Aug./Sept. 2012 • Vol. 21, No. 8
A Publication of the American Physical Society Focus on Advocacy see page 6 www.aps.org/publications/apsnews
Sam Aronson of Brookhaven Elected APS VP Permanent Jobs Elusive APS members elected Sam APS Council and Executive Board become its associate chair in 1987 Aronson of Brookhaven National as past-President. and its deputy chair in 1988. In for Recent Physics PhDs Laboratory to be the next vice- Aronson is currently the director 1991 he served as senior physicist Recent physics graduates with tion,” up from 7 percent for the president of the Society in elec- of Brookhaven National Labora- on the PHENIX detector while the PhDs have had a hard time find- graduating classes of 2007 and tions that concluded on June 29. tory and President of Brookhaven RHIC particle accelerator was be- ing potentially permanent jobs, 2008. As the newest member of the pres- Science Associates, the organiza- ing built. He later returned to the and have been increasingly likely The unemployment rate for idential line, Aronson will become tion in charge of running the lab. leadership of the physics division to take a post-doc position during graduates with a physics PhD has APS President in 2015. He was named director in 2006, af- and became its chairman in 2001. the recession. hovered at around 2 percent since The members also voted for He was elected an APS Fellow in This is the conclusion of two as far back as 1979, well below Marcia Barbosa of the Federal 2001 and a Fellow of the American studies released in July by the the national average, even in eco- University of Rio Grande do Sul, Association for the Advancement statistical research center at the nomic boom times. The reports, Brazil to be International Council- of Science in 2005. American Institute of Physics. however, caution that the unem- or, Marcelo Gleiser of Dartmouth In a statement on the Brookhav- Taken together, the reports painted ployment rate tends not to reflect College to be General Councilor, en website, Aronson wrote, a gloomy picture of the job market the overall job market. and Paul McEuen of Cornell as “I am much honored to have for the classes of 2009 and 2010. “Because the unemployment Chair-elect of the Nominating been given the opportunity to lead The studies found that fewer rate of new physics PhDs is con- Committee. the APS. I hope to work with the than 30 percent of newly minted sistently low, it is not a particularly Aronson will assume his office rest of the leadership team over the PhDs are accepting potentially useful indicator of job market de- in January of next year, replac- next few years to leverage APS’[s] permanent positions, down from mand,” the report reads. “Instead, ing Malcolm Beasley of Stanford considerable influence in advocat- an eight-year high of 34 percent trends in the proportions of new University, who will become Pres- ing on behalf of the U.S. physics in 2008, while more than 60 per- PhDs accepting post-docs versus ident-elect. This year’s President- community,” cent are taking post-doc positions, potentially permanent positions Sam Aronson elect, Michael Turner of the Kavli In his candidate statement, Ar- up from a low in 2008 of about 55 better reflect job market strength.” Institute for Cosmological Physics ter serving as associate lab director onson further explained his vision percent. The majority of these poten- at the University of Chicago, will since 2005. Aronson first came to as part of the presidential line. According to this most recent tially permanent positions were assume the role of President, while Brookhaven in 1978 as an associ- “The APS has been a strong survey, 13 percent took post-doc in the private sector, about 57 per- the current President, Robert Byer ate physicist, and worked his way voice in support of science literacy, positions because they “could not cent, while academic institutions of Stanford, will remain on the up through the physics division to ARONSON continued on page 7 obtain a suitable permanent posi- JOBS continued on page 5
APS Honors Thirty-nine Minority Scholars New Federal Limits on Travel The APS Committee on Mi- of excellent applications, COM of undergraduates have received Could Decimate Some Meetings norities in physics (COM) has created an honorable mention cat- the scholarship, many of whom Organizers of scientific meet- would be needed from the dep- selected 39 students, comprised egory this year for students who have gone on to receive PhDs in ings are concerned that new uty secretary, while more than of 21 new recipients and 18 re- had very good applications, but physics and are now working as regulations issued by the Of- $500,000 would require the sec- newal students, for the 2012-2013 for whom funding was not avail- physics faculty members in uni- fice of Management and Budget retary of the agency to sign off. Scholarship for Minority Under- able. In this first year, 16 students versities, as well as research sci- (OMB), limiting travel for feder- Conference organizers fear that it graduate Physics Majors. received honorable mentions and entists at corporations and nation- al employees, could dramatically would be