects the behaviour of cancer cells, scientists are looking again at their properties by suspending the cells in 3D gel-like environments that more closely resemble conditions inside the human body. One researcher exploring 3D behaviour is Denis Wirtz at Johns Hopkins University. Previous studies have shown that cells move in 2D using protein clusters known as focal adhesions, and it had been assumed that the 2D results translate to 3D. However, this confocal microscopy image from his lab shows a human cancer cell within a 3D matrix of collagen using a very different mechanism: several cell- membrane protrusions known as pseudopodia (green) probe their surroundings before selecting and pulling on a collagen fibre, a process repeated in quick succession that allows the cell to move through its 3D environment. Denis Wirtz physicsworld.com Physics of cancer: Nanomechanical signatures Killing me softly Anne Weston, LRI, CRUK, Wellcome Images

A nanomechanical signature of cancer cells at different stages of progression, measured using atomic force microscopy, could have diagnostic and prognostic potential as Philip Ball reports

Cancer is as much a problem of biophysics as of bio- cer are marked by distinct shifts in the stiffness of Philip Ball is a chemistry. Disruptions in the cell cycle – the series the cells (M Plodinec et al. 2012 Nature Nanotech. 7 science writer and of biochemical changes that lead to cell division and 757). Not only could this insight offer a new tool for journalist based in growth – are only the start of the problem, leading to diagnosis, but it could also ultimately supply a means London, UK, e-mail unchecked proliferation of rogue cancer cells. This of making a medical prognosis – that is, forecasting p.ball@btinternet. generally only becomes life-threatening if tumours how a tumour might evolve. com “metastasize”, meaning that the cells spread to other parts of the body. This journey puts them through Spreading strategy some extreme contortions as they detach, migrate Metastasis shows cancer cells at their most insidious. and find new homes. With metastases being the Once a tumour has grown and developed its own cause of 90% of human cancer deaths, it is crucial system of blood vessels, the production of proteins to understand the mechanical properties of cancer called cadherins that stick cells together may decline, cells, and how these change as cancer progresses. allowing some cells to become detached from the At the University of Basel in Switzerland, nano- mass. These breakaway cells can then move through biologists Marija Plodinec, Roderick Lim and their the extracellular matrix – the fibrous web of collagen colleagues are attempting to get to grips with this and other ingredients that binds tissues together – issue by prodding and pulling on cancer cells using until they reach a blood vessel. the nanoscale needle-like tip of an atomic force Here a cancer cell will squeeze its way between the microscope (AFM). In doing so, they have found cells of the vessel wall and enter the bloodstream, that the different stages in the development of can- which may carry it far from the original tumour.

Physics World July 2013 33 Physics of cancer: Nanomechanical signatures physicsworld.com

1 Nanomechanical signatures of human breast tissue they measured (figure 1). A healthy sample produced a single stiffness peak with a roughly bell-shaped dis- normal tissue tribution of values, owing to slight, natural variations 0.12 in the properties of healthy cells. But measurements from a malignant, invasive tumour showed more complex behaviour, with at least three peaks in a 0.08 broad distribution. The biggest peak corresponded to a stiffness less than that of healthy cells, and by using . 10.1038/nnano.2012.167. 0.04 standard histological techniques that stain particular

frequency count cell types with a dye, the researchers established that 0.00 this soft peak represented cancer cells. (The other 048 12 peaks corresponded to connective tissue.)

2012 Nano Nature stiffness (kPa) invasive cancer So how do these properties change as a tumour

et al. et 0.12 metastasizes? In humans there are wide variations in how a cancer progresses, depending for example 0.08 on genetic differences. So to obtain more uniform responses, Lim and colleagues switched instead to a strain of mice widely used as an animal model of 0.04

frequency count human breast cancer, which are genetically identical and engineered to be prone to mammary tumours. 0.00 They found the same kind of bell-shaped stiffness 048 12 distribution for healthy mouse mammary-gland tis- stiffness (kPa)

Adaptedwithpermission fromPlodinec sue, but as a tumour reached the “premalignant” A type of atomic force microscopy, which pushes a needle-like probe into samples to stage at which cells have begun to change but not yet measure their stiffness, was used to characterize healthy (top) and malignant (bottom) become malignant, the peak began to split in two. human breast biopsies. Multiple measurements were made across the entire biopsies; the By the time the tumour became cancerous the dis- resulting histograms show the frequency of occurrence of each stiffness value measured. tribution had two distinct peaks, with a large propor- Healthy tissue shows a single stiffness peak representative of normal cells. Malignant tissue tion of abnormally soft cells. At the same time, such shows at least three stiffness peaks, the origins of which were identified using dye-staining tumours get stiffer overall. Lim and colleagues found techniques. The largest peak corresponds to cancer cells that are softer than normal cells, while the smaller peaks are the result of types of connective tissue. Images on the right that this stiffness was confined to the outer parts of show the healthy, and tumour-cell-dominated, appearance of the samples. the tumour, where there was a build-up of collagen in the extracellular matrix. What do these mechanical changes tell us about Eventually the cell will stick to the vessel wall again the progression of biochemical events inside tumour and squeeze its way out to seed a new tumour. The cells? James Glazier, director of the Biocomplexity problem of unchecked tumour growth then changes Institute at Indiana University, points out that, when from a local to a global problem in the body. cells are proliferating rapidly and unchecked, natu- Tumours are notoriously stiff, forming a hard ral selection kicks in to favour particular cell types. lump. But, seemingly paradoxically, it has become Evolutionary pressures that lead to softer cells might clear over the past decade that cancer cells them- thus be the agency by which cancer cells become selves are more soft and compliant than normal tis- lithe enough to slip through blood vessel walls and sue cells. According to biophysicist Denis Wirtz of spread through the body. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, As for what causes that selection, Lim’s studies this decrease in cell stiffness is a ubiquitous feature have revealed a clue: the soft cancer cells have rela- of cancers, despite the huge differences in molecular tively little oxygen (they are hypoxic). “It is these soft pathways that might be involved. As such, it could be hypoxic cancer cells that successfully metastasize an indicator of some very general mechanism that from the primary tumour in late stages of malig- makes tumours lethal. nancy,” says Plodinec, who is a postdoc in Lim’s lab. The response to oxygen deficiency in the tumour Soft signature might help to select flexible, mobile cells. “Any cell Last year, Lim and colleagues measured the mechan- that can move far enough to escape a dead zone ical behaviour of human breast cancer cells acquired before it dies is favoured,” says Glazier. “Unfortu- from biopsies. In their experiments, they pressed nately for us, these mechanisms also allow cells to down on tissue samples with the AFM, probing metastasize. From this viewpoint, metastasis is an many different areas, each about 20 by 20 µm across epiphenomenon, an accident of the selection pres- (containing three or four cells along with the extra- sures within the tumour.” cellular matrix in which they are embedded) and But Wirtz is not convinced that softness is neces- measuring the depth of the indentation. For a given sarily the most crucial aspect that leads to metastasis. applied force, the deeper the tip sinks into the tissue He says that one of the robust features of metasta- (typically 150–3000 nm), the softer the tissue is. sizing tumours is their diversity of cell properties. The researchers found that different types of cell That fits with Lim’s observations of a broader, multi- had quite different mechanical signatures. After featured distribution of stiffnesses, but Wirtz thinks repeated measurements, the team plotted graphs of that metastasis might be more a question of tumours the frequency of occurrence of the stiffness values shedding many different cell types. “Millions of cells

34 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com

Your guide to products, services Your guide to products, services and expertise and expertise Gunilla Elam/Science Photo LibraryPhoto Elam/Science Gunilla Connect your business today

Splinter cells Artwork showing cancer cells (blue) migrating from a tumour (left) into the bloodstream and to another organ where they form a secondary tumour. are shed each day from a tumour site, and most don’t FREE make it to a secondary site,” he says. “I suspect it Find out how to get your business won’t be the case that the most compliant are actu- ally the most invasive.” He hopes Lim’s group might or institution connected. be able to test that prediction by isolating cells with different mechanical properties. physicsworld.com/connect Prognostic potential According to Robert Ros of Arizona State Univer- sity, who has also used AFM to study cancer cells, such nanomechanical experiments “have a huge potential to build up knowledge about changes in cell mechanics during cancer progression”. However, he is sceptical about whether AFM can be used as a diagnostic tool. “Cells typically show a large hetero- geneity in the mechanical properties, which would require time-consuming measurements on a large number of them,” he says. But the Basel team is more optimistic. In partner- ship with the Swiss AFM company Nanosurf, Lim, Plodinec and their colleague Marko Loparic have developed the method into a standardized tool called ARTIDIS (“automated and reliable tissue diagnos- tics”). The nanomechanical method works with a broad range of tissue types, and might be applied to study other diseases too: the first ARTIDIS system has been installed at University Hospital Basel’s eye clinic to collect data on retinal diseases. As well as helping to understand how cancer develops, what everyone wants to know is if these observations offer new directions for forecasting its development and perhaps even arresting it. Prog- nosis is the key to effective treatment regimes, and Lim’s team thinks that the onset of cell softening Find out how to get your could add to the battery of biochemical techniques currently used. “Classical methods have no means business or institution of providing an early diagnosis for metastasis,” says connected. Plodinec. But using their approach, she says, “meta- static potential might be deduced at the primary tumour level, allowing physicians to intervene with physicsworld.com/connect therapies that prevent metastasis from occurring. Simply, more lives might be saved”. n

