November 2010 Volume 19, No. 10 www.aps.org/publications/apsnews 20th First Annual APS NEWS Ig Nobel Prizes A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews See Page 4

Graphene Experiments Garner Hsu, Chudzicki are Apker Award Honorees

The Royal Swedish Academy material. It is almost completely nique was as novel as it was sim- Each year APS chooses two of Sciences awarded the 2010 No- transparent and its hexagonal mo- ple. They stuck a piece of scotch recipients of the LeRoy Apker bel Prize to Andre Geim and Kon- lecular structure is so dense that tape on a chunk of graphite and Award for outstanding research stantin Novoselov of the Univer- not even helium can pass through. pulled off a thin layer. After re- by an undergraduate. Usually, sity of in the United It is thought that could peated attempts, they were able to one of the recipients is from an institution that grants the PhD Kingdom for “ground-breaking hold the key to many future tech- isolate a flat sheet of one degree, and one is from an experiments” on graphene. In a nologies ranging from transparent thick, the long sought-after institution that does not. paper published in Science in Oc- touch screens and solar panels to sample of graphene. The seven finalists for the tober 2004, Geim and Novoselov strong composite materials and the “We just try to be curious in Award were featured in the announced that they had been able hypothesized space elevator. everything and most importantly, October APS News. They were to for the first time create a sheet to have fun. So André introduced interviewed by the selection of carbon one atom thick. this habit of Friday evening ex- committee in Washington on September 3. The selection The remarkable characteristics periments where you just do cra- Christopher Chudzicki of graphene hold a tremendous zy things and then some of them committee then submitted its recommendation to the amount of promise for future ap- sometimes come out, sometimes APS Executive Board, which plications. It is both the thinnest not, and basically graphene was approved the two recipients at its material ever created while stron- one of those as well,” Novoselov meeting on September 25. ger than the world’s strongest steel. said in a taped interview. The 2010 recipient from a According to the Royal Swedish “My work is my hobby. So non-PhD-granting institution is Academy of Sciences, “In our 1 m2 some people would call me a Christopher Chudzicki of Williams hammock tied between two trees Scientists had been trying for workaholic; I don’t consider it College, who did his research, on you could place a weight of ap- years to isolate such a carbon this. I just love my work so much “Parallel Entanglement Transfer proximately 4 kg before it would molecule because of its amazing so it’s my real hobby,” Geim said on Hypercube Networks” under the supervision of Frederick W. break. It should thus be possible theorized structural and electrical in a taped interview. Strauch. The recipient from a properties. However all had been to make an almost invisible ham- In the six years since the team PhD-granting institution is Chia mock out of graphene that could frustrated in their attempts. Many published their paper, graphene Wei (Wade) Hsu of Wesleyan Photos by Shelly Johnston/APS hold a cat without breaking.” had given up, believing that there has become one of the hottest re- University, whose research on Chia Wei (Wade) Hsu Even with its strength, it is still was no way such a thin sheet of search areas in condensed matter. “Self-Assembly of DNA-linked flexible. It is as good an electrical carbon could be stable at room It’s estimated that over 2500 sci- Nanoparticles” was done under the supervision of Francis W. Starr. conductor as copper and better at temperatures. entific papers were published in Chudzicki and Hsu are now pursuing their graduate studies conducting heat than any other Geim and Novoselov’s tech- PRIZE continued on page 3 at opposite ends of Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hsu at Harvard and Chudzicki at MIT. APS Responds to Member’s Physics Stars in Theater, Music and Dance Resignation over Climate Change By Michael Lucibella In early October, a long-time cal group, Lewis claimed that the Physics has recently taken cen- member of APS, Hal Lewis, pub- petition for creating such a group ter stage as performances about licly resigned from the Society which he had signed had been arbi- the physical sciences have thrived. over issues having to do with cli- trarily rejected by “APS HQ”. The performances run the gamut of mate change. Lewis, who is an The APS press release rejected artistic endeavor, including plays, emeritus professor at UC Santa Lewis’s characterization of the operas, and dance productions. Barbara, addressed his letter of state of the science, stating: The different shows focus on a resignation to APS President Cur- “On the matter of global cli- wide array of disciplines in physics tis Callan, simultaneously circulat- mate change, APS notes that virtu- and go into different depths of their ing it on the Internet. In response ally all reputable scientists agree subjects; however, all prominently to some of the points in Lewis’s with the following observations: feature physics and science. letter, APS issued a statement that carbon dioxide is increasing in the “The thing for me that has al- can be found on the press-release atmosphere due to human activ- ways and continues to be the page of the APS website. Callan ity; carbon dioxide is an excellent reason I write about science is also sent a personal reply to Lewis RESIGNATION continued on page 4 because it’s inherently dramatic. in which he expressed his regret There’s abundant character, and at Lewis’s decision, along with Fox Fails at inherent plot,” said playwright his strong disagreement with the Fact-Checking 101 Lauren Gunderson. “I think on a Image courtesy of George Hagegeorge substance of Lewis’s complaints The October 12 segment of more existential level, science lets Dancers in Liz Lerman's The Matter of Origins perform on stage before a large against the APS. Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” us talk about the biggest ideas, and projection of in her lab. The performance also included stage settings featured an erroneous report that using images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Manhattan Project. Lewis’s specific complaints fo- I think that keeps theater relevant mis-identified APS President Curtis learning more about it. It’s sort of girl who uses science to solve mys- cus on the recent decisions of the Callan as a member who had and philosophical, in a way I think APS Council concerning the 2007 resigned. (For the non-erroneous people crave when they go to the the NPR crowd,” Gunderson said. teries. Gunderson was also instru- Statement on Climate Change and version, see the accompanying theater.” “There is a great movement of mental in setting up the playwright the ongoing process of formation story.) APS has requested a Gunderson has written several movies and plays about science.” in residence program at the Kavli of a topical group on the physics retraction, and to date Fox News plays about physics and . Gunderson also wrote Back- Institute for Theoretical Physics in has refused. of climate. Characterizing recent Her most recent production, titled ground about the life of Santa Barbara. Correspondent Laura Ingraham Ralph Alpher, Leap which features The Liz Lerman Dance Ex- APS decisions, Lewis contends said, “Basically what Curtis Callan is Emilie: La Marquise du Châte- that “It is of course, the global saying is that this American physics let Defends Her Life at the Petit Isaac Newton, and Baby M, which, change premiered its dance pro- warming scam, with the (literally) society, it’s called physical society, Théâtre at Cirey Tonight tells the according to her website, combines duction A Matter of Origins at the trillions of dollars driving it, that has turned into an organization complicated story of Emilie du maternity, murder and M-theory. University of Maryland’s Clarice has corrupted so many scientists, affected by the money flow in Châtelet, the 18th century French Her next major production, set to Smith Performing Arts Center on science. In other words trillions of and has carried APS before it like physicist who translated Newton’s premiere at the Kennedy Center in September 10th. Taking inspira- dollars he argues is invested in this Washington, is aimed at a younger tion from her trip to CERN, Ler- a rogue wave. It is the greatest and idea of global warming, and that Principia. most successful pseudoscientific has clouded what the group itself, “People are very very inter- crowd. Titled The Amazing Ad- man created an interpretive dance fraud I have seen in my long life as what the leadership of the group ested in this. Those that go into ventures of Dr. Wonderful and her performance inspired by the physics a physicist.” Concerning the topi- FOX NEWS continued on page 4 the theater really get excited about Dog, it tells the story of a 5th grade THEATER continued on page 5 2 • November 2010 APS NEWS