difficult to secure this Each new minority scholar re- received a letter of recognition al labs. Some past scholars have reduce meeting attendance. authorization. ceives $2,000, and the scholarship along with an offer of mentoring. also become high school physics In a memo dated May 11, the “That’s a disaster for our may be renewed once, for $3,000. The scholarship, which began and math teachers. OMB issued regulations aimed meeting,” said Cary Forest, Chair The scholarship funds may be in 1980, is open to any African- Minority Scholar Carlos del- at cutting travel spending by of APS’s Division of Plasma used for tuition, room and board, American, Hispanic, or Native Castillo-Negrete attends Yale 30 percent through 2016. If an Physics. “Thirty percent of our and educational materials. In ad- American US citizen or perma- University. Prior to matriculating agency, such as the Department attendees are from national labs.” dition, each minority scholar is nent resident who is majoring or at Yale, he spent a year intern- of Energy, wants to spend more The DPP meeting has one of paired with a mentor at his or her planning to major in physics, and ing with the Spallation Neutron than $100,000 to send people to a the highest proportions of federal university, and a mentor from the who is a high school senior, col- Source at the Oak Ridge National single conference, authorization LIMITS continued on page 4 APS Committee on Minorities in lege freshman, or sophomore. Laboratory. His project focused physics. Due to the large number Since its inception, hundreds SCHOLARS continued on page 7 Read Comics You Must
US Students among the Best at International Physics Competition By Brian Jacobsmeyer theoretical and experimental ex- to launch projectiles onto spheri- Just before the Olympic Games ams. Students could also earn a cal buildings, evaluate magnetic started in London, young teams of number of special prizes for out- superconducting drinking straws students from around the world standing individual performances. and analyze condensation on air- converged in Estonia for the Almost 400 students represent- craft wings in the first problem 43rd annual International Physics ing over 80 countries competed alone. Olympiad. All five members of the between July 15th and 24th. US Only about 30 students earned US Physics traveling team earned team member Eric Schneider’s more than 50 percent credit on at least a silver medal at the com- strong individual performance this “most difficult” theoretical petition, and the team’s combined ranked third overall and earned question, according to Stanley. three gold medals and two silver him a special prize for the most Although many students struggled creative solution to a theoretical with this problem, Schneider fol- medals garnered a 4th place finish Photo by Nick Hammer problem. lowed unique paths to his solu- in the unofficial medal count. Chi- Even Jedi Masters love to read Spectra Comics, as the APS outreach team na and Taiwan tied for first place, “Without a doubt, these [prob- tions, achieving almost full marks discovered at Comic-Con in San Diego in July, where they exhibited for the Singapore took the next spot, and lems] were harder than any theo- that led to his special prize. third year in a row. There are now four comics in the Spectra series, cre- ated by APS Head of Public Outreach Rebecca Thompson and Art Director the US tied for 4th with South Ko- retical questions we’ve had in “He was able to find an elegant about a decade,” said head coach approach instead of brute forcing Kerry Johnson. In addition to forming an important part of the PhysicsQuest rea and Russia. kit that goes out annually to about 13,000 middle-school classrooms, the com- Paul Stanley. like a lot of people might have,” Medals and honorable men- ics featuring laser super-hero Spectra and her friends are also distributed on tions were awarded in tiers based The rigorous theoretical section said team coach Andrew Lin. a stand-alone basis, at venues such as Comic-Con. In the photo, Thompson required students to calculate how (left) signs the latest issue as Yoda (right) looks on. on a student’s percentile score on STUDENTS continued on page 5 2 • August/September 2012
Members This Month in Physics History in the Media August 10, 1915: Henry G.J. Moseley Killed in Action
cience students everywhere are familiar with So the atomic numbers of the elements weren’t “This is what physicists look “We, scientists, speak math- Sthe modern periodic table, which organizes as arbitrary as physical chemists originally thought. like when they’re excited. And ematics… This is our language–it the chemical elements based on their properties Moseley’s work provided a firm experimental foun- also missing quite a few nights of is precise and clear, while hard to and atomic numbers. Earlier versions, however, dation for Mendeleev’s earlier intuitions, resulting sleep, I would imagine.” communicate to those who don’t followed a far looser organization. In 1789, for in more accurate positioning of the elements within Joe Lykken, Fermilab, about speak this language.” example, Antoine Lavoisier grouped his list of 33 the