Physics World July 2013 35 In a squeeze

Cancer cells need to squash through some really dense tissues and small capillaries before they can reach and colonize new organs in the body. For cell plasma (faint orange), which is very deformable, this is not a problem. It is the stiffer cell nuclei (blue/pink) that potentially get stuck, or at least slow down the cells’ journey. One group trying to understand how the mechanical properties of the cell nucleus affect cells’ movement is Jan Lammerding’s lab at Cornell University. In this image, taken using a confocal microscope, cancer cells migrate through a microfluidic device designed to look at how deformable the nucleus is in an environment with narrow constrictions that mimic the passage of cancer cells through the body during metastasis. Lammerding’s group originally studied the mechanics of cell nuclei because of its relevance in muscular dystrophies, but has now found that nuclear mechanics could also play a role in determining how cancer cells spread. Umesh Jonnalagadda, Lammerding LabLammerding Jonnalagadda, Umesh physicsworld.com Physics of cancer: Evolutionary theory Exposing cancer’s deep evolutionary roots iStockphoto/MartinMcCarthy

Paul Davies argues that cancer is an ancient genetic program present within us all, with roots in the dawn of multicellularity over a billion years ago

“The miracle of life.” To a physicist, life does seem cists can bring valuable insights from their discipline. Paul Davies is almost like magic. Faced with the sheer complexity Recognizing this, in 2009 the US National Cancer principal investigator of the living cell, many physicists feel bewildered. Yet Institute created 12 centres for physical science of Arizona State some biological processes are remarkably determin- and oncology in an effort to identify radically new University’s Center istic. The development of the embryo is one. Cancer approaches to cancer research and treatment. for Convergence of is another. Although there are inevitable patient-by- When I was asked to lead such a centre, I knew Physical Science and patient variations in the progression of cancer, gener- almost nothing about cancer. My background in Cancer Biology, US, e-mail paul.davies@ ally speaking, once it is initiated the disease follows a fundamental theoretical physics and cosmology asu.edu depressingly predictable trajectory. prompted me to start with the basics. First of all I When a physical process follows a pattern, physi- simply wanted to know what cancer is – how it is

Physics World July 2013 37 Physics of cancer: Evolutionary theory physicsworld.com Marek Mis/Science Photo Library Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images Wellcome Cavanagh, Annie

Selfish cells Single-celled organisms act to preserve themselves, while cells in multicellular Hitching a ride Cancer cells can become mobile and travel in the organisms act for the greater good. bloodstream to invade other organs.

defined. I then pondered what causes its distinctive cal cues into the body to “prepare the ground” hallmarks and predictable progression, and what for the invasion, and metastatic tumours create physical parameters control its properties and behav- cancer-friendly niches by recruiting and adapting iour. Meanwhile, I began thinking about why cancer healthy cells. The disseminated neoplasm can dis- exists at all and what its place is in the grand story of play long-range organized behaviour that suggests a life on Earth. command-and-control, system-wide communication Such questions are rarely asked by oncologists or network mediated by various physical and chemical cancer biologists, who mostly focus on the human signalling mechanisms. The overall impression is of disease aspect and are caught up in the frantic and a carefully orchestrated and pre-programmed strat- expensive search for an elusive “cure”. egy – its aim to multiply cancer cells and colonize new sites – which is unleashed when neoplastic cells A disease of the genes? somehow evade the normal regulatory mechanisms I soon learned that cancer is widespread among mam- of the organism and embark on their own agenda. mals, birds, fish and reptiles, suggesting it has deep Whenever one encounters highly organized and evolutionary roots stretching back at least hundreds efficient behaviour in biology, a ready explanation of millions of years. In fact, its prevalence in multi- lies at hand: Darwinian evolution. Orthodox expla- cellular organisms implies it is deeply embedded in the nations suppose that cancer results from an accumu- logic of life. The genomes of nearly all healthy human lation of random genetic mutations, with the cancer cells, containing the entirety of an individual’s inher- starting from scratch each time it manifests, and ited information, evidently come pre-loaded with a over a period of several years evolving survival traits “cancer sub-routine” that is normally idle but can be within the host under the pressure of selection by the triggered into action by a wide variety of insults, such body’s defences. Viewed this way, cancer is a disease as chemicals, radiation and inflammation. of the genes that produces an aberration of normal Once initiated, most cancers follow a pattern. cellular function – rogue cells running amok and Cells first proliferate uncontrollably in a particular developing their own agenda, which conflicts with organ (cancers are specific to organ types) forming a that of the host organism. And it is true that many tumour or “neoplasm” (new cells). After a time, some cancer cells are genetic monsters, with deranged and neoplastic cells become mobile, leave the tumour sometimes duplicated chunks of DNA, grotesquely and spread around the body, invading and coloniz- malformed and swollen nuclei and wholesale rear- ing other organs. This process is called metastasis rangements of their chromatin (genetic material). and accounts for 90% of cancer deaths. The standard explanation leaves many puzzling To accomplish their journey, cancer cells mostly questions, however. If the genetic mutations are ran- hitch a ride in the bloodstream or lymphatic system. dom then the cells ought to be highly defective and In doing so they face formidable challenges – they vulnerable, yet paradoxically they are often fitter tunnel through tissues, squeeze through membrane than healthy cells. There is no obvious reason why barriers and experience highly varying sheer stresses random mutational accidents should just happen to once inside the vessels. To cope with such trials, confer a whole series of mutually supportive survival cancer cells systematically deploy many specialized traits in the same neoplasm, conveniently manifest- properties and functions. ing themselves in a period of just years or months. Evidence is mounting that the micro-environment Cancer dormancy is also perplexing; in most cases, at the cells’ destination plays a key role in the suc- cancer (of the same organ variety) eventually returns, cess of metastasis. Primary tumours send out chemi- sometimes years or even decades after removal of a

38 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Physics of cancer: Evolutionary theory primary tumour, having somehow lain harmlessly quiescent somewhere in the body. Just what awakens it is a mystery. Another question is why cancer cells deliberately transplanted into certain tissues, or can- cer nuclei into healthy cells, often results in normal behaviour. Conversely, normal nuclei implanted into cancer cells often become cancerous. From a physics perspective, there are clues point- University of New South Wales ing to cancer as a phenomenon influenced by forces and fields – not one that is purely ruled by genetic instructions. It is fascinating, for example, that the Young’s modulus of cells changes as cancer pro- gresses, sometimes dramatically (they are generally softer), while the stiffness of the tissue that cells touch can affect their gene expression – a process known as mechano-transduction. Even more tanta- lizing is that electric potentials, across cell and mito- chondrial membranes as well as through tissue, serve Building on the past This typical four-week-old human embryo looks as an organizing field that affects both healthy and similar to fish embryos, with proto-gills and a tail. malignant behaviour. All this adds up to a serious problem for the stand- tiply and when to die. What we believe is that when ard genetic model of cancer. While nobody would these mechanisms malfunction, the cells revert to deny that genomic changes play some sort of role in the default option, a genetic subroutine programmed driving the cancer phenotype (i.e. the physical tissue into their ancestors long ago, of behaving in a self- that results from expressing the information in the ish way. To use a computer analogy, cancer is like genes), at least as much weight must be given to envi- Windows defaulting to “safe mode” after suffering ronmental factors. This subject is collectively known an insult of some sort. as epigenetics and encompasses the effects of physi- Our atavism theory appeals to the fact that the cal properties such as tissue architecture, elasticity genomes of the organisms we see today retain traces and electric potential. of their evolutionary past. This is sometimes made strikingly apparent when humans are born with a tail An ancient subroutine or extra nipples, or dolphins with four fins instead of To address these puzzles, Charles Lineweaver of the two, expressing ancestral phenotypes. Australian National University and I have proposed Ancestral genetic pathways will be preserved only a very different theory of cancer. Biologists agree if they continue to serve a useful purpose. One such that cancer is a breakdown of the contract between purpose involves embryogenesis. When a fertilized individual cells and the organism. This contract egg develops, much of the basic body plan is laid down dates back to the dawn of multicellularity, over a in the early stages. Because all animals share an evo- billion years ago. Single-celled organisms replicate lutionary past, early-stage embryos bear clear resem- by division and are in a sense immortal. In multi- blances to each other: even human and fish embryos cellular organisms, immortality is relinquished and show obvious similarities such as proto-gills and a tail. the genetic legacy of the organism is outsourced to This is no surprise. Evolution builds on what has gone specialized sex cells – eggs and sperm – known as the before (our remote ancestors were fish), and ancient germ line. Although all cells in multicellular organ- features that have stood the test of time will likely isms have the same DNA, most of them differentiate be recapitulated. Altering or abandoning the ancient into specific types – kidney, brain, muscle, etc. These foundations of the developmental programme would are known as somatic cells, and they eventually die, fatally compromise the embryo’s development. Very for the greater good of the organism and its germ roughly, the earlier the embryonic stage, the more line. Somatic cells demonstrate this altruism every basic and ancient will be the genes guiding develop- day in the phenomenon of apoptosis, or programmed ment, and the more carefully conserved and widely cell death, which occurs after damage to a cell or as distributed they will be among species. a result of ageing. But policing this contract is hard Another feature of embryonic cells relevant to work, and requires complex regulatory mechanisms. our theory is that they start out “pluripotent” – they If cells start to cheat, abandoning the ancient cov- enant by refusing to apoptose, then runaway prolif- eration results and a neoplasm forms. To use a computer analogy, cancer Lineweaver and I build on this uncontroversial concept, but go much further by bringing insights is like Windows defaulting to “safe from evolutionary biology, microbiology and astro- biology. (In this endeavour, we are collaborating with mode” after suffering an insult of the NASA Astrobiology Institute.) In a nutshell, we agree that cancer is a type of throwback, or atavism, some sort to an ancestral phenotype. Cells are usually regu- lated by mechanisms that instruct them when to mul-