Members This Month in Physics History in the Media November 11, 1930: Patent granted for Einstein-Szilard Refrigerator “We know about the expan- on what a civilization threaten- is best known to the general pub- found a way to improve on their design, drawing on sion of the universe, and we stud- ing “mind virus” might look like. lic for devising the world’s most famous equation: his expertise in thermodynamics. His heat source ied that very well, and over and FoxNews.com, September 29, 2010. E=mc2. But his contributions to physics extend over drove a combination of gases and liquids through above the motions of galaxies, “It’s marvelous that carbon wins a broad range of topics, including Brownian motion, three interconnected circuits. galaxies move apart due to this again. Diamonds may be a girl’s the photoelectric effect, special and general relativ- One of the components they designed for their re- expansion, over and above that best friend but graphene gives an ity, and stimulated emission, which led to the devel- frigerator was the Einstein-Szilard electromagnetic expansion there are velocities that unexpected and a wholly new way opment of the laser. Less well known, even among pump, which had no moving parts, relying instead for historical reasons astronomers to put the electron in carbon coun- physicists, is his work with Leo Szilard to develop on generating an electromagnetic field by running call peculiar velocities. And these try; bringing a whole new range of an energy efficient absorption refrigerator with no alternating current through coils. The field moved additional velocities that galaxies applications and showing again the moving parts. a liquid metal, and the metal, in turn, served as a have, that aren’t due to the expan- strength of the British science base. Szilard was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1898, piston and compressed a refrigerant. The rest of the sion of the universe, are due to the It confirms at the highest level the the son of a civil engineer, and served in the Austro- process worked much like today’s conventional re- uneven distribution of matter in excellence of UK physics.” Hungarian Army during World War I. After the war, the universe.” frigerators. Marshall Stoneham, Universi- he returned to university, studying physics under Einstein and Szilard needed an engineer to help Michael Turner, University of Einstein and , among others. ty College, London, on this year’s them design a working prototype, and Chicago, on an as yet unexplained , USA To- His dissertation was in thermodynam- they found one in Albert Korodi, who “dark flow” of matter in the cos- day, October 5, 2010. ics, and in 1929 he published a seminal first met Szilard when both were engi- mos, National Public Radio, Sep- paper, “On the Lessening of Entropy in “The general result of this pa- neering students at the Budapest Techni- tember 17, 2010. a Thermodynamic System by Interfer- per is that, contrary to what some cal University, and were neighbors and “I think it’s probably one of the ence of an Intelligent Being”–part of an previous studies have suggested, good friends when both later moved to most abused concepts in physics different observers would still ongoing attempt by physicists to better among the public. You should be understand the “Maxwell’s Demon” Berlin. agree about the chaotic nature of The German company A.E.G. agreed wary whenever you hear some- the universe…Now we establish thought experiment first proposed by thing like, ‘Quantum mechanics James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th cen- to develop the pump technology, and once and for all that it is chaotic.” hired Korodi as a full-time engineer. But connects you with the universe’ Adilson Motter, Northwestern tury. the device was noisy due to cavitation ... or ‘quantum mechanics unifies University, MSNBC.com, Octo- Szilard had a knack for invention, as the liquid metal passed through the you with everything else.’ You ber 5, 2010. applying for patents for an x-ray sensi- can begin to be skeptical that the tive cell and improvements to mercury vapor lamps pump. One contemporary researcher said it “howled speaker is somehow trying to use “There’s a hypothesis that 4 bil- while still a young scientist. He also filed patents for like a jackal,” although Korodi claimed it sounded quantum mechanics to argue fun- lion years ago the young sun, like an electron microscope, as well as the linear accel- more like rushing water. Korodi reduced the noise damentally that you can change other stars, was far more active erator and the cyclotron, all of which have helped significantly by varying the voltage and increasing the world by thinking about it.” than it is now, and solar flares and revolutionize physics research. Szilard’s most im- the number of coils in the pump. Another challenge Lawrence Krauss, Arizona other storms on the sun’s surface portant contribution to 20th century physics was the was the choice of liquid metal. Mercury wasn’t suf- State University, on “quantum were much more powerful and neutron chain reaction, first conceived in 1933. In ficiently conductive, so the pump used a potassi- capable of wiping out the planet’s quackery,” MSNBC.com, Sep- 1955, he and received a joint patent on um-sodium alloy instead, which required a special magnetic field completely.” tember 20, 2010. the first nuclear reactor. sealed system because it is so chemically reactive. Robert Lin, University of Cali- Einstein wasn’t a stranger to the patent process, Despite filing more than 45 patent applications in “This is something people have fornia Berkeley, The San Francis- either, having worked as a patent clerk in Bern as a six different countries, none of Einstein and Szilard’s difficulty wrapping their minds co Chronicle, October 9, 2010. around, because it doesn’t show young man. He later received a patent with a Ger- alternative designs for refrigerators ever became a up in any obvious ways in our ev- “Helium is central to half of my man engineer named Rudolf Goldschmidt in 1934 consumer product, although several were licensed, eryday lives. It’s a very subtle ef- ongoing research and the disserta- for a working prototype of a hearing aid. A singer thereby providing a tidy bit of extra income for the fect, until you’re flying close to a tion work of several students.” of Einstein’s acquaintance who suffered hearing loss scientists over the years. And the Einstein/Szilard black hole or moving close to the Daniel Lathrop, University of provided the inspiration for the invention. pump proved useful for cooling breeder reactors. Maryland, on the projected na- speed of light.” When they met, Einstein was already a world- The prototypes were not energy efficient, and the tional helium shortage, The Wash- Sean Carroll, Caltech, on time famous physicist, thanks to his work on relativity, Great Depression hit many potential manufacturers ington Post, October 11 2010. dilation, National Public Radio, while Szilard was just starting out, as a graduate as- hard. But it was the introduction of a new non-toxic September 23, 2010. “We used to think that the only sistant at the University of Berlin. The impetus for refrigerant, freon, in 1930 that spelled doom for the the two men’s collaboration on a refrigerator oc- “This technique is really nice real threat was from impacts that Einstein/Szilard refrigerator. curred in 1926, when newspapers reported the trag- because it allows us to measure hit the ground and that the at- Interest in their designs has revived in recent ic death of an entire family in Berlin, due to toxic how things change in time…Obvi- mosphere would protect us from years, fueled by environmental concerns over cli- gas fumes that leaked throughout the house while ously people have been doing this the small ones… We never re- mate change and the impact of freon and other chlo- they slept, the result of a broken refrigerator seal. with other techniques for many ally thought about the physics of rofluorocarbons on the ozone layer, as well asthe airbursts. There hasn’t been that Such leaks were occurring with alarming frequency years, but it has proven hard to do need to find alternative energy sources. In 2008, a much research.” as more people replaced traditional ice boxes with at very small time scales.” team at Oxford University built a prototype as part Mark Boslough, Sandia Na- modern mechanical refrigerators which relied on Michael Crommie, University of a project to develop more robust appliances, and tional Laboratories, on asteroids poisonous gases like methyl chloride, ammonia, and of California, Berkeley, describ- a former graduate student at Georgia Tech, Andy that could explode in midair, MS- sulfur dioxide as refrigerants. ing improvements to scanning Delano, also built a prototype of one of Einstein and tunneling microscopes, New York NBC.com, October 11, 2010. Einstein was deeply affected by the tragedy, and told Szilard that there must be a better design than Szilard’s designs. Yet another team at Cambridge Times, September 27, 2010. “They might have an interest- the mechanical compressors and toxic gases used University is experimenting with cooling via mag- ing explanation for the effect, but I “The genocide in Rwanda is in the modern refrigerator. Together they set out to netic fields. Perhaps this invention won’t revolution- don’t see how this will help batters.” the closest example I can think of find one. They focused their attention on absorption ize the world, but in its own small way, it might help Alan Nathan, University of for this kind of behavior…It re- refrigerators, in which a heat source–in that time, spare the planet–more than 70 years after Einstein Illinois, commenting on a recent quired active measures by a large a natural gas flame–is used to drive the absorption and Szilard first conceived of it. study finding a curve ball’s effec- group of instigators, and quite a Further Reading: tiveness is enhanced by the bat- process and release coolant from a chemical solu- bit of time to get started.” tion. An earlier version of this technology had been Dannen, Gene. “The Einstein-Szilard Refrigera- Howard Davidson, Stanford, ter’s peripheral vision, USA To- day, October 14, 2010. introduced in 1922 by Swiss inventors, and Szilard tors,” , January 1997.

Series II, Vol. 19, No. 10 and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent is- General Councillors ADVISORS November 2010 sue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will be Robert Austin, Elizabeth Beise*, Marcela Carena*, honored without charge only if received within 6 months Marta Dark McNeese, Katherine Freese, Nergis Maval- Representatives from Other Societies APS NEWS © 2010 The American Physical Society of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Post- vala, Warren Mori, Jorge Pullin Fred Dylla, AIP; David M. Cook, AAPT age Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing International Councillor International Advisors Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Belita Koiler Membership Department, American Physical Society, Louis Felipe Rodriguez Jorge, Mexican Physical Society Editor•...... Alan Chodos One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Nominating Committee Robert Mann, Canadian Association of Physicists Staff Science Writer ...... Michael Lucibella Angela Olinto Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson APS COUNCIL 2010 Staff Representatives Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten Proofreader...... Edward Lee President Robert Socolow Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director Curtis G. Callan, Jr.*, Princeton University Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- Neil Cornish (Astrophysics), P. Julienne (Atomic, Public Affairs; Dan Kulp, Editorial Director; Christine monthly, except the August/September issue, by the cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing President-Elect Molecular & Optical Physics), Mark Reeves (Biological Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Barry C. Barish*, Caltech Physics), Nancy Levinger (Chemical Physics), Arthur Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It contains Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// Epstein (Condensed Matter Physics), David Landau news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Vice-President (Computational Physics), James Brasseur* (Fluid Administrator for Governing Committees Sections, and Forums; advance information on meetings Robert L. Byer*, Stanford University Dynamics), Gay Stewart (Forum on Education), Amber Ken Cole of the Society; and reports to the Society by its commit- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Stuver*, (Forum on Graduate Student Affairs), Michael tees and task forces, as well as opinions. should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– Executive Officer Riordan (Forum on History of Physics), Stefan Zolner* Membership Department, American Physical Society, Kate P. Kirby*, Harvard-Smithsonian (retired) (Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), Herman * Members of the APS Executive Board Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Winick (Forum on International Physics), Philip “Bo” ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- [email protected]. Treasurer Hammer (Forum on Physics and Society), Steve Rolston dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Divi- Joseph W. Serene*, Georgetown University (Emeritus) (Laser Science), Ted Einstein (Materials Physics), Wick the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All cor- sion, American , Suite 1NO1, 2 Editor-in-Chief Haxton (Nuclear Physics), Marjorie Corcoran (Particles respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Gene D. Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) & Fields Physics), John Galayda (Physics of Beams), Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address David Hammer* (Plasma Physics), Scott Milner (Poly- Past-President MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. changes, please send both the old and new addresses, mer Physics), Heather Galloway* (Texas Section), Bruce Cherry A. Murray*, Harvard University Barrett (4 Corners Section) APS NEWS November 2010 • 3