periodic table. the state of excitement at Fermi- Dmitri Denisov, Fermilab, The elements into gases, metals, earths, and nonmetals. In fact, Moseley was able to use this mathemati- lab after the last of the Tevatron Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2012. But chemists longed for a classification scheme cal relationship to correctly identify gaps in the data was released, The Chicago that evinced more precision. periodic table, predicting that there should be el- Tribune, July 2, 2012. “Leon Lederman is a charm- Dmitri Mendeleev provided a better framework ements with atomic numbers 43, 61, 72, and 75. ing and amusing guy. I know him. in 1869 with his precursor to our modern periodic All these elements were subsequently discovered: “It looks like a Higgs; it quacks He’s always making jokes. I have table of elements, organizing them according to two radioactive synthetic elements–technetium like a Higgs; but we need DNA no idea why that book was called the sequence of atomic masses. But there were is- and promethium, both created in nuclear reactors– tests (more data) to make sure it is The God Particle. Many physi- sues with how he chose to order the elements in his and two naturally occurring elements, hafnium the Higgs… For now, it is time to cists think it was a terrible name. I table. For instance, Mendeleev assigned the atom- and rhenium. (It should be noted that Mendeleev celebrate a little and spike the ball don’t mind it myself.” ic numbers 27 and 28, respectively, to the metals also predicted the missing element we now know in the end zone.” Robert Orr, University of To- cobalt and nickel, based on their as technetium, 50 years earlier.) Michael Turner, University of ronto, on the origin of the term physical and chemical properties, Moseley’s work also established Chicago, The Washington Post, “God Particle,” The Globe and even though cobalt had a slightly that there were only 15 members in July 4 2012. Mail, July 6, 2012. larger atomic weight and techni- the lanthanide series of rare earth cally should have followed nickel. elements. “[I]n 1935, Hideki Yukawa (a It’s not at all sure yet that it It was an intuitive leap: Mendeleev In 1914, Moseley left Ruth- Japanese theoretical physicist) is the same as the simple vanilla based his decision on the known erford’s Manchester laboratory, predicted the existence of a par- Higgs of the standard model of chemical and physical properties of planning on returning to Oxford ticle, now called the pion, based particle physics. In fact, we’re all both elements. to pursue his physics research, but on trying to understand nuclear hoping that it’s not. It’ll be much There were also irregularities the outbreak of World War I put a reactions. The next year a particle more interesting to find something in the location of argon and potas- wrench in those plans. Instead, he was found in the right mass range. even more complicated.” sium, as well as the positioning enlisted in the Royal Engineers of But further study showed that the Sean Carroll, Caltech, Talk of of the rare earth elements. When the British Army, serving as a tech- particle that had been found did the Nation, July 6, 2012. chemists discovered the existence nical officer of communications not have the right properties to of chemical isotopes, they real- during the months-long Battle of be a pion, and instead was some- Henry Moseley “[I]t was too early in the morn- ized that atomic weight was not the Gallipoli in Turkey. thing completely unexpected, the ing for alcohol… But this was optimal criterion for ordering the periodic table. On August 10, 1915, Moseley was in the midst muon.” a historical moment in particle A young British physicist named Henry Moseley of sending a military order when a sniper’s bullet Paul Padley, Rice University, would provide them with a more scientifically rig- caught him in the head and killed him. He was 27. physics–the thing people have on why physicists have to be care- orous classification scheme. Given all that he had accomplished at such a young been awaiting for 30 years.” ful in declaring the Higgs boson Moseley was born to privilege in 1887 in Dorset, age, Isaac Asimov noted that Moseley’s death Manfred Paulini, Carnegie “found,” The Houston Chronicle, England. His father was Henry Nottidge Moseley, “might well have been the most costly single death Mellon University, on why he July 4, 2012. a biologist and professor at the University of Ox- of the War to mankind generally.” Indeed, because didn’t have a glass of champagne ford, and his mother was the daughter of biologist of it, the British government established a new pol- after the discovery of the Higgs, “The theory didn’t tell us how John Gwyn-Jeffreys. So the boy’s early interest in icy barring the country’s most prominent scientists The Pittsburg Post-Gazette, July heavy it would be, so we had to zoology came naturally, as did his academic prow- from engaging in active combat duty. 10, 2012. search over a large range for it… ess. He was a stellar student at the Summer Fields Asimov also famously speculated that, had he We really did design the Large School and received a scholarship