Physics World July 2013 39 Physics of cancer: Evolutionary theory physicsworld.com

A stubborn killer switched on in most cancers and shown that this same signature is active in early embryo development. John Condeelis, a biophysicist at Albert Einstein 600 586.8 College of Medicine in New York, has demonstrated 1950 that invasive cancer cells have a gene expression pro- 2010 500 file resembling that of embryo tissue development. Further evidence that supports our theory comes 400 from experiments in which the nuclei of egg cells are replaced with cancer-cell nuclei. Astonishingly, 300 embryos start to develop normally. But abnormalities eventually appear, at earlier stages when the cancer is 193.1 200 179.1 180.7 172.8 more malignant (advanced). This inverse correlation

deaths per 100000 people of cancer stage with embryo stage is consistent with 100 our theory. Cancer is rarely an all-or-nothing affair. 39.1 48.1 15.1 Once it is initiated, it tends to follow a well-defined 0 heart stroke pneumonia/ cancer progression of accelerating growth, mobility, spread disease influenza and colonization. Lineweaver and I envisage cancer The proportion of people dying from heart disease, stroke and pneumonia or influenza fell progression within a host organism as like running sharply between 1950 and 2010. However, the death rate from cancer has remained largely the arrow of biological evolution backward in time at unchanged over the same period. The figures shown here relate to the US, although the story high speed. As the complex regulatory mechanisms is similar in most other nations where reliable data exist. The data have been adjusted to of the body break down, the cancer defaults to ear- reflect changes in the US age profile. Source: National Center for Health Statistics lier and earlier phenotypes, with the most malignant cells representing the most ancestral forms. If we are right, the various distinctive hallmarks of remain capable of forming cells of any organ. As the cancer ought to map inversely onto the evolutionary embryo develops, so most cells differentiate step by tree of life. For example, cells display surface adhe- step into their terminal forms (brain, lung, kidney, sion molecules called cadherins to help them stick skin, etc). Although all cells in an organism possess together. As cancer progresses, the cadherin gene the same genes, as differentiation proceeds, dif- expression changes to a more ancient type. There are, ferent genes get switched off and silenced, leading in fact, many types of cadherin among multi cellular to different cell types being manifested. However, organisms, and we predict that this backwards-in- so-called stem cells retain a measure of pluripo- time function of cancer stage will be seen in some tency, and are present even in the adult form in of these too. order to replenish fully differentiated cells that are There is a quite different additional link between lost by ablation, damage or simply by ageing and cancer and early forms of life. Cancer cells tend to undergoing apoptosis. adopt an ancient mode of metabolism known as Lineweaver and I suggest that genes that are active fermentation, or glycolysis, which takes place in the in early-stage embryogenesis and silenced thereafter cytoplasm of the cell. In contrast, healthy cells mostly – which, by our hypothesis, are generally the ancient use a process known as oxidation-phosphorylation, and highly conserved genes – may be inappropriately or ox-phos, which is performed within tiny organelles reactivated in the adult form as a result of some sort called mitochondria. The characteristics of fermen- of insult or damage. This trigger serves to kick-start tation are its ability to flourish in low-oxygen condi- the cascade of maladaptation events we identify as tions (hypoxia), its high demand for sugar (glucose) cancer. So the “cancer subroutine” is really just a and a low-pH environment – all conditions charac- re-run of an embryonic developmental program. teristic of tumours. Could it be, we wonder, that can- We envisage a collection of ancient conserved genes cer’s predilection for a hypoxic environment reflects driving the cancer phenotype, in which the metastatic the prevailing conditions on Earth at the time when mobility of cancer cells and the invasion and colo- multicellularity first evolved, before the second great nization of other organs merely reflects the dynami- oxygenation event? cally changing nature of embryonic cells and their Cancer touches every family on the planet and is a ability to transform into different types of tissues. growing health and economic calamity. Attempts to The big picture is that we attribute cancer’s sur- tackle it with toxins, radiation and surgery are often vival traits to deep evolution on a billion-year scale, little more than a delaying tactic. Life expectancy for rather than orthodox explanations that point to someone with metastatic cancer has hardly changed evolution from scratch with each case of the dis- in five decades, despite all the hype about imminent ease. In our theory, the latter remains true, but is a “cures”. It is clear that some radically new thinking small perturbation. is needed. Like ageing, cancer seems to be a deeply embedded part of the life process. Also like ageing, Mounting evidence cancer generally cannot be cured, but its effects can Evidence for deep links between embryogenesis and certainly be mitigated – for example, by delaying tumorigenesis have come from several experimental onset and extending dormancy. But we will learn to studies. Isaac Kohane, a paediatrician who special- do this effectively only when we better understand izes in bioinformatics, and his colleagues at Harvard cancer, including its place in the great sweep of University have identified a pattern of genes that are evolutionary history. n

40 Physics World July 2013

physicsworld.com Reviews

Liz Kalaugher on a huge range of factors such as past temperatures, sea level, atmos- pheric composition, volcanic activity and solar variability. These recon- structions can go back hundreds of More ice, less politics thousands of years. The section on these ice cores reads more fluently than the intro- duction, but it lacks the sort of per- sonal anecdotes from the authors that could have brought colour to their narrative. They must have been on many a polar trip, but only once do they come close to offering a personal insight into conditions. National Science Foundation Science National The big moment comes when they describe the “scientific trench” set up under the snow to investigate freshly removed ice cores for the Greenland Ice Core Project, which began drilling in 1990. Vital in the summer, when sunshine could lead to above-zero temperatures at the sur- face, the scientific trench remained at –15 °C and was, apparently, “a hive of activity in which about 40 people happily worked together”. It is also disappointing that a book on such a potentially image-rich subject con- tains only two photographs: the cover image of New Zealand’s Fox Glacier and a shot of air bubbles trapped in ice. Otherwise, expedition life is illustrated with black-and-white sketches, which cannot offer much realism. Employing simple analogies Some nice ice For a book with such a Tintin-style the book is translated from French and providing basic explanations of Palmer Station in title, The White Planet is disappoint- probably does not help; at one point technical terms would also help the Antarctica, where ingly short on daring tales of scien- the reader is told that meetings on non-specialist reader enormously; much of the US tific adventure in the world of snow a particular project move “alterna- the use of the term “geothermal flux”, Antarctic Program’s and ice. Billed as bringing “cutting- tively” between Russia, France and for instance, without further intro- research is edge climate research to general the US, instead of “alternately”. duction, is likely to scare many off. undertaken. readers through a vivid narrative”, it The White Planet also lacks a clear Had The White Planet been pro- actually seems more suited to early- narrative thread and feels, in parts, moted as an introductory graduate The White Planet: stage graduate students looking to like three or four textbooks sand- text, this would have been fine, but the Evolution and learn about the wealth of informa- wiched together. the authors seem keen to get their Future of Our tion that can be extracted from ice After a fairly dry overview of the message about ice and what it tells us Frozen World cores and the history of this research Earth’s ice regions (which reads about the Earth’s past and future cli- Jean Jouzel, field. And the book does have value almost as if the authors were asked mate to a wider audience. “Climate Claude Lorius and for this audience: its three co- to bolt on an introduction for the warming is one of the great chal- Dominique Raynaud authors, Jean Jouzel, Claude Lorius layperson), the book quickly moves lenges facing our civilization today, 2012 Princeton and Dominique Raynaud, were all on to discuss its authors’ real pas- and the polar ice is a witness to and University Press involved in the early days of some sion: glacial ice archives and what an essential actor in it,” they write in £19.95/$29.95hb of the analytical techniques and ice- can be learnt from them. By drilling their final chapter, adding that they drilling expeditions they describe, out ice cores roughly 10 cm across to hope that, as a result of their book, and they are clearly passionate about depths of thousands of metres, sci- readers have become convinced that their work. entists can build up a picture of past the destiny of polar regions is crucial But sometimes, this very expertise climate – the age of the ice increases for the planet. can be a hindrance. In places, The the deeper they drill. Analysing Perhaps with this public outreach White Planet reads like a watered- the ice, trapped air and impurities effort in mind, the later part of the down academic paper, with sen- such as volcanic ash or dust using book covers the history of the discov- tences that do little more than string parameters including isotope ratios, ery of the greenhouse-gas effect, the together lists of dates, locations and electrical conductivity and chemical Intergovernmental Panel on Climate drill depths achieved. The fact that composition provides information Change and climate negotiations. It