Mass Media Fellows Bring Science to the Public

Education C orner Editor’s Note: Each year, as part of a program administered by AAAS, APS sponsors two Mass Media Fel- A column on educational programs and publications lows who spend the summer working at a newspaper or other media outlet. In 2010 the APS-sponsored Fellows were Lulu Liu and Lauren DiPerna. Liu graduated from MIT with a major in physics, and DiPerna Funding for Undergraduates to Attend APS Meetings was a graduate of UC Berkeley in geophysics. They worked at the Sacramento Bee and the Orange County A limited number of $200 and $1000 travel supplements are available for undergraduate students presenting at the 2011 APS March and Register, respectively. April Meetings. Students must submit their abstracts by the meeting deadlines, which are November 19 for the March Meeting, and January 14 for the April Meeting. Students will also be invited to take Science Writers Are the Ambassadors of Science part in Future of Physics Days, which include special events that are planned over the course of the meetings to enable undergraduates to By Lulu Liu Fifteen years ago, the Sac- to my defense. Sort of. meet their peers, share their research results with other physicists, and I’m not a journalist. In college ramento Bee was the home of a Actually, he wrote, the Bee begin building a network among fellow physicists. For a description of I studied physics. I was a search- Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer had it right. Briefly, I felt the program and awards, including eligibility requirements, please visit er of gravitational waves and writer. Now it staffs no science the warmth of vindication. “Al- www.aps.org Keyword: Future Physics. exoplanets. I was an eager re- writer at all. The skepticism that though I doubt [she] understands discoverer of fundamental laws. greeted me from all sides came what [she] originally wrote,” he APS Produces Laser Lessons and Kits I was a reluctant programmer in unexpectedly. went on. In conjunction with LaserFest, APS has produced a series of three several languages. But never a Science writers are the ambas- hands-on, classroom-tested lessons on the laser, for high school journalist. sadors of science yet it’s rare, in students. The lessons cover the topics: So while I laid my roots in the traditional media at least, for science and slyly cultivated an one to have any kind of scientific • What’s So Special About Laser Light? interest in writing on the side, it • How Does a Laser Work? training. I suspected this might never occurred to me that there • What Are Some Applications of Lasers? may be an intersection, and that weaken general trust in science this intersection–this land of sci- and scientists, but it’s done more If your institution is interested in holding a teacher workshop using than that, it’s thrown doubt on these activities, APS can provide a limited number of lesson books ence and writing–was accessible the mass media’s ability to ac- and kits for workshop participants. These materials are also available from my side of the divide. on the LaserFest website. For more information, see www.laserfest. I’m thankful to the Mass Me- curately represent this kind of org/reources/lessons.cfm. dia Program for this. For one, information altogether. that with nothing more than a Science journalism today, I Minority Scholarship Application Process Begins few writing samples in hand and report, is much more journalism APS encourages faculty members and high school teachers to inform an expression of genuine interest, than science. While the journal- their students about the Scholarship for Minority Undergraduate Physics I was taken seriously as an aspir- Lulu Liu ism field has warmly embraced Majors, which provides both funding and significant mentorship to ing writer, despite a resume that science as one of its “beats”, the selected underrepresented minority students. Any African-American, provided no evidence. Sometimes it was flattering: scientific community still fails Hispanic American, or Native American US citizen or permanent legal But more, for its recogni- a hesitant source would open up resident who is majoring or plans to major in physics and who is a high to consider outreach a legitimate tion–and the APS’s recognition, once he learned that I had a back- school senior, college freshman, or college sophomore is eligible to activity for a scientist. as a sponsor of this program–that ground in science. But usually, it apply. The application for 2011-2012 scholars is due on February 4, Absent an effective avenue perhaps the discipline of science was derisive. Towards the end of 2011, and can be found at www.aps.org/programs/minorities/honors/ of communication between sci- journalism is an ailing one po- July I wrote what turned out to scholarship. entists and the communities sitioned too close to journalism be a controversial article about they serve, science is just some and too far from science. Surpris- the physics of fair rides. I had to Workshops and Grants for Women Physicists exclusive club the public is not APS Professional Skills Development Workshops provide women ingly, I would learn this not from explain why, in the classic Gravi- allowed into, and the scientific physicists with professional training in effective negotiation, reporters or editors this summer, tron ride, when the floor dropped communication, and leadership skills, as well as a special opportunity or even scientists, but from the the riders didn’t drop with it. I truths that come of it seem ar- for networking. One-day workshops are being planned for the March public. pointed my finger at “friction” bitrary and capricious, no better and April meetings. In addition, small grants of up to $400 are available My first story ran on a Sunday instead of the usual “centrifugal than a politician’s promises. It’s to assist March and April Meeting attendees who are bringing small about a week and a half into my force.” Sacramento Bee readers my hope that the scientific com- children or who incur extra expenses in leaving them at home (i.e., internship. On Monday I received grumbled. They “weren’t sur- munity continues to cultivate extra daycare or babysitting services). For more information on these my first reader voicemail. He was prised”, they said, the so-called passion and commitment not just opportunities, as well as applications, see www.aps.org/programs/ surprised, the caller said, that I science writer would get that in science research but also in women hadn’t gotten anything wrong. wrong. But one commenter leapt science communication. APS Undergraduate Education Website The APS website has an improved and expanded the section on Undergraduate Education. Highlights include: A Good Reporter Gets Up Early and Stays Up Late

• A variety of statistics on undergraduate physics education in the By Lauren DiPerna liked getting out of the office and them at the beach to add a visual US. APS-produced graphs are freely available for use, as are the Working at the Orange Coun- reporting on site, but there was description of them monitoring source data. ty Register changed the way I always the chance that something their experimental oyster reefs. I • Pages for faculty interested in offering research experiences for told a story. Before, I liked to might go wrong–horrid traffic or would have published the article undergraduates, reforming introductory courses, preparing K-12 save the best part for last and di- no Internet access. Nevertheless, later that day, but the photogra- teachers, and recruiting more majors. gress at least five times; I thought the extra descriptions enhanced pher didn’t get the images he • Pages for students interested in attending a physics meeting, the extra detours were neces- wanted. The next chance I had seeking career information, getting a scholarship, or doing sary to give a complete picture. to meet the researchers was in research. Once I understood what Orange two weeks at 3:30 in the morn- County readers needed from a Check it out at www.aps.org/programs/education/undergrad ing. It was exhausting, but worth story, however, I let go of the the second trip because the story AAPT Winter Meeting nitty-gritty details and I provide ended up on the front page. AAPT’s annual winter meeting will be in Jacksonville, Florida from a more streamlined narrative. My commitment to a story January 8-12, 2011. The theme is “Celebrating 100 Years of Nuclear By the end of the 10 weeks, I sometimes went beyond the pub- realized that simple and concise Physics (1911-2011),” and highlights will include professional lish date. After writing a story development workshops, featured sessions and speakers, and “A writing always provides a better about the bizarre mating habits Living History of Madame Marie Curie.” For more information, see story, whether it is for a scientific of the grunion–a fish that leaps www.aapt.org/Conferences/wm2011. or lay audience. out of the surf to mate in the The straightforward structure moonlight–I felt compelled to PRIZE continued from page 1 not only helped me engage my see it for myself. readers, but also let me write effi- 2010 on graphene. Last year at the Geim’s award also marks the I convinced my roommate to APS March Meeting, hundreds of first time that an individual has ciently. This was an essential tool come with me and wait on the abstracts on the subject were sub- won both an Ig Nobel prize as because sometimes reporting beach. The first hour passed with mitted and nineteen special focus well as a Nobel Prize. The An- took up 90 percent of my time. little encouragement. Then just sessions on graphene were held. nals of Improbable Research For one story, the drive back Lauren DiPerna Geim was born in Rus- awards Ig Nobel prizes to goofy from a wildlife rescue center, before midnight the grunions ap- sia in 1958. He received his PhD but legitimate scientific research. where I was reporting on a con- my stories and strengthen their peared, flipping and twisting by in 1987 from the Institute of Geim won an Ig Nobel in physics taminated Albatross, took more local angle–the essential require- the hundreds. Solid State Physics at the Rus- in 2000 for work on diamagnetic time than I had to meet my ment for attracting Orange Coun- I really enjoyed my time at the sian Academy of Sciences. No- levitation where he suspended deadline. My only option was to ty readers. Orange County Register. It was voselov was born in Nizhny Tagil frogs in air using magnetic fields. tell my editor the story over the One of my most memorable great to feel like my work had a Russia in 1974. He received his Placing the frog in the magnetic phone. stories was when I met with re- purpose and see that the public PhD from Radboud University field was another Friday evening These types of situations were searchers at 5 am. I interviewed looks forward to reading the dai- in the Netherlands. experiment. the most stressful and exciting. I ly science section. Thanks APS. 4 • November 2010 APS NEWS