to Eton. He went lived, Moseley might well have won the Nobel Hadron Collider to be able to cov- “I don’t think I understood at on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Oxford’s Trin- Prize the following year. Certainly, the trend for er that whole range and get some the time what a career in physics ity College in 1910, before joining Ernest Ruther- Nobel Prizes in physics at the time seemed to favor kind of answer, eventually.” might look like. I thought I might ford’s laboratory at the University of Manchester. work related to Moseley’s research. The committee William Ford, University of end up being a television weather- Initially he conducted physics demonstrations and chose x-ray crystal diffraction in 1914, and the first Colorado Boulder, on the discov- man.” worked as a teaching assistant, but soon traded in use of x-ray spectroscopy to study crystalline struc- ery of the Higgs Boson, The Den- Nigel Lockyer, TRIUMF, on teaching to work as a research assistant. ture in 1915, while the 1917 prize honored work ver Post, July 5, 2012. what he first thought when a pro- Moseley first set about improving x-ray spec- determining the telltale x-ray frequencies emit- fessor recommended he pursue trometry, which had only recently been introduced. ted by different elements. (There were no prizes “It is a momentous event and physics, The Vancouver Sun, July The spectrometer consisted of a glass vacuum tube awarded in physics or chemistry in 1916.) I am proud to be living in these 13, 2012. in which electrons were fired at metallic targets, Moseley’s work was certainly on a comparable historic times. Our 40-year quest such as cobalt and nickel. Those electrons emit- level, and also provided solid experimental data in for solving a puzzle is almost end- “’Ms Milani’ told me she liked ted photons in the x-ray regime, producing photo- support of the Rutherford model of the atom, later ing… Now we have to find out older men and was tired of photo graphic spectral lines on x-ray film attached on the refined by Niels Bohr. It is easy to forget that this if this new particle really is the shoots… She was very convincing outside of the vacuum tube. Moseley combined this model–which held that the atomic nucleus contains Higgs of the Standard Model or and I fell for the story.” new technique with Bragg’s law of diffraction to positive nuclear charges equal to its atomic number has properties which deviate from Paul Frampton, University of measure the various x-ray spectra associated with in the periodic table–was not immediately accepted standard expectations and if there North Carolina, quoted from an specific elements. In the process, he uncovered a by the scientific community, “You see actually the are other new particles to be dis- Argentinean newspaper on how he precise mathematical relationship between well- Rutherford work was not taken seriously,” Bohr covered.” got lured into carrying two kilo- defined lines in an element’s x-ray spectrum and its observed in 1962. “We cannot understand today, Meenakshi Narain, Brown Uni- grams of cocaine onto an airplane atomic number. Today we know this as Moseley’s but there was no mention of it any place. The great versity, LiveScience via the Chris- in Argentina, The Telegraph, July law. Moseley continued on page 3 tian Science Monitor, July 5, 2012. 28, 2012.
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Website Seeks Aid for Physicist Jailed in Argentina Several faculty members at arrested before boarding a flight to alleges that the university did not Education C orner the University of North Carolina, Peru when authorities found the follow its own guidelines for levy- A column on educational programs and publications Chapel Hill, have banded togeth- drugs hidden in the lining of the ing sanctions against him, and that er to help physics professor Paul suitcase given to him. he was not informed of his right to Now accepting applications for PAIR Frampton, who is languishing in There is no evidence that he a hearing before having his salary Physics and Instructional Resources (PAIR) is a pilot project in jail in Argentina, and whose sal- was ever actually in touch with suspended. physics teacher professional development designed to support ary has been suspended by UNC. Milani or that she has anything to “It appears to us the university physics teachers in need of content and/or material resources. This Spearheaded by mathematics do with the case. is probably violating its own regu- effort, funded by an APS member donation, will support up to 20 professor Mark Williams, they Six months later, Frampton is lations in terms of how they’re teacher + professional physicist teams to develop and implement have set up a website, HelpPaul- still awaiting trial in Buenos Ai- handling Paul’s salary,” Williams new content-rich lessons. Frampton.org, to raise funds for res. Multiple attempts to get him said, pointing to Chapter VI, sec- A grant of up to $1,200 will be provided to each team to purchase his defense, post any news, and released on bail have failed, and tion 603 of the UNC Policy Manu- classroom materials required for the lessons. Travel support