42 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Reviews

also examines the background to intricacies of running an interna- the 2007–2009 International Polar They hope that tional research collaboration than Year, takes a brief, if unexpected, in the daily life of a scientist doing foray into the history of pollution, readers will be fieldwork in extreme conditions. and highlights promising areas of Despite its mis-labelling as popu- future cryospheric research. These lar science, the book does provide a include glacial ice coring that goes convinced that valuable look at the science, history back at least 140 000 years in Green- (at times it feels as if no researcher land and 1.2 million years in Antarc- the destiny of has been left un-name-checked) tica; reconstructing the climate of and politics of ice-core drilling and the last 40 000 years more precisely; polar regions glacial-archive analysis. It will be of almost year-by-year analysis of the immense interest to those already climate of the last 2000 years; study- involved in cryospheric science even ing the biology of the subglacial Lake is crucial for if it is less successful in its stated mis- Vostok; and sampling at the Concor- sion of bringing a message to the gen- dia base in Antarctica. the planet eral public. Read it if you are keen, Along the way, the book provides but give it a miss if you’re only mildly an insight into the international curious; a non-specialist reader who politics behind the climate nego- downs because the station had not made it to the end would be likely to tiations that took place in Bali in been restocked with fuel due to lack plead for more ice and less politics. 2007 and Copenhagen in 2009. It of funds after the fall of communism also describes the politics of set- in the USSR. But arguably, there is Liz Kalaugher is editor of ting up large research projects. too much detail about these politi- environmentalresearchweb, a website An ice-drilling programme at the cal manoeuvrings and not enough produced by IOP Publishing to complement Soviets’ Vostok base in Antarctica, context for general readers, who its journal Environmental Research Letters, for instance, twice saw winter shut- are likely to be less interested in the e-mail [email protected]

Web life: Do the Math estimation and what might be described as a its history, he notes – then in just 400 years, we “long view” on the relative importance of human will have pushed the Earth’s average temperature civilization in the history of the universe. For above the boiling point of water. In other words, example, the post on keeping your feet warm we’ll cook ourselves. In Murphy’s telling, at least, begins by modelling cold feet as a litre of water it was all downhill from there for the hapless at 25 °C, which is approximately 12 degrees economist – although as one commenter noted, below normal body temperature. Next, Murphy it would have been nice to get the latter’s works out how much energy it would take to perspective on the conversation, too. rectify that 50 kJ deficit (based on the mass and specific heat of water – do keep up!) if you used Can you give me a sample quote? URL: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math hot water, a hair dryer, a heating pad or exercise This comes from the “personal statement” section as the means of heat transfer. We won’t spoil the of the blog, in which Murphy explains why he is so So what is the site about? fun by revealing which of these methods uses pessimistic about our energy future. “[We] have Do the Math is a blog that “takes an the least energy, but the difference between the built a life of growth and prosperity based on a astrophysicist’s-eye view of societal issues worst and best turns out to be more than an order finite and soon-to-max-out resource with no equal relating to energy production, climate change, of magnitude. Even by astrophysics standards, replacement in sight. This is uncharted territory, and economic growth,” according to author Tom that’s fairly significant. and the fact that generations have experienced Murphy. A physicist at the University of California, the fossil-fuelled upswing holds no predictive San Diego whose main research project involves What are some highlights? power over our future. Just because growth has bouncing laser beams off the surface of the One of the most thought-provoking posts to been thematic does not mean it will always be so. Moon, Murphy became interested in energy appear on Do the Math so far (and also one of the The failure of most people to treat this possibility and the environment after teaching a course on most controversial) is “Exponential economist seriously is disheartening, because it prevents the subject for non-science students. He has meets finite physicist”. In it, Murphy describes meaningful planning for a different future. We been blogging on energy-related themes since a lengthy conversation he had with an unnamed can all hope for new technologies to help us. But mid-2011, producing a total of 60-odd posts economist at a dinner party. The conversation this problem is too big to rely on hope alone, and on topics that range from untapped sources of was a debate about whether physical principles in any case, no practical technology can keep hydroelectric power (“How much dam energy can place some kind of intrinsic (as opposed to growth going indefinitely. I want to be clear that we get?”) to strategies for keeping your tootsies practical) limit on economic growth, with just because I am pointing out potential failure warm in cold weather (“Heat those feet!”). Murphy arguing that they did and the economist modes of our human endeavours does not mean disagreeing with him. Early in the discussion, that I am predicting a dismal future. It is clear to What does it actually mean to take an Murphy wheeled out one of his favourite party me that this can be avoided…The point of this “astrophysicist’s-eye view” of this stuff? tricks, which is to show that if human energy blog is that we have to apply scientific scepticism Major ingredients in Murphy’s writing include usage grows by just 2.3% per year – less than the to our lofty narratives so we aren’t misled down a a focus on hard numbers, a healthy dose of average annual rate of growth in the US during false garden path.”

Physics World July 2013 43 Reviews physicsworld.com

Richard Corfield Exploring the initial conditions truth that, as organisms develop, they pass through stages that mimic the history of life through geologi- cal time. For example, both ape and human foetuses go through a stage in the womb in which they have gills. The mantra of the theory is “ontog- eny recapitulates phylogeny” – that

Richard Kail/Science Photo LibraryPhoto Kail/Science Richard is, the gestation of a single organism parallels the evolutionary develop- ment of its entire species. The interplay between ontogeny and phylogeny was a central inter- est of the late, great palaeontologist Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard Uni- versity’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. Since Shubin has a PhD from Harvard, perhaps it is no sur- prise that he reflects the interests of this greatest of all Harvard palae- ontologists. However, Shubin takes the recapitulation idea much, much further, mixing in plenty of modern- day chemical and physical theory – including the comments about helium that opened this review – in an effort to extend it back to the evo- lution of the universe itself, as well Star stuff Despite being the second most abun- sible for one of the most important as the development of the life forms Yes, we are all made dant element in the universe, helium scientific finds of the last decade: the in it. of it – but not helium, plays no role in the processes of life. discovery of the fossil fish Tiktaalik As Shubin acknowledges, there is and Shubin’s book The reason lies in its chemical struc- roseae. This species of lobe-finned a limit to this kind of thinking, and explains why. ture: with no spare orbits in its outer sarcopterygians from the late Devo- the laws of physics only set out the shell of electrons, it cannot form the nian period (about 360 million years ground rules for the grand drama The Universe molecules of life. Oxygen and car- ago) has anatomical features of both that is evolution by means of natural Within: a Scientific bon, in contrast, have plenty of spare true fish and four-limbed land ani- selection. Here, once again, Shubin Adventure orbits in their electron shells, so mals, or tetrapods. Hence, Shubin carries Gould’s mantle, namely in Neil Shubin life is based on these elements even is the discoverer of one of the most his support for the importance of 2013 Allen Lane/ though both are 20 times rarer than important of all missing links in the contingency (or chance, as I prefer Pantheon £20.00/ helium. The physical underpinnings fossil record – the link that allowed to think of it) in mapping the course $25.95hb 240pp of life are therefore hostage to the the continents to be colonized. of evolution. Gould famously and laws of physics. The benefits of this experience are controversially explained this theory This concept – and its central clearly on display in Shubin’s enthu- with respect to the weird and won- implication, that every organism siastic and competent approach to derful fauna of the Burgess Shale, a alive today holds hints, within its the material in The Universe Within. rock formation that dates from the organs, tissues and cells, of the long Every sentence shows an intimate Lower Cambrian period, or about history of life on Earth and perhaps knowledge of the background to his 560 million years ago. At that time, beyond – is one of the main drivers field, leaving the reader with that animals appeared on the sea floor of Neil Shubin’s book The Universe most important sense of any reading that have no known descendants, Within. There is nothing new in the enjoyment: authorial authority. either in the fossil record or in spe- idea itself, of course; Bill Bryson said With its focus on ways in which the cies that survive today. Evolution, as much, eloquently and amusingly, universe’s long history has shaped Gould explained, was going through in A Short History of Nearly Every- the development of life, The Universe an experimental phase, throwing up thing. But Bryson is not a scientist, Within is in some respects a clever, new ideas and putting them out there and for me, the best science writing updated and hyper-extended take on to sink or (literally) swim. is always done by those who are sci- a theory that is almost as old as the Shubin takes this ball and runs entists first and journalists second. theory of evolution itself: the theory with it, pointing out that our ability Shubin certainly fits this description. of recapitulation. First propounded to perceive the colour red, for exam- A palaeontologist at the University of by the Prussian scientist Ernst Hae- ple, is probably a result of a random Chicago as well as an accomplished ckel in the 1860s, this theory is based mutation that proved adaptively popular-science author, he is respon- on the anatomically undeniable advantageous because it improved

44 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Reviews

food acquisition. This, by the way, is all that, Shubin’s book is an enter- history of the universe – then The an example of exaptation – another taining read, and I quite liked the Universe Within is worth adding to of Gould’s pet theories. biographical vignettes that he throws your collection. At times, The Universe Within in to leaven the science bread. does read like a collection of essays If you wish to sample the new pal- Richard Corfield is a freelance science (which was also Gould’s staple form aeontology, in which fossils meet writer based in West Oxfordshire, UK. His of popular-science communication) molecular biology and genomics most recent book, The Silent Landscape: in that has been rather uneasily super- against the backdrop of the deep- the Wake of HMS Challenger, is now available glued into a single narrative. But for est time of all – the 13-billion-year as an ebook Between the lines