SPIN-UP Report Tells How It’s Done Letters We were pleased to read Sacha recruiting and retaining students help you get started. If you would Kopps’s The Back Page article in physics (we can’t just blame like to know what is going on cur- Lost in Translation (APS News, August/September the admissions office), (2) under- rently in undergraduate physics The sole purpose of my letter so in the future to avoid potential 2010) about the success of the standing why our students choose education in a number of large published in the July APS News misunderstandings. Nevertheless, University of Texas at Austin’s ef- or don’t choose physics as a ma- departments, we suggest reading was to clarify the fact that Rich- Dudek should be commended for forts to enhance its undergraduate jor, (3) getting our best educators the report from a SPIN-UP work- ard Feynman was over 60 years (unlike ) receiv- physics program. Almost all of the to teach the introductory physics shop held this summer at Rutgers old and NOT a graduate student ing his PhD in Mathematics at an elements of the Austin activities courses (which are the interface University that outlines those 17 in the “mid-eighties,” with no age so distant from the mean of are in alignment with the common between the department and the departments’ activities. The report other implication regarding the that demographic. features of thriving undergraduate largest number of students), and is available at http://aapt.org/Pro- likelihood of the existence of a An interesting side note: A physics programs described in the (4) building a sense of community grams/projects/spinup/upload/rut- graduate student of such an age. woman by the name of Nola Ochs Strategic Programs in Undergrad- among our students and faculty gers_final_report.pdf . John A. Dudek concluded that my in 2007 became the oldest person uate Physics (SPIN-UP) report members. As editors of the SPIN- comment, in conjunction with the ever to receive a bachelor's degree published in 2003. (The report is UP report, we encourage other Robert C. Hilborn, title “World's Oldest Graduate Stu- at age 95. This year, at age 98, she available online at http://www. physics departments to follow UT Richardson, TX dent?,” suggests “that it is not fea- has received a master’s degree in aapt.org/Programs/projects/ntfup. Austin’s lead to find ways to en- Ruth H. Howes, sible (or perhaps possible) to find a liberal studies with a history con- cfm.) Those common features in- hance their undergraduate phys- Santa Fe, NM 60 year old graduate student.” This centration. If Ms. Ochs continues clude (1) recognizing that the de- ics program. The SPIN-UP report Kenneth S. Krane, interpretation would seem correct, her education, she may well be- partment “owns” the problem of provides 21 case studies that can Corvallis, OR were it not for the fact that APS come the first centenarian graduate News wrote the headline of my let- student. ter, and not I, as he and most read- ers likely assumed. I have included Edgardo Browne my own title this time and will do El Cerrito, California Just Too Silly One reason that I did not re- in nail polish remover and could Ig Nobels Presented in Wacky Ceremony spond earlier to Mano Singham's not understand the fuss about pos- letter about the word “seminal” sible gender discrimination. This By Michael Lucibella sity, is a joke-filled variety show dressed as the Emperor from Star is that I thought that it was really is really ridiculous. As is the fuss Wearing socks over one’s boots of science wackiness. This year Wars stood in. too silly to bother with. As a fe- over the word “seminal.” The let- in winter can help with traction on featured a bacterial opera, author Alessandro Pluchino and An- male physicist who suffered some ter about a new word was equally icy surfaces. That is the discovery Neil Gaiman describing the odds drea Rapisarda in the physics and discrimination at the beginning silly. made by this year’s winner of the a life form on the back of a book astronomy department at the Uni- of my career, I find it ridiculous Edith Borie Ig Nobel Prize for physics. jacket is a bacterium or a writer versity of Catania along with so- to nitpick about words that really Karlsruhe, Germany “We did a piece of lighthearted (roughly three sextillion to one), ciologist Cesare Garofalo, also at have nothing to do with gender research actually, and it arose out and Physics Nobel laureates Shel- Catania, won in the Management discrimination, on the chance Ed. Note: the Zero Gravity in of a tearoom conversation one don Glashow and category for their paper “The Peter that someone might think they question appeared in the May, icy morning,” said Lianne Parkin, describing how many bacteria Principle Revisited: A Computa- do. Years back I laughed at the 2002 issue of APS News (avail- a physician at the University of can dance on the head of a pin. tional Study.” In it, the researchers Zero Gravity piece about fusion able online). Otago in New Zealand and lead Three other Nobel laureates, Roy showed mathematically that orga- author of the research nizations would be The Charm of History published in the New more efficient if they Zealand Medical For this regular reader of APS minds into what for millennia was promoted people at Journal. News, its greatest charm is the depth called “Natural Philosophy”–a term random. “Basically the of its historical perspective. It is which is still preserved in Scottish Other winners refreshing not only to be reminded universities and which recalls and background to it is that this year included a in the August/September number preserves our precious intellectual we live in a very steep team from Mexico of Empedocles’ contribution to our heritage. city in the south of and the United King- insight into the speed of light, but to New Zealand, and ev- dom awarded the be reminded of our roots in ancient Lawrence Cranberg ery year once or twice Engineering Prize Greece and the quest of its greatest Austin, TX in the winter it gets very very icy and it’s for using a radio- RESIGNATION continued from page 1 a real challenge not controlled helicopter infrared absorber, and therefore, precisely zero. to fall over and some to collect whale snot. its increasing presence in the at- In his letter to Lewis, Callan of our fellow citizens The Transportation mosphere contributes to global also addressed the issue of the for- have actually respond- Planning prize was warming; … On these matters, mation of the new topical group, ed to this by putting awarded to a team APS judges the science to be quite explaining that, far from being re- socks over their shoes from Japan and the clear. .. In light of the significant jected, the proposal for a topical in these conditions. United Kingdom for settled aspects of the science, APS group focusing on the physics of And at our tearoom using slime molds totally rejects Dr. Lewis’s claim climate had met with enthusiastic conversation we de- to find the optimal that global warming is a ‘scam’ acceptance and was being imple- cided actually there Photo by Michael Lucibella routes for railroad and a ‘pseudoscientific fraud’.” mented (see story in October APS was no good scien- tracks around Tokyo. In his letter, Lewis speculated Nobel laureates Roy Glauber (Physics 2005) on left and Sheldon News). Callan closed his letter by tific evidence for this Glashow (Physics 1979) on right help sweep up a mound of paper Simon Rietveld and that Council’s policy positions on saying that, while he respected practice, so we should airplanes thrown on stage during the 20th first annual Ig Nobel Prize Ilja van Beest from climate change must be driven Lewis’s decision to resign, it was probably evaluate it ceremony. the Netherlands won by financial interest, adding that a pity that, by doing so, he was by doing a random- the Medicine Prize Callan’s own physics department cutting himself off from partici- ized controlled trial, so we did.” Glauber, James Muller and Wil- for finding that roller coasters can “would lose millions a year if the pating in the very APS initiative Held each year just days before liam Lipscomb were also onstage be used to treat asthma. Manuel global warming bubble burst”. he had called for. the actual Nobel Prizes are an- to shake the hands of the winners. Barbeito, Charles Mathews and The APS press release categori- FOX continued from page 1 nounced, the Ig Nobel awards are In addition, Lipscomb participated Larry Taylor from the United cally rejected the notion that APS has concluded about the science, presented to the best of the year’s in the contest to win a date with a States won the Public Health Prize as an organization is benefitting Nobel laureate. which he says is faulty, flawed and seemingly silly scientific research. for finding that more bacteria cling financially from climate change frankly needs to be discarded. So This year marks the 20th first an- Though “bacteria” was the to bearded scientists than clean- funding and further pointed out he said it’s become corrupting.” nual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. theme of the ceremony this year, shaven ones. A team from China that the vast majority of the Soci- The reports of Callan’s “They honor something unusu- physics and physicists featured resignation are greatly and the United Kingdom won the ety’s members do not work on cli- al. They honor things that make prominently in several of the exaggerated. Curtis Callan, the Biology Prize for their research mate and derive no personal ben- people laugh and then make them awards. The prize given for Chem- current president of APS, has into fruit bat fellatio. efit from such research support. not resigned his membership, or think; and that’s the only quality. istry went jointly to Eric Adams of Callan, in his reply, criticized his position, nor has he written It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad MIT, Scott Socolofsky of Texas The Ig was Lewis’s speculation about the role any letters refuting the science or important or not, but it has to, A&M University, Stephen Masu- given to a team from the UK who of financial interest in determin- of global warming. Ingraham when you first encounter it, make tani of the University of Hawaii proved that swearing while hurt incorrectly attributed a letter ing the attitude of physicists to you laugh and then it has to rattle and BP, “for disproving the old be- can actually make it easier for written by Hal Lewis of UCSB and individuals to tolerate pain. The climate change as unacceptably sent to Callan as being written around in your head for a week or lief that oil and water don’t mix.” disrespectful of the intellectual in- by Callan himself. The letter was so, so after a week the only thing “It’s fluid physics. What we economics prize was offered to the tegrity of his scientific colleagues. clearly addressed to Callan (it you really care about is telling would call ourselves is fluid mech- executives and directors of Gold- He also noted that Lewis’s state- begins, “Dear Curt”) and was your two best friends about it.” anicians. Scott and I in particular man Sachs, AIG, Lehman Broth- ment about the reliance of Cal- signed by Lewis at the end. It is said Marc Abrahams, founder of study plumes,” Adams said. ers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch lan’s department on climate sci- unclear how Ingraham, with an accompanying graphic, confused the Ig Nobel Prizes. BP unsurprisingly declined to and Magnetar; however, like BP, ence funding was wrong, as the the two. Fox News got it wrong. The ceremony, held in Sand- send a representative to collect no company representatives were actual level of such funding was ers Theater at Harvard Univer- their prize and instead an actor sent to collect the prize. APS NEWS November 2010 • 5