will solicit character references. Bos- there is no word as to when his al found on the UNC website. also be provided to the team to share their project at a regional ton University professor and No- case will be brought to trial. Re- Frampton brought the suit professional meeting. bel laureate Sheldon Glashow, portedly the judge overseeing the against the university in May. A The deadline to apply is September 15, 2012. For more information, with whom Frampton is co-author case is known to often deny bail. preliminary ruling in June by the visit: www.aps.org/programs/education/highschool/teachers/pair.cfm on 13 papers, wrote one such ref- “We just don’t know when Orange County Superior Court de- Gender Equity Conversations Report Published erence. there might be the actual trial,” clined to reinstate his salary while Building on the success of the 2007 workshop, “Gender Equity: In January, authorities arrested said Williams. “We have no idea the case is pending. Williams said Strengthening the Physics Enterprise in Universities and National Frampton in Argentina after find- how to accelerate the process over that Frampton claims he will run Laboratories,” the Committee on the Status of Women in Physics ing two kilograms of cocaine there.” out of money sometime in Sep- (CSWP) began offering a new type of site visit to university physics hidden in his checked luggage. As to why he decided to trav- tember if the school does not rein- departments and national laboratories: Conversations on Gender Frampton claims that he had el with the unfamiliar suitcase, state his salary. Equity. only wanted to visit someone he Frampton claims that he has emo- According to court papers re- With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), CSWP thought was his internet girlfriend, tional issues that can make him ported in the North Carolina re- conducts the Conversations on Gender Equity site visits to foster and that he was the victim of a plot overly trusting towards others. gional newspaper the News and dialogue between visiting discussion leaders and the members of to traffic drugs using unwitting Those who know him, including Observer, the university claimed departments or laboratories they visit. Following the inaugural visit carriers. He has been held in the his ex-wife, have said that this is to have tried to assist Frampton by series, a final report was compiled showcasing the best practices for notorious Villa Devoto prison in a personality trait of his. locating an attorney for him, but this new program. This report is freely online at: http://www.aps.org/ Buenos Aires since his arrest and While the case in Argentina is that he would have to pay for the programs/women/workshops/gender-equity/sitevisits/ is facing up to 16 years in prison slowly working its way through legal assistance. Frampton opted New Versions of Physics InSight Available if found guilty of drug smuggling. the courts, litigation is moving instead for a public defender. APS has recently revamped Physics InSight–a free, downloadable Frampton first flew to South forward in North Carolina be- UNC has declined to comment Powerpoint slideshow that is designed to be shown in venues America in expectation of meeting tween Frampton and the univer- and has not issued any public frequented by potential physics majors, such as on hallways displays swimsuit model Denise Milani, a sity over his suspended salary. statement regarding Frampton’s in university science buildings. woman with whom he thought he On February 17, the provost, arrest or the lawsuit because of the had been having a months-long in- Bruce Carney, sent a letter to ongoing litigation. One of InSight’s main goals is to expose students to a range of ternet relationship. Instead, a man Frampton informing him that The dispute has taken a per- exciting contemporary physics research areas. InSight also profiles claiming to represent Milani met because of the arrest and his in- sonal tone. In March, Frampton so-called “hidden physicists,” who have jobs outside of academia and who come from diverse physics degree paths—such as physics Frampton at his hotel and gave ability to teach a scheduled class, was quoted in the News and Ob- bachelors with their own startup companies, or physics masters who him a suitcase he said belonged the university was suspending server as saying “I am one of the are now medical physicists. to the model, asking Frampton to Frampton’s salary effective the most published physicists, and transport it to her in Brussels. Af- 29th. Frampton asserts the class really [Carney] hasn’t done much Physics InSight also provides up-to-date statistical and employment ter waiting a day and a half in vain had already been canceled before that is of interest.” He and Carney information on various physics career paths, as well as information for a ticket, Frampton decided to he left the country because of low both work in the school’s depart- about opportunities for undergraduates–including special career- return home. He was stopped and enrollment. In addition, his suit ARGENTINA continued on page 7 related undergraduate events at meetings, and APS Minority Scholarships.