Let Newton be! of ARPANET, the progenitor of developed to replace them, and as Isaac Newton was not a fan of the today’s Internet – surely ranks Brunton explains, this is still very theatrical arts. On the one occasion right up there with Lord Kelvin’s much a work in progress. when he is known to have attended supposed declaration that, by ●● 2013 MIT Press £19.95/$27.95hb an opera, he ran away during the 1900, nothing new remained to be 304pp third act. So it seems fair to surmise discovered in physics. The story of that the father of gravitational how junk e-mail, or “spam”, evolved Alea iacta est Menagerie Theatre Company theory would have absolutely hated from a minor nuisance into a What does it mean for an event to Science for art's Craig Baxter’s play about his life, serious problem is thoughtfully and be truly random? For science writer sake Let Newton Be! That, however, is engrossingly told in Spam: a Shadow Brian Clegg, the answer depends David Meyer as an no reason for the rest of us to avoid History of the Internet. Written on whether you are talking about elderly Sir Isaac in this excellent work. First performed by Finn Brunton, a historian of classical randomness or chaotic the play Let Newton in 2009 at Newton’s own Trinity technology at the University of randomness. As he explains near Be!, which has now College, Cambridge, the play Michigan, US, the book is initially the beginning of his book Dice been published toured a handful of institutions in rather hardgoing, with clunky World: Science and Life in a Random along with essays the UK and US in 2011; however, phrases such as “foundational Universe, classical randomness about Newton. as a physicsworld.com reviewer ambiguities”, “root paradigm” and applies to things like roulette wheels argued at the time (“Newton’s three “co-constitutive feedback loop” and gambling dice: the outcome body problem”, 30 March 2011), it marring the introduction. However, of a dice throw is uncertain, but deserved a much wider audience. once this little display of academic it can be predicted using the Fortunately, someone in the impenetrability is finished, Brunton standard tools of probability theory. publishing world agreed, and the the storyteller takes over. The rest Chaotic randomness, on the other play is now available in book form of the book is pacey and packed hand, is the stuff of earthquake as The Isaac Newton Guidebook. In full of interesting titbits, from clusters, flapping butterfly wings addition to the text of Let Newton the tale of the first commercial and – in Clegg’s view, at least – the Be!, the guidebook also contains spam message (an advert for mysterious alchemy that transforms a series of scholarly essays on DEC computers that appeared on a handful of books into bestsellers. various aspects of Newton’s life, ARPANET on 1 May 1978), to These things, he explains, are introductions by both Baxter and an inside look at the professional not actually random at all in the Stephen Hawking and – best of spammers who plagued the loosely classical sense, because they cannot all – a DVD of a performance by organized Usenet in the mid-1990s, be controlled and are not easily the splendid Menagerie Theatre and finally a sobering assessment predicted. Once this distinction Company. Probably the most useful of new forms of spam that seek to is established, the rest of the of the essays is the one on Newton’s game search-engine algorithms. book takes the reader on a tour feud with Leibniz. The nature of Like all good historians, Brunton is of various forms of randomness this dispute was so complex, wide- an interpreter as well as a narrator, and the methods scientists and ranging and important that Newton skilled at placing facts in context. mathematicians have developed novices should probably read the That ARPANET post about junk to describe them. In addition to essay about it before watching the mail, for example, made sense at relatively well-known pioneers play. Other than that, though, this the time because its audience was a such as Blaise Pascal and various is not a work that requires much community of computer scientists, members of the talented Bernoulli introduction. Just sit back and enjoy engineers, physicists and other family, Clegg also highlights the spectacle as the three different defence experts who were used to the work of some lesser-known actors who play Newton take you collaborating and often knew each contributors to the field, including through his life, his works, and his other personally. As Brunton puts the Italian scholar and gambler famously difficult personality. it, the proto-Internet “was not the Girolamo Cardano (see May ●● 2012 Faraday Publishing electronic frontier but a fairly small 2009 pp36–40) and John Graunt, £25.00/$40.00hb 176pp town, populated almost exclusively a button-seller with a sideline in with very smart townspeople”. statistics who became a member Getting spammed Once that population expanded, of the Royal Society. A light, quick “Mail is easily deleted and so old strategies for keeping noxious read overall, the book does get into ‘junk’ mail is not really a serious behaviour under control – including some weighty material later on, problem.” As an example of faulty ad hoc flame wars and revoking when quantum randomness and prognostication, this statement offenders’ access privileges – ceased Bayesian statistics enter the picture. – made in 1978 on a mailing list to function. New ones had to be ●● 2013 Icon Books £12.99pb 288pp

Physics World July 2013 45 physicsworld.com Careers

Mixing Rolls-Royce physics and engineering As an engineer in the naval- nuclear division of Rolls-Royce, Steven Lawler sees himself as an ambassador for physicists working in an engineering environment Flexible opportunity Steven Lawler uses both physics and engineering skills in Rolls-Royce’s nuclear sector.

Rolls-Royce has been designing and man- firm, Metropolitan Cammell Weymann, tary and civilian aircraft and is now owned ufacturing the nuclear heart of the UK’s which manufactured double-decker buses. by Rolls-Royce as Aero Engine Controls. submarine fleet since the late 1950s. Over The economic climate of the late 1980s During my eight years there I progressed this period, the nuclear power plant inside forced the company to close down two from design engineer to principal engineer the submarines has evolved many times, years after I joined, but fortunately I was and then lead engineer, when I developed and the company’s Raynesway facility able to transfer my apprenticeship to the my first management skills. My next move, in Derbyshire remains an exciting place parent company, Metro-Cammell, which in 2005, was to manage an engineering to work. Here, engineers and physicists made railway rolling stock (including the department at the aerospace transparen- work together in a number of disciplines, then-new Channel Tunnel train). During cies business unit of GKN Aerospace – a from reactor physics to heavy-vessel this apprenticeship, I was also studying career-changing event that gave me a sig- manufacture, all with the aim of support- for a BTEC in mechanical engineering to nificant amount of management experi- ing current and future generations of the get an academic foundation in engineering ence. Then, in 2007, I saw an opportunity submarine fleet. principles and skills that would tally with to use my physics skills at Rolls-Royce, and As a chartered engineer as well as a char- the practical experience I was gaining dur- I took it with both hands. tered physicist, I am fortunate enough to ing the apprenticeship. wear both “hats”, and I am keen to promote At the end of my apprenticeship, I was New techniques, new people the flexibility that the physicist offers to an offered company sponsorship to get a Today, I lead a multidisciplinary team that engineering business. In an engineering degree in mechanical engineering, but develops advanced manufacturing and environment, having a physicist’s skills can although I was interested in engineering as fabrication techniques for use within Rolls- provide an additional edge in creativity, a discipline, it was (and still is) some of the Royce’s nuclear sector. I am one of around problem solving and lateral thinking. bigger questions about our universe that 2500 employees in the submarines business really inspired me – how it works, where we unit of Rolls-Royce, and there is also a civil Planes, trains and automobiles come from, where we are going, and so on. nuclear business unit. Like many other youngsters growing up So instead, I studied for a BSc in natural The manufacturing systems we are devel- in the 1970s, I found Carl Sagan’s Cosmos sciences with physics. oping as part of Rolls-Royce’s “advanced TV programme inspiring, and my interest After I graduated, I returned to the engi- concepts” team aim to improve manufac- in understanding our universe started then. neering world as a design engineer at a firm turing efficiency, deliver safe and high- As a teenager I didn’t really know what I that made pumps for the automotive indus- quality products to our customers, and wanted to do as far as a career, and in my try. At that time, computer-aided design push the boundaries of current manufac- case the default option was to follow my (CAD) software was really beginning to turing and fabrication techniques. Due to father, a self-employed engineer who com- take off, and I was trained on a number of commercial and security restrictions, it is mitted himself to developing and growing CAD packages during the next few years. not possible for me to describe our work in his own business. He is now enjoying his My role was very flexible and meant that I too much detail, but one technique is aimed retirement, and I look up to him just as was immersed in a number of disciplines, specifically at the construction of nuclear much now as I did then; with such a role including design, project management, components such as reactor pressure ves- model, it seems inevitable that I would work prototyping and testing. sels. These large items have to be made in an engineering discipline. So after leav- A few years later, I found a niche at Lucas of very thick steel due to their operating ing school, I started my early career as a Aerospace, a firm that designs and manu- environment and the obvious safety con- “technician apprentice” at a Birmingham factures fuel control systems for both mili- siderations of the nuclear sector, and are

46 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Careers

produced from forged components that are leavers and graduates today. But without fusion-welded together. At the moment, There is a shortage new blood coming through, then our manu- the complete construction of such a large facturing industry is doomed, so I see it as vessel, including welding and inspection of both engineers part of my responsibility to get physicists processes, can take several months, and and engineers interested, motivated and one of the techniques we are developing excited about what we do. To do this, I vol- is aimed at fabricating the entire vessel in and physicists in unteer some of my time as a member of the just a handful of weeks. Clearly, this has Institute of Physics panels for chartered the potential to make a huge difference to engineering, and it engineer and chartered physicist. This also the lead time and costs required to build helps me keep in touch with what engineers nuclear submarines. concerns me that and physicists are doing in other sectors, Not many people in the business have and I try to pass my knowledge on to people the opportunity to push the boundaries in in the company who are working towards this way, and I am very fortunate to be in maybe this field isn’t chartered status in their respective fields. such an exciting role, and working for an The nuclear sector in the UK is extremely energetic and dynamic business. It’s a great the “sexy” choice dynamic at the moment, with a number of job, and one that allows me to work with businesses gearing up in readiness for the people across the whole business, as well “big push” to build new nuclear power as engaging with external industry partners port my role, and also helped me touch base plants. On the naval side, investment from and groups. with my passion for physics. the UK government and Rolls-Royce is I recently completed an MSc in nuclear Another big part of my job involves being made for future submarine applica- engineering with the University of Manches- mentoring other employees, such as Rolls- tions. All in all, it’s a fantastic environment ter and the Nuclear Technology Education Royce graduates and those coming through to be working in right now, regardless of Consortium (NTEC), with Rolls-Royce the nucleargraduates scheme (see January your discipline – physicist, engineer, chem- sponsorship – I didn’t turn down the offer 2009 pp38–39). There is a shortage of both ist, metallurgist or safety analyst. of a sponsorship opportunity this time! The engineers and physicists in the engineer- degree has provided me with the nuclear ing sector, and it concerns me that maybe Steven Lawler is an advanced concepts engineer at engineering and science grounding to sup- this field isn’t the “sexy” choice for school- Rolls-Royce, e-mail [email protected] Physics in Medicine & Biology The leading international journal of biomedical physics Fast publication • Worldwide visibility • High impact IMPACT FACTOR Editor-in-Chief: S R Cherry, University of California, Davis, USA 2.829* * As listed in ISI®’s 2011Science Citation Index Journal If you are working in any of the following areas then citation reports we would like to invite your submissions: • all areas of radiotherapy physics • other radiation medicine applications • radiation dosimetry (ionizing and non- • therapies (including non-ionizing radiation) ionizing radiation) • biomedical optics • biomedical imaging (e.g. x-ray, MR, • radiation protection ultrasound, optical, nuclear medicine) • radiobiology • image reconstruction and kinetic modelling • image analysis and computer-aided detection For more information, visit iopscience.org/pmb or e-mail us at [email protected]