Community Values APS’s Education Research Journal Fellows Meet in Back-to-Back Bay Bashes By Gabriel Popkin 2008 to nearly 34,000 in 2010, able to teachers whose schools are Five years after its launch, the while pdf downloads increased not likely to purchase institutional journal Physical Review Special from around 8,400 to over 26,000, subscriptions. Topics-Physics Education Re- according to statistics furnished by In addition, Kulp says, the search (PRST-PER) has established the APS Editorial Office. journal is becoming more widely itself as a significant and valued Daniel Kulp, Editorial Director known, and papers are being sub- member of the APS journal family. at the APS Editorial Office, notes mitted by a wider range of authors, The open-access, online-only jour- that the journal achieved an impact including more international au- nal began in 2005, and has been factor of greater than 1 in 2008, thors. Moreover, says Beichner, published twice a year ever since. its first year of eligibility. The im- “the field of PER, and the journal’s According to Robert Beichner, pact factor is a frequently used, impact on it, continue to grow. Of the journal’s editor, PRST-PER although sometimes controversial, all the academic disciplines, phys- was founded to fill a gap in APS’s method of ranking journals; it is ics is clearly recognized as the coverage of current physics re- calculated by dividing the total leader in studying the teaching and search. “The number of people do- number of citations that papers in learning of the subject matter. I be- ing research in physics education the journal received by the number lieve our journal plays a major part was growing rapidly, and there was of papers published in the journal, in building that reputation.” pent-up demand for a publication over the previous two years. PRST- Another important benefit of Photo by Darlene Logan venue in the PER field.” PER’s impact factor in 2008 was the journal is the status it bestows This photo, taken at a Fellows' reception in late September on the Stanford Eugenia Etkina, a Rutgers Sci- 1.781; in 2009, it was 1.237. upon physics education research, campus, shows (l to r) UC Santa Cruz physicists Peter Young and Steven Ritz ence Education professor and fre- Kulp says that while the signifi- notes Beichner. “Having a journal fraternizing with Nan Phinney of SLAC. On page 6 of this issue is a photo from quent contributor to the journal, cance of the impact factor can be in the Physical Review family is another Fellows' reception held the following evening at UC Berkeley. echoes this sentiment, writing in an hard to interpret, it can be a useful certainly helpful to researchers try- email, “If it were not for this jour- measure in gauging community ing to make their case for tenure or nal, many people would have had acceptance of a journal. “The fact promotion.” zero opportunity to publish their that PRST-PER’s first factor was Noah Finkelstein of the Univer- research. My professional life has 1.7 indicates that the physics edu- sity of Colorado at Boulder, also a become incredibly easier and ten cation research community has ac- frequent contributor to the journal, times more productive since PRST- cepted the journal, and that people agrees. “As a premier journal in the PER began.” find the articles useful.” discipline of physics, PRST-PER The growth of the journal’s Part of the reason PRST-PER has helped establish physics educa- article view and downloads is articles are frequently cited may be tion research as an accepted field– testament to its increasing popu- the open-access format of the jour- a sub-discipline of physics that is The Task Ahead larity and visibility. Article views nal, which requires no subscription significant, scholarly, and an area by Michael S. Lubell, APS Director of Public Affairs increased from around 24,500 in or registration. This makes it avail- of growth within physics.” When Barack Obama swept members can prevent a bill from into office nearly two years ago, being debated at all–will suddenly he was supposed to be the first transform itself an aura of good Physics Lags in Minority Representation post-partisan president. He hasn’t feeling. Two recent studies have found making up only 8 percent of over- ing institutions. More than 85 per- been. When he beat John McCain And the House, where the ma- that despite some gains, African all bachelors degrees and 4.7 per- cent of physics departments have by more than a two to one margin jority party has the power to rel- Americans and Hispanics contin- cent of physics bachelors. no African Americans among their in electoral votes, the Earth was egate the minority to little more ue to be underrepresented among Over the span of a dozen years, faculty. The number of Hispanic supposed to quake. It didn’t. than a cast of picadors who stick physics students and faculty Hispanics have nearly doubled the faculty members has similarly in- And when Republicans were barbs into the bull in the pulpit, members. The reports highlighted number of physics bachelor’s de- creased overall, yet nearly 80 per- reduced to 40 seats in the Senate will likely remain as undemocratic gains made overall by minorities grees from about 115 in 1996 to cent of physics departments have and 178 seats in the House of Rep- as ever, even if the party in charge in academia, but Hispanics and 229 in 2008. African Americans no Hispanic faculty. resentatives in the 2008 election, owes its control to but a handful of African Americans continue to be have over the same time fluctuated The study did highlight that the pundits said the GOP was headed members on the fringe. a disproportionally small part of between about 180 and 130 with number of minority students re- for the grave. If, indeed it was–and Washington may well continue the physics community. 144 earned in 2008. ceiving bachelor’s degrees overall I never subscribed to that fore- to dither under a cloud of partisan- The American Institute of During the 2005-2006 academ- has increased dramatically over cast–it has risen like the mythical ship, but the problems our nation Physics’ Statistical Research Cen- ic year, the most recent data avail- the last decade. While the total Phoenix in less than 24 months. faces will not wait for another, ter issued the two reports tracking able, African Americans made up number of degrees awarded in- The resurgence of the Repub- brighter day when elected officials minority enrollment in colleges. 3.6% of all PhDs awarded, but creased by 32 percent over the last lican Party, if nothing else, has worry less about future elections The research collected data from less than 1% of physics PhDs. ten years, Hispanic women have proved that democracy is still and more about reaching consen- surveys of nearly 800 universities Long-term trends show that made the biggest gains, earning alive in America: our nation is not sus on momentous decisions that as well as information compiled over the last 30 years the num- 75 percent more bachelor’s de- heading for one-party government will determine our nation’s future. in the Integrated Postsecondary ber of African Americans earning or a state-run economy, as some Little more than five years ago, Education Data System run by PhDs has increased overall. The grees than a decade ago. Hispanic men in 2008 earned 59 percent conservatives had warned as they responding to a set of ominous the National Center for Education 1990s saw a peak of Hispanics watched the 2008 returns roll in. research and development bench- Statistics under the Department of earning physics PhDs with a de- more degrees than in 1998. Afri- can American men increased their That’s the good news. marks assembled by the Taskforce Education. The data covered up to crease between 2001 and 2006. The bad news is the gridlock on American Innovation, Congress share by 51 percent over the same the end of the 2008 academic year. Minorities remain similarly that has plagued Washington for called on the National Academies time while African American Currently African Americans underrepresented among physics the last two years will probably to develop a blueprint for future women rose by 45 percent. make up 12.4 percent of the United faculty. African Americans over get substantially worse in a Con- economic growth and global com- African Americans have tended States population, while they earn the last eight years have seen sig- gress that is equally divided. It’s petitiveness based on science and to go into fields such as business 9 percent of all bachelor’s degrees nificant increases in the number of hard to see how the dysfunction technology. Then, Democrats and and only 2.9 percent of physics university faculty but remain less and management, psychology and that is synonymous with the Sen- Republicans had a shared concern bachelors degrees. Similarly, His- than 3 percent of the faculty at computer science, while Hispan- ate–where one member can stall about the course of our nation was panics comprise 15 percent of the bachelor’s degree granting institu- ics have gravitated towards educa- legislation by placing a secret hold plying. Their call to the Acade- United States population, while tions and 1.2 percent at PhD grant- tion, psychology and engineering. on the proceedings or where 41 TASK continued on page 7 THEATER continued from page 1 of beginning of the universe. lowed by a stint at Montclair State ’s mysterious tempts to create an atomic bomb, a at Harvard, was first contacted by “I got very much into the poetry University in March and then to meeting in Denmark in the early subject long debated by historians. the Spanish composer Hèctor Parra of the mind. I think these physicists Arizona State University in April days of World War II. The perfor- “The intention was not to write a who wanted to turn the concepts in are incredible poets, in the sense in conjunction with its Origins In- mance is an examination of what play about science or a moral tract her book, Warped Passages, into it’s both concrete and abstract at the stitute. exactly transpired between the two or even a moral or ethical examina- an opera. She said that Parra was same time,” Lerman said. The moral and ethical issues physicists and launches into a phil- tion. It was to write a story about a driving force to include as much The first act moves from the that go along with physics discov- osophical discussion over the mo- why humans do what they do,” physics in the production as pos- inside of Marie Curie’s lab to the eries are also ripe fodder for the rality of scientists and the atomic Frayn said. “If you are to make any sible. Large Hadron Collider, then out stage. The famous 2005 opera Dr. bomb. Though Bohr and Heisen- moral judgments on anyone, you “In some sense there’s a lot of through the Hubble Space Tele- Atomic written by John Adams and berg are two of the most famous have to understand their actions.” [physics], more than I would have scope to the edge of the Universe. Peter Sellars highlighted the ethical physicists in history, the play is not This is a sharp contrast to Lisa put in,” Randall said, “There’s The second act moves the audience conundrum felt by Robert Oppen- about their scientific discoveries. Randall’s 2009 opera Hypermu- quite a bit, but it’s not explained so members into several small rooms heimer and other members of the “There’s very little physics in sic Prologue which premiered at I don’t think people are necessarily with tea and chocolate cake to dis- Manhattan Project as they labored the play itself,” Frayn said.” I have the Centre Pompidou in Paris in going to understand it all.” cuss the issues raised in the first act to produce the atom bomb. Simi- absolutely no understanding of June. The opera focuses on the Randall added, “I think there’s with other audience members and larly, an earlier work dealing with physics whatsoever.” concepts of extra dimensions as a lot of excitement about doing a physicist moderator. The perfor- the morality of physics and physi- Instead, the play focuses mostly one of the protagonists travels into something like this. I think people mance is heading next to Wesleyan cists is Michael Frayn’s 1998 play on what Heisenberg might have five dimensional space. Randall, want to see more about art and sci- University in February 2011, fol- Copenhagen, about and said to Bohr about Germany’s at- a professor of theoretical physics ence put together.” 6 • November 2010 APS NEWS