New slideshows are generated bi-monthly, so the content is always fresh and up-to-date. Physics InSight is also fully editable, so APS Committee on departments can add their own slides promoting local programs. International Freedom of Scientists To download the most recent version of InSight, visit www.aps.org/ careers/insight Nuggets from the education research that you can use in class CIFS Briefs: Highlighting the Connection Between Human Rights tomorrow We’re getting the physics education research out of those stuffy and Science for the Physics Community journals and into your hands (or, rather, ears) with this little audio Since its creation in 1980, the French judiciary concerning the trial for him and his release from podcast. Co-hosted by veteran high school physics teacher Michael APS Committee on International fact that he had been detained for prison. Fuchs and physicist and education researcher Stephanie Chasteen, each episode investigates a piece of the research literature and Freedom of Scientists (CIFS) an extended period of time with- CIFS was early in writing to how it can relate to your classroom. Relevant for K12 and college has advocated for and defended out having been formally charged the Iranian authorities calling for instruction. the rights of scientists around the with any crime. his release from detention and globe. As an APS standing com- Igor Reshetin released from permission to depart for the US Online at the Physics Education Research User’s Guide, and you mittee, CIFS is charged with ad- Russian prison to continue his graduate stud- can subscribe through iTunes too. http://perusersguide.org/podcasts/ vising the APS leadership about Scientist Igor Reshetin, the ies at the University of Texas at “problems encountered by scien- former director of a rocket tech- Austin (UT Austin). CIFS more This podcast is supported by a grant from the American Association tists in the pursuit of their scien- nology firm, who was sentenced recently wrote to the Iranian judi- of Physics Teachers (Physics Education Research Topical Group) tific interests or in effecting satis- to 11-1/2 years in prison–later re- ciary in June calling for a chance and supported by the University of Colorado’s Science Education Initiative, the Physics Education Research Group at the University of factory communication with other duced to seven years on appeal-- at a fair trial. A member of CIFS Colorado and sciencegeekgirl enterprises. scientists.” In this column, CIFS in 2007 was released from prison and faculty in Physics at UT Aus- describes some of the issues that on June 18. He was accused of tin wrote a petition on Kokabee’s Marc Sher discusses new initiative for introductory textbooks the Committee is monitoring as selling sensitive state technology behalf in the campus daily: http:// In Sean Carroll’s Cosmic Variance blog, APS member Marc Sher explained a new initiative that hopes to provide a lower-cost well as the Society’s other human to a Chinese firm. CIFS had writ- www.dailytexanonline.com/ alternative for introductory textbooks. Read the post here: http:// rights activities. Visit the CIFS ten to Russian authorities in 2008 firing-lines/2012/06/17/fair-trial- tinyurl.com/7fzylbd website at: http://www.aps.org/ on his behalf given that the charg- omid-kokabee. Several other pe- about/governance/committees/ es against him appeared related to titions also have been initiated APS Speakers Program cifs/index.cfm what would be considered routine calling for a fair trial for Omid The APS Speakers Lists contain names, contact information, and Physicist Adlène Hicheur scientific cooperation between re- and his eventual release. Read talk titles of physicists who are willing to give talks on a variety of is sentenced to four years and search institutes in two countries. more about Omid’s case in the subjects. A general search can be done at www.aps.org/programs/ then freed Omid Kokabee’s unfortu- August/September 2011, October speakers/ On May 4, Adlène Hicheur, the nate prison sentence 2011 and June 2012 issues of APS Advanced searches allow one to search specifically for women and CERN scientist who was detained Physics graduate student and News. minority physicists and Physics Education researchers. in October 2009 and accused of APS member Omid Kokabee was Science and Human Rights association with a terror group, sentenced to 10 years in prison Coalition Moseley continued from page 2 change came from Moseley.” Who Jaffe, Bernard. Moseley and the Num- was sentenced in France to four on May 13 along with 14 other In July, APS was represented knows what that talented young sci- bering of the Elements. New York: Anchor years in prison for “criminal as- defendants in the court of Judge at the biannual AAAS Science entist might not have gone on to ac- Books, 1971. sociation with a view to plotting Salavati in Tehran. Omid was and Human Rights Coalition complish had he survived the war? Moseley, H.G.J. (1913) “The High Fre- terrorist attacks.” He was released not represented by a legal coun- meeting in Washington, D.C. APS References: quency Spectra of the Elements,” M.A. Phil. from jail less than two weeks later. sel. His case has been advocated is one of more than thirty scientif- Heilbron, John L. (1966) The Work of Mag., p. 1024. [Online: http://www.chemis- Prior to his conviction, CIFS had by many scientific and human ic organizations that is a member H.G.J. Moseley, Isis 57(3): 336-364. try.co.nz/henry_moseley_article.htm] sent a letter on his behalf to the rights organizations seeking a fair CIFS continued on page 6 4 • August/September 2012
Advanced Labs Must Receive Necessary Resources Letters I wholeheartedly agree with or assemble, but more important nology (PCAST)