Physics World July 2013 47 XRF Solutions Careers physicsworld.com • Solid State Design • Easy to Use Once a physicist: Steven Mackey • Low Cost I felt I needed to completely repress my rock background, put my electric guitar in my parents’ The performance you need. basement and try to be someone I wasn’t, which Jane Richey Jane was a classical music nerd. But at the same time, SDD Spectrum I don’t regret any of those years because I really 5.9 developed my technique and knowledge of the keV repertoire. It was only afterwards that I started 55Fe to realize that my background as a rock musician eV FWHM had some positive aspects.

Counts 125 25 mm2 x 500 µm 11.2 µs peaking time 6.4 How would you describe your composing style? P/B Ratio: 20000/1 keV I write for traditional classical ensembles, such Energy (keV) as string quartets and orchestras, but with the added spin that some of my works include Si-PIN Spectrum the electric guitar, for example concertos for 5.9 Steven Mackey is composer and musician at electric guitar and orchestra. I don’t think of keV Princeton University myself as being on any kind of mission to mix 55Fe rock and classical music, though. It’s more What sparked your interest in physics? that I am personally mixed up at the DNA level; 145 eV FWHM

Counts I went to the University of California, Davis, and fundamentally, those things just inform how I 2 6 mm x 500 µm at first I was a pre-med major, studying to be a think music should go. 25.6 µs peaking time 6.4 P/B Ratio: 6200/1 keV doctor. But that was a lazy decision on my part, because the only careers I knew about were What are you working on right now? Energy (keV) doctor, lawyer and rock star (and I was already I’m writing a 35-minute work in several an aspiring rock star). Then I took a physics class movements that was commissioned by the Los CdTe Spectrum and really liked it a lot; I liked the problem-solving Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony 57Co aspects, I liked the fact that it seemed to be in Washington, DC and Australia’s Sydney 122 keV dealing with how the universe really works, and Symphony. The commissioning contract calls it 14.4 keV for me it was just an ideal blend of philosophy, a symphony, but I haven’t written a symphony 850 eV FWHM cosmology and mathematics. before and I feel like I’m too old to start with Counts 530 eV FWHM Symphony No 1, so I probably won’t call it that. How did you get into music? Maybe I will start with Symphony No 5, since I like

Energy (keV) I’m a terrible singer, so when I was playing in rock a lot of fifth symphonies (Beethoven, Sibelius). bands as I was growing up, I became a sort of virtuoso with the electric guitar in order to make How has your background in physics influenced The con guration you want. myself indispensable. Then, when I was deep your work? in my physics study, I took a course on music When I was first starting to compose, it felt a appreciation. At the time, I knew nothing about lot like doing physics. There is something about classical music, but I was incredibly turned on the focus and immersion and the way you think by it. The band that I was playing with at the time about it for hours that is similar. Also, there’s a was getting a lot of rejections from presenters – certain discipline in the problem-solving aspect we’d get letters saying “Your band is really tight, of physics, where the first step is to ask yourself but your original songs are kinda weird and hard what you can do to get closer to the answer. to dance to.” Then I heard classical music and I That’s the approach I take to composition thought, wait, this stuff – you know, Stravinsky sometimes: if I imagine some music that’s just ballets and late Beethoven quartets – is also a little bit out of my grasp – I can’t quite bring really weird and really hard to dance to! It it into focus to write it down – then I ask myself seemed like the most psychedelic rock music I’d what activity I can do that will get me closer ever heard. And at the same time, I was pretty to this music. And some of my music involves naive about what a physics career could be. It setting up patterns with different periods and seemed like, well, gee, I guess I could join the then waiting for the moment when those periods military-industrial complex and design weapons align and a big event happens. The calculations or something. The zeitgeist of northern California for making those things work are either the result in its post-hippy heyday definitely figured in of my studying physics or else they’re from the X-123 X-Ray Spectrometer, XRF Systems, my decision. In a different time and place, who same brain that enjoyed physics. OEM components or Experimenter’s Kit. knows what would have happened? Have you kept up with any physics? You went on to get your PhD in composition. A little. Brian Greene, the string theorist, is What was that like? someone I consider a friend, and listening to him OEM’s #1 Choice It was wonderful in that I’ve never had more talk has definitely rekindled my interest. But to time in my life to just work on composing, but really understand it, I’d have to get back into the it was also difficult because I felt I was behind mathematics, and that’s something I laugh about everyone else. The other people in my cohort – it came so easily to me, but 35 years later I AMPTEK Inc. had been composing music since they were eight couldn’t do calculus to save my life. Conceptually [email protected] and playing the piano since they were four, so it still fascinates me, though. www.amptek.com

48 Physics World July 2013 physicsworld.com Careers

Careers and people

Spotlight on: Diego Martinez Santos Richardson of the University of Monday 6 May 2013 was Southampton and Ian Smail of Durham Read the both a goodRead day and a bad theUniversity new-look have been named as recipients one for particle physicist of the Royal Society’s Wolfson Research Diegodigital Martinez Santos. magazine Merit Awards for 2013.online Each will new-look Born in Foz, Spain, in receive salary enhancements of up to 1982, Martinez Santos £30 000 per year for five years as part played a leading role in of a programme funded by the Wolfson digital commissioning LHCb, one of the four Foundation and the UK Department for main detector experiments at CERN’s Business, Innovation and Skills, aimed at Large Hadron Collider. On 6 May he supporting scientists at UK universities. magazine received word that his contributions to Steven Balbus of the University of LHCb had been recognized by the high- Oxford and John Hawley of the University energy physics division of the European of Virginia, US have won the Shaw Prize in online Physical Society, which awarded him Astronomy. The pair, who were honoured one of its top prizes for early-career for their study of magnetorotational researchers: the Young Experimental instability in astrophysical accretion discs, Physicist Prize. will split the $1m award. But on that same day, Martinez Santos Lapo Bogani of the University of also got a letter from Spain’s Ministry of Stuttgart, Germany, has won the Nicholas Science and Innovation. In it, an official Kurti European Science Prize for his work at the ministry explained that Martinez on magnetic nanomaterials. Santos’ application to the Ramón y Cajal The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical (RyC) programme – a government-funded Physics has added eight new members initiative designed to attract and keep to its group of Distinguished Visiting high-calibre researchers in Spain – had Research Chairs. Matthew Fisher of the been denied. The reasons given for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, rejection included claims that Martinez Duncan Haldane of Princeton University, Santos “had not yet demonstrated a clear Ted Jacobson and Raman Sundrum of the capacity for scientific leadership” and readUniversity of Maryland, Peter Shor of the read “had achieved a level of international Massachusetts Institute of Technology, relevance that is less than researchers of a Dam Thanh Son of the University of similar age”. Chicago, Andrew Strominger of Harvard The contradiction between the two searchUniversity and Zhenghan Wang of search letters struck him as absurd, and in Microsoft will join 33 other scholars from interviews widely reported in the Spanish all areas of theoretical physics who visit press, he spoke out against the wording the Ontario, Canada-based institute for translate of the RyC rejection. “It’s not about translateextended periods each year. getting the place or not, or that all of my Atomic physicists Leo Hollberg of colleagues thought I would be given it, Stanford University and John Kitching and but that I do not agree with a report that Svenja Knappe of NIST have been named share says this about me,” he told La Opinión shareas recipients of the 2014 Rank Prizes for A Coruña. “It damages my reputation their work on chip-scale atomic clocks. The and whoever reads it will deny me a UK-based Rank Foundation awards the job.” Martinez Santos, who is currently prizes, which are typically worth £15 000 employed as a postdoc by Nikhef, the each, every two years to scientists working listen Netherlands’ flagship institution for listenin the fields of optoelectronics and human subatomic physics, told the newspaper or animal nutrition. that while he was happy working at The high-energy physics division of the CERN, and had received job offers from European Physical Society has given its save institutions in France and the UK, at saveaward for achievements by early-career some point he would ideally like to return theorists, the Gribov Medal, to Zohar to the University of Santiago, where he Komargodski of Israel’s Weitzmann earned his PhD. However, he added, this Institute of Science. print seems unlikely in the current funding printLaurence Littenberg has been named environment (see December 2010 p6). chair of the physics department at the “All I can say is that the amount that Spain US’s Brookhaven National Laboratory. archive dedicates to research is less than in other Laser physicist Thomas Pfeifer, countries. That is a fact.” archiveastrophysicist Holger Johannes Pletsch and materials scientist Volker Presser Movers and shakers are among nine researchers to receive Sign in to MyIOP at Physicists Gert Aarts of Swansea the German Physical Society’s 2013 University, Marin AlexeSign of thein Universityto MyIOP Heinz at members.iop.orgMaier-Leibnitz Prize. The 720 000 members.iop.org of Warwick, Jonathan Oppenheim awards honour outstanding early-career of University College London, David physicists working at German institutions.