APS Holds Fellows Reception at Berkeley Research Exposes Danger of In late September, APS hosted back-to-back receptions for Fel- Boring Environments lows in the Berkeley and Stan- By Eric Betz and Michael Lucibella full power there is absolutely noth- ford areas, thereby making it With funding from the Nuclear ing happening and these guys are unnecessary for either group to bored out of their minds.” make the onerous trek across Regulatory Commission, scientists Speaking for the NRC, Sean the bay. Both receptions were are enthusiastically studying bored very well attended. In this photo people. The goal of the research, Peters, chief of the Human Fac- from the Berkeley reception, being conducted at MIT’s Humans tors and Reliability branch for the APS President Curtis Callan and Automation Laboratory–or agency, denied that power plants (2nd from left) shares a moment HAL–is to find out what effect a are currently boring. He said the with (l to r) Berkeley physicists static and sterile environment has agency is more interested in ad- Carl Haber, Stuart Freedman, on nuclear power plant operators. dressing potential future problems and George Trilling. Trilling “The NRC wants to tell you that as the NRC considers how much served as APS President in automation to include in its next 2001. A photo from the Stanford their environments are sterile and if you have a sterile environment generation of designs. reception appears on page 5. “Boredom is not being identified Photo by Darlene Logan people won’t get distracted,” said HAL director Missy Cummings. “I as an issue at the current genera- NRC Deals With Application Surge, Proliferation Threat actually think they will, and it will tion of nuclear plants,” said Peters. be worse than if these people had “The research is really exploratory; By Michael Lucibella zko said he was more concerned tric of a plant in North Carolina to the ability to amuse themselves.” we’re looking into it to see if it is an In a recent speech, the Chair of with having an effective approval enrich uranium using a new pro- Cummings is among those issue for future plant designs.” the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- process rather than with the num- cess called SILEX has attracted studying the effects of automation The Humans and Automation sion emphasized the importance ber of plants built. such concerns. The Separation of and believes keeping workers en- Lab plans to test an unusual solu- of maximizing the safety and se- “I think our focus is: If there Isotopes by Laser Excitation uses gaged and making decisions is key tion that teenagers have been using curity of nuclear power plants. are plants, they are safe. How lasers to purify nuclear fuel by to preventing mishaps. She says to combat boredom for years: vid- Currently, the Commission is in- many there are is up to the utili- ionizing the atoms of the U-235 increased automation in places like eo games. Using MIT students as undated with the most construc- ties,” Jaczko said. isotope. A charged plate then col- power plant operating facilities has guinea pigs, HAL is conducting a tion applications in three decades. He emphasized that the 1979 lects the charged uranium atoms. reduced people’s skills and eaten series of experiments to determine Speaking at the Brookings accident at Three Mile Island in It is thought that this method away at situational awareness. how best to keep people engaged in Institution in Washington, NRC Pennsylvania was a turning point would require less energy to en- “There are a lot of tasks today… the task at hand. Chair Gregory Jaczko said that for the nuclear power industry. rich nuclear fuel than the existing that are becoming more and more Participants will be told to oper- one of the biggest challenges fac- Since then, with the exception of method using centrifuges. automated,” said Nancy Cooke, ate a nuclear reactor simulation in ing the agency is the large num- the one currently under construc- Experts have raised concerns science director of the Cognitive three different scenarios: the first ber of applications for new power tion, no new nuclear power plants that a SILEX facility could be eas- Engineering Research Institute, will be to replicate the current ster- plants. When he first took the post have been built. As a result of the ily concealed from surveillance who is separately studying the im- ile environment of a plant control he expected to see one or two new accident, the agency worked to satellites by an unfriendly nation pacts of boredom. “They’re called center with no allowed distractions applications; however, the agency establish better management to and used to create fuel for nucle- vigilance tasks.” of any kind; the second will be any- is currently considering 13 appli- implement regulations at plants. ar weapons. In March, Francis Cooke says these involve sce- thing goes, participants can bring cations, down from a peak of 18. “I think fundamentally those Slakey, a professor at Georgetown narios where people are required cell phones, laptops and reading “It’s a significant change for improvements led to an improve- University and APS’s Associate to pay close attention over long pe- material to amuse themselves as the agency to have this many ap- ment in safety,” Jaczko said. “The Director of Public Affairs, co-au- riods of time, a situation common they choose; and third, the simula- plications in front of them,” Jac- issue of a safety culture is an im- thored a letter in Nature calling for in power plant control rooms. The tion will be bundled with a video zko said. portant issue for the agency.” the NRC to conduct a proliferation problem arises when an operating game about operating a nuclear He added that he felt the agen- Though no major accidents risk assessment for any domestic environment is automated to the power plant that the subjects can cy was properly prepared to ad- at facilities have occurred since company looking to license the extent that boredom sets in. It’s use to entertain themselves. dress the swell of applications and Three Mile Island, Jaczko cau- technology. Jaczko said that the then exacerbated in a team environ- The researchers expect that had increased the size of its staff tioned against institutional over- NRC was still considering the ment where individuals can distract those playing the video game will accordingly. confidence at power plants. matter. each other. perform better than those forced to There has been a big push on “We need to be wary of the “At this point the commis- Much of the research in the past work in a sterile environment, be- the part of the Obama administra- view that just because it hasn’t sion really hasn’t made a decision has focused on people’s reactions cause the distraction might serve to tion to encourage the development happened in the past, it can’t hap- about this,” Jaczko said. to emergencies where many things keep them engaged. of nuclear power as a viable alter- pen in the future,” Jaczko said. He added that he thought that are happening at once. Cummings This may make it sound like native to fossil fuels. It increased “The core of that is instilling the the current system in place was is focusing on the opposite–long video gamers would be the ide- loan guarantees for new nuclear right safety culture in every facil- working well. bleak stretches of nothing that are al people to run nuclear power power plants from $18.5 billion ity.” “The question is whether you punctuated by brief events. plants, but previous studies have authorized in 2005 to $54 billion. Another concern over nuclear really can control the information “Technology is starting to shown this is not the case. In her Despite this push, only one plant safety is the potential misuse of and the material,” Jaczko said, “I change our world so much that we research on boredom in simulated has completed the licensing pro- the technology for the prolifera- believe our approach to these two don’t really recognize the behavior- unmanned aerial vehicle operation, cess and begun construction. Jac- tion of nuclear weapons. The start questions is adequate.” al impacts on it,” Cummings said. Cummings found that hard-core of construction by General Elec- NRC continued on page 7 “When plants are up and running at DANGER continued on page 7 APS Meeting Briefs The Northwest section of APS held its annual meeting at Whitman College Saturday morning Maher Dayeh of the Southwest Research Institute showed the in Walla Walla, Washington from September 30 through October 2. Thursday’s work of IBEX in its mission to map the far reaches of the solar system, following opening lecture by of Caltech highlighted the work of LIGO in its Friday night’s planetarium show also about the discoveries of the IBEX satellite. search for gravitational waves. Twelve plenary sessions were held over Saturday Mark Eriksson University of Wisconsin-Madison presented on how future quan- and Sunday: Rory Barnes from the University of Washington updated attendants tum computers could be dependent on silicon and germanium quantum dots for on the search for habitable planets outside the solar system. David Atkinson from processing. Pacific Northwest National Labs described efforts to improve explosives detec- The New York sectional meeting was held at Hofstra University in Hemp- tion. Valery Milner of the University of British Columbia described new methods stead, New York On October 15 and 16. Brookhaven labs were a large pres- of ultrafast spectroscopy. During the Friday evening’s banquet, geologist Kevin ence at the meeting, with Raju Venugopalan and Mei Bai each hosting a talk Pogue of Whitman College spoke about the intersection of geology and wine- about recent experiments at RHIC that created quark-gluon plasma. Author making over a sampling of local wines. Marcia Bartusiak from MIT spoke at Friday’s banquet about her book The Day The joint 63rd Annual Gaseous Electronics Conference and 7th International We Found the Universe which tells the story of how Edwin Hubble discovered Conference on Reactive Plasmas was held from October 4 through 8 in Paris, that the Milky Way was only a single galaxy in the universe. Daniel Wolf Savin France. The Tuesday evening session featured four speakers weighing in on the from Columbia University described his lab work to understand the formation of history and future of plasma processing and collision physics. On Wednesday the first hydrogen molecules. morning, the winner the Will Allis prize, Mark Kushner of the University of Michi- The Four Corners section met at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah on gan, spoke about his research into hybrid plasma models. Stephane Mazouffre of October 15 and 16. At Friday’s banquet Author Chris Cokinos of Utah State ICARE, described current research and development into plasma thrusters. Jae University read from his recent book “The Fallen Sky” chronicling the history of Koo Lee of the Pohang University of Science and Technology highlighted how meteorite hunters. John Elwell from the Space Dynamics Lab at Utah State Uni- plasmas could be used in medicine, specifically for treating cancerous growths. versity described some of the results from the recent all-sky survey by the Wide The Joint Fall Meeting of the Ohio-Region Section of the APS and the Appa- field Infrared Survey Explorer. Jennifer Heath from Linfield College shared her lachian and Southern Ohio Sections of the AAPT was held at Marietta College work on improving the efficiency of emerging solar cell technology. Constance in Marietta, Ohio on October 8 and 9. The plenary speakers included past Blewett Walker from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory described her work at Scholarship recipient Janice Wynn Guikema from Johns Hopkins University de- raising public awareness about light pollution around the world and called on scribing the potential for graphene to be used as nanoscale magnetic sensor. On the researchers present to also get involved. APS NEWS November 2010 • 7