LIMITS continued from page 1 employees and federal contrac- DPP holds APS’s third largest “Scientists at the national labs at the General Services Adminis- posed legislation has been passed tors. Forest estimated that they meeting, after the March Meeting are at the top of their games,” tration which spent $830,000 on a as APS News goes to press. might be facing a deficit of 250 and the Division of Fluid Dynam- Forest said. “Their science tends conference for 300 employees in “The people who screwed up people at their meeting this Oc- ics annual meeting. APS doesn’t to be a little different from what Las Vegas. Several bills have also weren’t scientists,” Forest said. tober. He said that of the 1,700 track how many federal employ- is done at universities.” been introduced in Congress reg- He added that there have even attendees, about 500 are from ees attend each meeting, however The new limits will go into ef- ulating federal travel, both more been cities like Las Vegas that national labs. Estimating that it other meetings that likely feature fect starting on October 1, 2012, and less restrictive than the cir- have asked APS not to come back takes $2000 to send an individual a large proportion of scientists the beginning of the 2013 fis- culated memo. Some of the pro- because the physicists spent too to a conference, Forest said that from the national labs include the cal year. Scientists employed by posed rules include limiting fed- it likely costs the Department of April Meeting, the Division of universities but receiving grants eral employee travel to a single little money in the city. Energy $1 million in travel costs, Nuclear Physics annual meeting, from the federal government are conference per year, no override The full text of the OMB memo twice the amount needed to re- and the biennial meeting of the not subject to the new regulations. to spend more than $500,000 per is available online at www.white- quire authorization from Secre- Topical Group on Shock Com- The memo was issued in re- conference and stricter reporting house.gov/sites/default/files/omb/ tary Chu. pression of Condensed Matter. sponse to outrage over a scandal requirements. None of the pro- memoranda/2012/m-12-12.pdf .
After Finding the Higgs Boson Learning from Lindau: A Physics Meeting like no other Cartoon by Michael Lucibella By Alaina G. Levine they are called, to win a coveted one another, explains Sam Held, In early July, more than a score spot to attend the Meeting. Brian who oversees the US participa- of physics and chemistry Nobel Dorney, who is pursuing his doc- tion. Laureates and nearly 600 students torate at Florida Institute of Tech- It was in DC that Landerville from all over the world gathered nology but has been at CERN first recognized the significance in the little lake town of Lindau, since last October, echoed this of the program. “Instantaneously, Germany for the 62nd Lindau No- sentiment: “The experience blew I realized how wonderful it was bel Laureate Meeting. The subject my mind,” he says. “I couldn’t be- to be in the delegation, with stu- of the conference changes an- lieve I was there the whole time. It dents from all over the world,” he nually, and this year it was dedi- was a once in a lifetime opportu- recalls. The U.S. sent the second cated to physics. Over the course nity to gain real insight into being largest number of students, just of a week, laureates gave formal a scientist, a researcher and doing behind Germany. lectures and interacted with the something important.” Landerville is pursuing a PhD young researchers in intimate Each of the 69 countries that in computational modeling and settings, even giving some of the sent student delegates to Lindau shockwave physics, with an ap- students the opportunity to pres- has their own selection process. plication towards materials char- ent their research directly to the The US program is administered acteristics for explosives at the established scientists. As many by the Oak Ridge Institute for Sci- University of South Florida. He of the participants pointed out, ence and Education (ORISE) for found out about Lindau through 27 Nobel laureates aggregating at DOE and NSF, and is sponsored his advisor, who one day informed nearly one point in time and space by the DOE Office of Science, him that he had taken the liberty is nothing to sneeze at. Add to this the NSF Directorate for Mathe- of nominating him. He was funded science soirée the brouhaha over matical and Physical Science, Oak by ORAU. that newly discovered boson, and Ridge Associated Universities The Lindau week was jam- you get a Shangri-la of physics. (ORAU), and Mars, Incorporated. packed with activities, including But don’t take my word for it. American students who are select- one-hour lectures by laureates “It was unlike anything I’d ever ed have their travel expenses paid in the morning, and afternoon experienced before,” said Aaron for by one of these organizations, sessions that consisted of small Landerville, one of nearly 100 and meet in Washington, DC prior groups of students meeting with American “Young Researchers,”as to flying to Germany for orienta- individual prize winners, and © 2012 Michael Lucibella Image courtesy of:CERN tion and a chance to get to know LINDAU continued on page 6 August/September 2012 • 5