Physics World July 2013 49

M PW AD 1212 PW Digital.indd 1 17/12/2012 11:16 physicsworld.com Recruitment Advertising Tel +44 (0)117 930 1264 www.brightrecruits.com Physics World Fax +44 (0)117 930 1178 IOP Publishing E-mail [email protected] Changing Lives Recruitment Temple Circus, Temple Way Bristol BS1 6BE The place for physicists and engineers to find Jobs, Studentships, Courses, Calls for Proposals and Announcements Use your physics skills to help 1,000,000 cancer sufferers each year SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS IN THEORETICAL PHYSICAL SCIENCE THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM Salary: £76,860 to £84,446 (according to whether and how much University lecturing the Fellow undertakes) plus £5,997 Housing Allowance for eligible Fellows and other benefits. Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions All Souls College invites applications from suitably qualified MSc in Physics and Technology candidates for five Senior Research Fellowships tenable from for treating cancer and brain disorders. The of Nuclear Reactors 1 October 2014 (or date to be agreed), at least one of which will company develops sophisticated state of the be in Theoretical Physical Science, which includes the theoretical Contact: Dr Paul Norman, art tools and treatment planning systems for aspects of particle physics, astrophysics and relativity, condensed Our preference is for candidates to School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Birmingham, matter physics, atomic and nuclear physics, and physical chemistry. radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT workflow enhancing software systems across be educated to MSc or PhD level or Email: [email protected] Phone: 0121 414 4660 A Senior Research Fellowship is of comparable academic standing equivalent. The ability to work to tight deadlines to a statutory Professorship in the University of Oxford. Applicants the spectrum of cancer care. http://www.ph.bham.ac.uk/prospective/postgrad/pgptnr.htm are expected to have a correspondingly distinguished record of and within a successful team is also essential for l One year taught postgrad MSc. Next year starts 30/09/2013. achievement in research and those elected may apply within the these roles. Course structure refined over the 50 years the MSc has run. University for the title of Professor. We have a number of vacancies for Physicists l Fully integrated labs and tutorials every week to bring together For further particulars and to complete the online application, to join our R&D Physics group in Crawley. The Current vacancies include, but are not the wide range of subjects and provide practical and written see the College’s website: http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/content/ Physics group is responsible for providing support limited to: examples and guidance in person. Senior_Research_Fellowships_2014. to the business and contribute with designs and l Study courses on Reactor Systems, Reactor Physics and Closing dates: Friday, 20 September 2013 – applications; measurements in the following areas: Physics of R&D Physicist (Delivery Systems) Kinetics, Radiation Transport, Thermal Hydraulics, Reactor Friday, 27 September - references. Radiotherapy Systems, including beam generation Materials and more. PhD programs also possible. The position will involve the evaluation of measurements Meetings with Fellows: 14 to 15 February 2014 and and dosimetry (electron beams, MV and kV photon l techniques and tools for the Quality Assurance and Summer project, usually taken in industry and in many cases 21 to 22 February 2014. beams), general Radiation Physics, Monte Carlo has led to employment. performance assessment of image-guided radiotherapy All Souls College is an equal opportunities employer and particularly simulations and other computational modelling l Linac systems, in particular with regard to more Sponsored by all the major players in the nuclear industry. encourages applications from women and those with a legally protected methods, Control Systems for experiments, advanced techniques, such as Volumetric Modulated PLACES/FUNDING CURRENTLY AVAILABLE characteristic. Radio-Frequency components and theory, Optics, Arc Therapy and stereotactic treatments with high-dose Detector Physics, Physics of X-ray sources and rate beams. In this role, the candidate will also be Imaging Systems. Visit expected to provide technical advice to the business PWMar13ClUnivBirmingham 13x2.indd 1 14/02/2013 14:09 regarding the interpretation of international compliance for your next careerSuccessful move applicants will take a leading role in standards. Candidates should have at least a degree supporting the development of new products and will in Physics, Medical Physics, Radiation Physics or be involved on a number of projects including both closely related discipline, with significant experience of computational and experimental activities. Ideally radiotherapy, acquired either in an industrial or clinical candidates will have experience of environment. Familiarity with radiotherapy physics QA EPFL, post-doc, MMW technologies image-guided medical accelerator systems and the programmes and tools is required. Research and development of resonators and other ability to contributeThe jobs in several site of the areas that the Physics group is responsible for. Knowledge of clinical accessories for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) To apply for this and other vacancies please visit workflowsfor in physicsradiation oncology and and demonstrable our website www.elekta.com and apply via the in collaboration with Swissto12 SA experience engineeringof technical innovation will generally be careers section. (see swissto12.ch). an advantage. Projects will often offer interaction with Research Hospitals and other Institutions, therefore Experience in this or related fields expected. exceptional written and spoken communication skills Contract can be renewed up to 3 years. will be required. The jobs site for physics Contact: [email protected]. and engineering

50 Physics World July 2013

The jobs site More than for physics and engineering 23 000 monthly unique visitors Visit for your next career move

M Bright AD 0111 Odd Size fillers.indd 3 23/04/2013 11:09 Untitled-2 1 27/06/2013 11:31 The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging (CUI) is a Cluster of Excellence funded by the German Federal Government. The Cluster is based on the unique research environment of Hamburg and involves the University of Hamburg and its partners, the MPG, AWE plays a crucial role in the DESY, XFEL and EMBL. We invite applications for defence of the United Kingdom, Ph. D. and Postdoc Positions by providing and maintaining in the core areas of CUI: the warheads for the country’s A. Imaging and Control of Quantum Systems nuclear deterrent. B. Atomically Resolved Structural Dynamics We are a centre of scientific, engineering C. Dynamics of Order Formation on the Nanoscale and technological excellence, with some CUI combines research projects in physics, chemistry, and biology of the most advanced research, design at the forefront of international research and offers a rich and and production facilities in the world. Our comprehensive course programme. unique expertise also assists the UK Government in developing and delivering a We invite highly qualified and motivated candidates to apply. PhD range of innovative and integrated support applicants should hold a Master of Science in Physics, Chemistry, or services, including national nuclear Biology depending on the project. The university intends to increase security and counter-terrorism solutions. the number of women amongst its academic personnel and expressly AWE has an on-going requirement for encourages qualified women to apply. In compliance with the high-quality candidates for a diverse range Hamburg Equal Opportunity Law, preference will be given to qualified of Science roles across the company. female applicants. Preference will be given to disabled applicants with equal qualifications. We are looking for people with the following Science disciplines: The deadline for the submission of the application is August 31, 2013. • Chemistry • Mathematics For detailed information on the application procedure we refer to the • Computer • Nuclear web-page of the graduate school of CUI: Science http://www.cui.uni-hamburg.de/en/graduiertenschule/. • Seismology • Laboratory • Radiology and Science • Materials Support Science • Physics

The types of roles we are looking for include: • Process Development Chemist • Characterisation & Metrology Specialist PhD Studentship • Manufacturing Process Radiobiological Modelling in External-Beam Radiotherapy Development Specialist Physics Department, Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology, UK and • Radiation Detection Engineer Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, UK • Senior Statistician Location: Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC), Bebington, Wirral CH63 4JY UK • Detection Science Physicist A PhD studentship funded by the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Charity (CCCC) is • Mathematical Modeller available for 3-4 years starting in October 2013. University tuition fees and a tax-free stipend of ≈ £14,000 per annum will be provided. The project will be carried out in the Physics Department, Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Bebington CH63 4JY, UK. Applications are invited from self- The project supervisors are Professor Alan Nahum, Dr Colin Baker and Dr. Julien Uzan. motivated, high calibre professionals and Project description: graduates with good Honours degrees, Maximisation of the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment depends critically on Masters or PhDs and an interest in a being able to relate radiation dose distributions (and fractionation) in the tumour and career in any of these topics. critical organs to treatment outcome. Models have been developed for predicting the probability of ‘controlling’ the tumour (TCP), and the probability of inducing treatment- To find out more about the roles we have related side-effects in normal tissues (NTCP). This project will build on the work of on offer and how to apply, please visit our the radiobiological modelling group at Clatterbridge (e.g. http://www.hindawi.com/ careers website. journals/cmmm/2012/329214/) which focuses on applying TCP and NTCP models to the analysis and optimization of radiotherapy treatments, both at an individual and a www.awe.co.uk population level. Requirements: Applicants should have a background in physical sciences and possess a minimum of a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or equivalent from a non-UK university). Experience in Radiotherapy Physics and/or Radiobiological modelling AWE promotes diversity in employment. We welcome would be an advantage. applications from women and men, regardless of Interested candidates should send their CV and the contact details of two references disability, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic origin, or to Professor Nahum; informal enquires are also welcome: age. Successful candidates will be selected solely on [email protected] their ability to carry out the duties of the post. Because of the nature of work associated with these posts, they +44 (0)151 334 1155 ext. 4169 (Secretary Sue Nixon: +44 (0) 151 482 7860) are subject to special nationality rules and are open only to British citizens. All selected candidates will be Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview at CCC (N.B. Travel and accommodation within the UK will be reimbursed). required to undergo security clearance.