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Professional Skills Development Workshops Reviews of Modern Physics Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia

Improve your negotiation skills and learn to communicate your great ideas Vortices in quantum droplets: Analogies between boson to colleagues. and fermion systems Who may apply: Women postdoctoral associates and women faculty in physics. Each H. Saarikoski, S.M. Reimann, A. Harju and M. Manninen workshop will have one session aimed at women postdocs and one session aimed at Vortices are ubiquitous in classical and quantum fluids. In women faculty. quantum fluids, vortices typically form regular arrays, a unique signature of quantization. One might expect that bosonic and When: Sunday, March 20, 2011, Friday, April 29, 2011, fermionic fluids would display very different vortex properties Dallas, Texas* Anaheim, California but this review of the many-body physics of small particle sys- tems reveals unexpected similarities. Systems of interest in- Deadlines to apply: clude atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and degenerate fer- December 10, 2010 (for March) /January 10, 2011 (for April) mionic systems, quantum Hall states in a 2D electron gas, and First consideration will be given to applications received by the deadlines. quantum dots in strong magnetic fields. The major sections of the review are on many-body wave functions, computational Workshops will be limited in size for optimal benefits. Women of color are many-body methods, and single-component and multicompo- strongly encouraged to apply. nent quantum droplets. Participants are eligible to receive a stipend to help cover the cost of travel and up to two nights lodging. http://rmp.aps.org

Details at http://www.aps.org/programs/women/workshops/skills/ These workshops are funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation *Pending NSF Funding Congressional Science What is Fellowship and how could it benefit me? ach year, a majority of APS members receive a letter in the mail THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY is currently accepting applications for Efrom APSIT, the American Physical Society Insurance Trust, the Congressional Science Fellowship Program. Fellows serve one year on the staff of a offering a range of insurance products. APS is the original society of senator, representative or congressional committee. They are afforded an opportunity the Insurance Trust, established in 1969, to provide early and mid- to learn the legislative process and explore science policy issues from the lawmakers’ career members with a convenient source for high quality insurance perspective. In turn, Fellows have the opportunity to lend scientific and technical coverage at an affordable price. expertise to public policy issues.

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Insurance plans are underwritten by the New York Life Insurance Com- TERM OF APPOINTMENT is one year, beginning in September of 2011 with pany and administered by Herbert V. Friedman, Inc. Both in terms of participation in a two week orientation sponsored by AAAS. Fellows have considerable the coverage offered and the low-cost premiums, APSIT products are choice in congressional assignments. very competitive with other providers and are worth consideration. APS believes that the Society’s continued participation in APSIT is a A STIPEND is offered in addition to allowances for relocation, in-service travel, benefit to our members and encourages everyone to learn more about and health insurance premiums. the products. APPLICATION should consist of a letter of intent of no more than 2-pages, a 2-page resume: with one additional page for publications, and three letters of reference. See http://www.aps.org/policy/fellowships/congressional.cfm. All application materials must be submitted online by January 14, 2011.

NRC continued from page 6 What: Small grants of up to $400 He added that it was the suppli- of a focus for the NRC as they ers, not the reactors, who were the Who is eligible: parents/caregivers who plan to attend the APS March or April meeting are working to overhaul oversight biggest source of concern about with their small children or who incur extra costs to bring them along or leave them at home. generally of the entire fuel cycle. proliferation. The suppliers of nu- Preference is given to early career applicants. clear fuel are more decentralized “It’s more of a challenge on the Deadline: Apply by January 17, 2011 (for March) or February 17, 2011 (for April) and as a result are becoming more enrichment side,” Jaczko said. Details at http://www.aps.org/programs/women/childcare.cfm DANGER continued from page 6 gamers were among the worst scor- gests that these types of scenarios These grants are made possible by funds from the Elsevier Foundation and the ers. The reason appears to be that might be an ideal place for the American Physical Society. the virtually continuous stimula- aging workforce. “Maybe they’d tion provided by video games is an operate these systems with more Grants are also available for the Apply by October 8, 2010 at http:// November Division of Plasma Physics www.aps.org/units/dpp/meetings/ environment too far removed from patience than the rest of us,” she meeting in Chicago. dpp10/services.cfm. the long hours of nothing involved said. “Maybe we should weed in operating an unmanned aircraft. out people based on their love of Cummings half-jokingly sug- Halo.” TASK continued from page 5 mies was a bipartisan clarion. PETES Act of 2007, which called warns that in science and technol- voted for it–this, despite the back- without us. China, India, and In less than half a year, a com- for substantial increases in invest- ogy the United States is now po- ing of the U.S. Chamber of Com- Germany are poised to take over mittee chaired by Norman J. Au- ments in science research and sitioned far worse than it was just merce and National Association of where we’ve left off. gustine, retired CEO of Lockheed education. Congress passed the five years ago. Support for key Manufacturers, both bulwarks of a And with dozens of newbies Martin, completed its signature three-year authorization bill with federal agencies has lagged, and pro-business Republican agenda. who have scant knowledge about report, Rising Above the Gather- large bipartisan majorities, and policies to improve science teach- As for the Senate, the Demo- science, innovation and competi- ing Storm. In stark language, the President Bush signed it into law. ing and increased industrial R&D cratic leadership’s focus on elec- tiveness preparing to take their document laid out the steps policy But that was in August 2007 when have failed to materialize. tion-year wedge issues, such as seats in the 112th Congress in makers needed to take to prevent Democrats and Republicans still And what began in 2007 as a immigration and gays in the mili- January, we have a monumental the United States from being rel- made an occasional show of work- joint effort to reinvigorate Amer- tary, relegated COMPETES to the egated to a has-been nation. The ing together for the good of the na- ica’s science and technology pro- backburner or no burner at all. task ahead of us. We need them report led to the Bush Administra- tion. No more. ficiency has now fallen victim Without any sense of urgency, the to understand that science and tion’s “American Competitiveness Last month the Augustine Com- to partisan sniping and hubris. bill hasn’t even received floor con- technology drive the American Initiative” and the House Demo- mittee issued a dire forecast in an When the House finally passed the sideration. economy and that federal neglect crat’s “Innovation Agenda.” Academies reprise. Rising Above America COMPETES Reautho- While Washington spends its of research and development will The two plans found common the Gathering Storm, Revisited: rization Act of 2010 last May 28, time on partisan nastiness, the relegate our nation to second-class ground in the America COM- Rapidly Approaching Category 5 only 17 out of 177 Republicans rest of the world is moving ahead status in the 21st-century world. 8 • November 2010 APS NEWS The Back Page