52 Physics World July 2013

PWJul13Cl_NHS_13x2.indd 1 17/06/2013 11:36            
                    

   • #(!) &(  '&)0&0&(# ()( ( %  0 %!!%9 &( B 7() • &3 ( 5!0 !% 0 ( 7() & 0"!% 3'  ! ( 31&% 3%!% &3%!#@  ” ­ )3''&(0 3##@1$ '&)0 0   3%!4()!07     ƒ   • &3 4 %&0 '(4!&3)#7 # %7 &0 ( )!%!%0 3%!% % !$ 0& )0#!) 7&3( ()0 ()( (&3' €   ƒ •€  ’‘’“–—˜™‘–’   • #(!) &( 7&39  '&)0&0&(# ()( ( %  0 %!!%9 &( C 7() • &3 (  '(&$!)!% '&)0&0&(# )!%1)0 5 & 5!) ) 0&  !4 !%'%% &( 0  ()0 1$ • &3 4 05% 0 ( % ! 0 7() & '&)0&0&(# ()( 6'(!% „  †  ‡„„ 
ˆ          
Œ • #(!) &( 7&39 05& '&)0&0&(# ()( () %  0 %!!% &( C 7()9 ‰ ‡Š‹ Ž ‡ '#3)  ­ € )03%0 ‘’Š“ • &3 ( % &30)0%!% )!%1)0 &( #!%!!% 5 & 5!) ) 0& 4#&' 7&3( !%'%% • &3 4 05% )!6 % 05#4 7() & '&)0&0&(# ()( 6'(!%    ­  €‚ƒ ƒ

Physics World July 2013 53 Graduate Scientific Software Developer BSc/MSc £23,000-£26,000; PhD £26,000-£29,000 Tessella successfully delivers software engineering and consulting services to leading scientific and engineering organisations across the globe. We recruit high achievers from leading universities who are passionate about applying their unique knowledge and expertise from their different science and engineering backgrounds to solve real-world problems. You will enjoy a varied and challenging role, working closely with our clients to understand the business issues they face and helping to design and develop innovative software solutions. Projects can range from client based consultancy or IT development to office based client support activities. You will be provided with extensive training to develop a rewarding career working with the latest technologies. For more details and to apply online, visit You should have: www.tessella.com • BSc (min. 2:1), MSc or PhD in a science, mathematics or engineering discipline • Programming experience in at least one of Java, C#, C++, C, VB, .NET or Python

WEBINAR SERIES PhD opportunities at IMT Lucca, Italy

Every year IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca invites highly motivated students to apply for its multidisciplinary PhD program that integrates scientific competences of economics, engineering, computer science, physics, and social sciences. The program is designed to train a new international professional elite on a meritocratic basis for careers in institutions and in businesses.

View this free webinar to find out more about IMT Lucca, the opportunities that are available to its PhD students and how to apply.

This free recruitment webinar is now available to view on demand

Presented by View now at brightrecruits.com/webinars

54 Physics World July 2013 You are reading Physics World, the world’s leading physics magazine

JOIN US TODAY! Physics World is the member magazine of the Institute of Physics. Join IOP and receive your own copy of the latest issue.

Not a member? Join today from as little as $25 per year for digital access to Physics World magazine and much more.

Signing up is easy and straightforward Simply go to iop.org/iopimember, enter a few details and you’ll be registered for instant access.

As an IOPimember you’ll also be able to get ahead with: • Careers information and resources • Access to our online learning courses • Full access to physicsworld.com • Your own ‘@physics.org’ e-mail address

Physics World July 2013 55 Lateral Thoughts: Kevlin Henney physicsworld.com Alice2007

Sumita found him in the corner, away from the bar, lap- top screen reflected in his glasses, papers paved across the table around a drained wine glass and a long-for- gotten coffee. “I’m surprised you got here before me, but less surprised to see you working,” she said, smiling. Removing his glasses, Robert looked up. “I didn’t want to get lost in something and leave you waiting, so I left early.” He glanced at the screen and back. “Or rather, I HarrisGardner/MargaretKate left at a sensible time and brought work with me.” She peered at the screen. “Coding? Debugging? Looks like an ungodly mash-up between Perl and some kind of markup. For all I know it’s the latest thing. Being department chair keeps me away from the code face.” “Debugging... yes, I guess you could call it that. Look- ing for a fix, certainly. As for programming language, it’s what you get when you form a team from computer scientists, molecular biologists, physicists and the like. The result is a bit postmodern – Perl meets XML meets Sumita had ence of epigenetics.” JavaScript meets C++ meets...you name it.” noticed “I’m a computer scientist – be gentle!” “Fortran?” she asked, a challenge in her smile. With his glasses, he had pointed to a montage of hier- “Not on my watch.” They laughed. “Some physicists something archical diagrams in the corner. “That one is basically still use it, but not me. My research group, my rules. scribbled the call structure of the Linux kernel, next to it Minix. Anyway, this mash-up of ours does the job.” on the You can do a similar thing for cells, treat them like “Which is?” operating systems, model their software architecture. “A programmatic version of life, or as close as we’ve whiteboard, That one there is the E. coli genome, that one a healthy come to it. This is code for a leukaemia cell.” away from the human cell, that one a cancer cell.” “Really? Wow. Genuinely, wow. I thought you were photo, no more She had leant in towards the diagrams. “Definitely just taking a cross-disciplinary look at cells. I had no than a name the coolest thing I’ve seen all day – possibly all month. idea it was this hands-on.” Life’s structure is so different, almost inverted. More Robert nodded. “But I’m being rude. Can I get you and a number redundant, more resilient, I presume.” a drink?” – a year? “And messier. Some of the mechanics around protein- “Talking about life is always easier with a glass of folding gets a little hairy, which is why I have those guys wine. Dry white, please.” down the corridor – they speak in dead alphabets and She sat, turning the laptop to face her, while Robert unmatched brackets. Makes code look like an advert headed to the bar. Scrolling, scanning and drinking in for plain English.” the code, her eyes widened when she saw the filename Sumita had sighed. “I could spend all evening talking – a name and a number. about this, but I’m meant to be somewhere else tonight. She had dropped by his office the previous evening, a Which fits nicely with why I dropped by. Would you like logical next step after months of corridor chats and post- to switch your caffeine drip for wine one evening?” steering-committee coffees. Across his desk, a skyline His eyes lit up. “Tomorrow?” of books, journals and printouts surrounded his moni- A smile, a nod, an echoed “Tomorrow.” Turning to tors, diagrams papered the walls and sketches, code leave, she had caught sight of a photo clipped to the fragments and URLs covered the whiteboard against corner of the whiteboard. A wintry day, a gleaming the palimpsest of wiped swirls and forgotten ink. Rob- bicycle, a girl smiling and proud. Sumita had noticed ert had stood before the wall opposite, the glasses in his something scribbled on the whiteboard, away from the left hand against one diagram, the fingers of his right photo, no more than a name and a number – a year? against another, head turning between them as if chan- The girl must be five or six, then. “Leaving passwords nelling the data physically, personally. Expression and on a whiteboard? I’m surprised at you, Robert!” gesture had revealed intensity his tidy appearance hid. Robert’s perplexed gaze had followed her out. “You said to drop by some time,” she had said. He When he returned with the wine, Sumita turned his had turned, breaking his connection with the wall. laptop back to face him. “I don’t mean to pry, but your “The security guard said I’d probably still find you here, research is…personal, isn’t it?” burning the midnight oil.” In the corner she had spot- Robert looked down. When he looked back at her, ted a pillow holding a cupboard door ajar, a makeshift the usual brilliance and focus in his eyes had dimmed wardrobe revealed through the gap. More work of art and blurred. “Our group’s brief is fairly loose, but the than place of work, a toothbrush rose from the pen- agenda – my agenda – is cancer. Leukaemia.” crowded mug on the desk. “On your whiteboard, that’s not a password, is it? “Oh, hi. Midnight oil? Candle, perhaps; they have Your daughter, how is...” two ends. I seem to be in the habit of burning both.” “It’s not a year of birth. It’s...a sample year. The last.” Sumita had smiled, commiserating. “What’s cooking tonight?” Kevlin Henney is a software development consultant and writer with “Transcriptional regulatory networks and the influ- a physics degree in his past, e-mail [email protected]

56 Physics World July 2013 Untitled-1 1 17/04/2013 09:24 Multi-Physics Finite Element Analysis The Easy Way!

Model all your Partial Differential Equations systems with a single package. No modules to buy.

One software tool takes you  from mathematical description  to numerical solution  to graphical output.

Imagine being able to type in your partial differential equations system, add a description of the problem domain, and instantly convert this problem specification into a sophisticated finite element model, including:  Automatic mesh construction  Dynamic timestep control  Dynamic Adaptive mesh refinement  Arbitrary Lagrange/Eulerian moving mesh

Well, you don’t have to just imagine. That’s what FlexPDE will do for you!

FlexPDE 6 is a scripted finite element model builder for partial differential equations.  Linear or Nonlinear  1D, 2D or 3D plus time or eigenvalues.  Unlimited number of variables  Unlimited equation complexity  $1995 complete  Academic and quantity discounts available

Now with support for multi-core computers and complex and vector variables, FlexPDE 6 is more than ever the indispensable tool for scientists and engineers.

www.pdesolutions.com Phone: +1-509-891-0160 PDE Solutions Inc [email protected] FAX: +1-509-891-0239 Problem Solving Environments Since 1995

Untitled-1 1 18/2/10 09:25:28