very ten years the astronomy community own galaxy. The Explorer Program–augmenting Emounts a major effort to define a scientific a program that delivers a high level of scientific program for the next decade. The surveys build return on relatively moderate investment and community consensus around a set of priorities New Worlds, New Horizons that provides the capability to respond rapidly for major projects in the field. They have been re- in Astronomy and Astrophysics to new scientific and technical breakthroughs. markably successful over the last 50 years in pro- Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)–a moting the implementation of these high-priority by Roger Blandford and Donald C. Shapero low-frequency gravitational wave observatory initiatives on the ground and in space. that will open an entirely new window on the The current survey, organized under the aus- cosmos by measuring ripples in space-time pices of the Board on Physics and Astronomy and caused by many new sources, including nearby the Space Studies Board of the National Research white dwarf stars, and will probe the nature of Council, was recently released in preliminary black holes. International X-ray Observatory form (National Research Council 2010). Fol- (IXO)–a powerful X-ray telescope that will lowing in the footsteps of its five predecessors, transform our understanding of hot gas asso- it recommends a prioritized program of activities ciated with stars and galaxies in all evolution- for the 2012-2021 decade, and it lays the founda- ary stages. (Medium-scale, in rank order) New tion for the decade after that. But unlike previous Worlds Technology Development Program–a surveys, it reprioritized any project recommended competed program to lay the technical and sci- in a previous survey that has not been realized. entific foundation for a future mission to study And, responding to concerns about cost growth of nearby Earth-like planets. Inflation Probe major projects, the survey engaged the Aerospace Technology Development Program–a compet- Corporation to assist it in assessing the techni- ed program designed to prepare for a potential cal readiness and appraising the likely cost of the next-decade cosmic microwave-background large projects. The recommended program fits mission to study the epoch of inflation. within plausible budget scenarios based on in- The Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee On the Ground: (Large-scale, in priority or- put from the agencies supporting research in this field. As a result, recommended priorities reflect The identification of these science priorities played a sem- der) Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)– an executable balance of scientific promise against cost, inal role in the process: the organizing principle for con- a wide-field optical survey telescope that will transform risk, and readiness. The international context also played an struction of the project priorities was to provide a balanced observation of the variable universe and will address broad important role in the committee’s deliberations, and many portfolio of capabilities to address these science objectives. questions that range from indicating the nature of dark ener- of the large projects involve international collaboration as This report recommends a program that will set the as- gy to determining whether there are objects that may collide well as private donors and foundations. tronomy and astrophysics community firmly on the path to with Earth. Mid-Scale Innovations Program augmentation– An important feature of the surveys is extensive consul- answering some of the most profound questions about the a competed program that will provide the capability to re- tation with and input from the scientific community. To plan cosmos. In the plan, new optical and infrared survey tele- spond rapidly to scientific discovery and technical advances the survey and assist in making the decision about when to scopes on the ground and in space will employ a variety of with new telescopes and instruments. Giant Segmented initiate it, the Board on Physics and Astronomy convened a novel techniques to investigate the nature of dark energy. Mirror Telescope (GSMT)–a large optical and near-infrared group of researchers at the National Academies’ Keck Cen- These same telescopes will determine the architectures of telescope that will revolutionize astronomy and provide ter. The result was the foundation of a proposal to NASA, thousands of planetary systems, observe the explosive de- a spectroscopic complement to the James Webb Space NSF, and DOE to launch a new survey, dubbed Astro2010. mise of stars, and open a new window on the time-variable Telescope (JWST), the Atacama Large Millimeter Array The Survey Committee, formed in 2008, created 9 panels universe. Spectroscopic and high-spatial-resolution imag- (ALMA), and LSST. Atmospheric Cerenkov Telescope Ar- involving 123 members of the astronomy and astrophysics ing capabilities on new large ground-based telescopes will ray (ACTA)–participation in an international telescope to research community at universities and government labora- enable researchers to discern the physical nature of objects study very high energy gamma rays. (Medium-scale) CCAT tories to provide science assessments and to establish prior- discovered at both shorter and longer wavelengths by other (formerly the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope)–a ities within defined areas of ground-based and space-based facilities in the committee’s recommended program. Inno- 25-meter wide-field submillimeter telescope that will com- research. The Committee issued a request for information to vative moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground plement ALMA by undertaking large-scale surveys of dust- elicit proposals for projects to be prioritized, which resulted in will be enhanced so as to enable the community to respond enshrouded objects. the submission of over 300 white papers that provided broad rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. Construc- These major new elements must be combined with on- community input to the panels. More details on the process tion will begin on a space-based observatory that employs going support of the core research program to ensure a bal- may be found at http://www.nationalacademies.org/bpa. the new window of gravitational radiation to observe the anced program that optimizes overall scientific return. To The Committee found that astronomers’ overall view of merging of distant black holes and other dense objects and achieve that return the committee balances the program with the universe has changed dramatically in the last decade. to precisely test theories of gravity in new regimes that we a portfolio of unranked smaller projects and augmentations Hundreds of planets of startling diversity have been discov- can never hope to study on Earth. The foundations will to the core research program, funded by all three agencies. ered orbiting distant suns. Black holes, once viewed as an be laid for studies of the hot universe with a future X-ray These elements include support of individual investigators, exotic theoretical possibility, are now known to be present telescope that will search for the first massive black holes, instrumentation, laboratory astrophysics, public access to at the center of most galaxies, including our own. Precision and that will follow the cycling of gas within and beyond privately operated telescopes, suborbital space missions, measurements of the primordial radiation left by the big galaxies. Scientists will conduct new ground-based ex- technology development, theoretical investigations, and bang have enabled astronomers to determine the age, size, periments to study the highest-energy photons emitted by collaboration on international projects. and shape of the universe. Other astronomical observations cosmic sources. At the opposite end of the electromagnetic This report also identifies unique ways that astronomers spectrum, radio techniques will become powerful enough to have also revealed that most of the matter in the universe is can contribute to solving the nation’s challenges. In addi- view the epoch when the very first objects began to light up dark and invisible and that the expansion of the universe is tion, the public will continue to be inspired with images of accelerating in an unexpected and unexplained way. Recent the universe, marking the transition from a protracted dark the cosmos and descriptions of its contents, and students of discoveries, powerful new ways to observe the universe, age to one of self-luminous stars. The microwave back- all ages will be engaged by vivid illustrations of the power and bold new ideas to understand it have created scientific ground radiation will be scrutinized for the telltale evidence of science and technology. These investments will sustain opportunities without precedent. that inflation actually occurred. Perhaps most exciting of and improve the broad scientific literacy vital to a - tech The growing intersection between physics and astrono- all, researchers will identify which nearby stars are orbited nologically advanced nation as well as providing spin-off my figures prominently in the new discoveries and insights by planets on which life could also have developed. technological applications to society. about the universe. The physics underlying many astro- Realizing these and an array of other scientific oppor- The Committee and I are deeply grateful to the astron- nomical phenomena is becoming clearer. At the same time, tunities is contingent on maintaining and strengthening the the cosmos is proving to be a laboratory for the exploration foundations of the research enterprise that are essential in omy and astrophysics community for its commitment to a of basic questions in general relativity, particle and nuclear the cycle of discovery–including technology development, gigantic effort and broad involvement as well as a willing- physics, and atomic, condensed-matter, and plasma physics. theory, computation and data management, and laboratory ness to support the community consensus. That support was The science objectives chosen by the survey committee experiments, as well as, and in particular, human resources. essential to producing the report and it will continue to be for the decade 2012-2021 are: At the same time, the greatest strides in understanding often essential in implementing the shared vision that the report • Searching for the first stars, galaxies, and black holes; come from bold new projects that open the universe to new recommends. • Seeking nearby habitable planets; and discoveries, and such projects thus drive much of the strat- Roger Blandford, who chaired the Committee for a • Advancing understanding of the fundamental physics egy of the committee’s proposed program. This program Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the Pe- of the universe. requires a balance of small, medium, and large initiatives hong and Adele Chen Director, Kavli Institute of Particle These three objectives represent unprecedented opportu- on the ground and in space. The large and medium elements Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University. Don- nities now becoming within our capability to explore. The within each size category are as follows: ald C. Shapero is the Director of the Board on Physics and discoveries made will surely lead to new and sometimes In Space: (Large-scale, in priority order) Wide-Field Astronomy of the National Research Council. surprising insights that will continue to expand our under- Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)–an observatory de------standing and sense of possibility, revealing new worlds and signed to settle essential questions in both exoplanet and National Research Council. New Worlds, New Horizons presenting new horizons, the study of which will bring us dark energy research, and which will advance topics rang- in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Washington, DC: National closer to understanding the cosmos and our place within it. ing from galaxy evolution to the study of objects within our Academy Press, 2010 (prepublication version)

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