Media Fellows Follow Varied Career Paths By Michael Lucibella Chicago when he first heard about For each of the last 15 years, the media fellowship. At the time as part of the Mass Media Fellow- he had just finished his PhD at ship program of the American As- Harvard and had been part of the sociation for the Advancement of Fermilab team that discovered the Science (AAAS), APS has spon- top quark in 1995. sored one or two young scientists, “I remember reading stuff in with an interest in communica- the papers and it didn’t seem like Marketing Science anyone really seemed to capture tion, to get hands-on experience at by Michael S. Lubell, APS Director of Public Affairs a media outlet. Participants have the fun and craziness of what ac- been placed at major newspapers, tually finding the top quark was,” Science policy used to be an science, engineering and high- and the media. But as worthy as radio stations and magazines, and Kestenbaum said. “I felt there was inside-the-beltway affair. The tech community engaged Public they are, at least among adults, have then taken varied career this gap.” subject was too numbing, arcane Opinion Strategies and Greenberg these efforts are most likely to paths, including journalism, sci- He added that the small station and technical for a public that Quinlan Rosner in the spring of reach an audience already attract- ence education and outreach, ba- was the perfect fit, because he had lacked the interest, education and 2011 to conduct four focus groups, ed to science. Only rarely do they sic research and public relations. a lot of freedom to produce sever- knowledge necessary to render any followed by a major national poll. connect with people for whom sci- APS News caught up with a few al stories that made it to air, some- meaningful judgment. The outcome was decidedly mixed. ence is a disconnect. of its past fellows to see what they thing he likely wouldn’t have had And for more than six de- Overwhelmingly, the respon- If average American citizens were up to now. a chance to do at a bigger affiliate. cades, science survived and mostly dents said they believed that it was know little of the benefits they David Kestenbaum was the “It was this nice little universe; thrived on the wisdom and com- important for the United States to have derived from science–apart first mass media fellow sponsored it was a small operation you could mitment of elected officials and be a global leader in science. But from medicine–it is the fault of by APS. In 1997, he spent a sum- actually participate in. They gave well-schooled policymakers. But half of them gave the government the science community for not ex- mer at WOSU, a small NPR affili- you a tape recorder and like the that was during an era when public a very low or failing grade for how pending more effort to provide the ate in Columbus Ohio. Today, he next day you’re on the radio,” trust in government was generally it was managing its research pro- narrative. That must change. is one of the hosts of the popular Kestenbaum said. much higher than it is today. grams. And they split evenly on In arguing that physicists have NPR economics podcast Planet With a summer of radio re- Throughout the 1960s, even whether cutting federal funding been ducking a social responsibil- Money. porting under his belt, he landed with Vietnam dividing the nation, for science was an appropriate re- ity, I am not suggesting we suffer “[The AAAS fellowship] was a six-month internship at Science the public’s trust in Washington sponse. from lassitude in any way. Far the way I got into radio. If I didn’t magazine in Washington DC. remained above 60 percent, ac- Science, it appeared, did not from it: almost all of us are over- have that, I don’t know that I However he always kept his sights cording to the Roper Center for draw a pass when it came to the burdened with the demands of our would have gone into radio be- on broadcasting. Science let him Public Opinion Research. Water- public’s general repugnance for profession. But if we ensconce cause I don’t know how I would work four days a week so he could gate eventually took its toll, and by activities that carried the imprima- ourselves in our laboratories and have gotten started,” Kestenbaum have one day to freelance for the time Richard Nixon resigned, it tur of the federal government. And talk only to each other when we said. “This was a way to get me to NPR. When the internship ended, had fallen dramatically to 35 per- with members of Congress wary venture out, we cannot expect the a radio station that was interested Science offered him a full time cent. But by 2012 standards, that of a disillusioned public that could public to grasp the societal value in having a science reporter for job. Before he took it, Kesten- figure would represent rapture. cost them their seats, fiscal conser- of science from a few snippets of the summer.” baum biked up the street to NPR’s Today, according to Gallup, vatives, especially, are now almost news they might accidentally en- Kestenbaum had already been headquarters to ask the editors fewer than one in five Americans reflexively opposed to committing counter. freelancing a bit while living in MASS MEDIA continued on page 6 has much confidence that elected federal funds even to science. And if the public doesn’t ap- officials will do the right thing in Unless the mood of the coun- preciate the value of science and Washington. Voters delivered that try changes, it’s hard to see how doesn’t trust its elected representa- message at the ballot box in 2010, science will be accorded political tives to make wise choices, science JOBS continued from page 1 when they sent a record number of sanctuary without greater public will suffer and with it the notion took in about 23 percent of newly $85,000. Perhaps surprisingly, the members of Congress packing. understanding of the societal good of exceptionalism to which most minted PhDs, and government po- starting salary for a potentially The outcome of the election it delivers. And that will require Americans pay homage. sitions (mostly in national labs) permanent spot at a university is also sent shockwaves throughout scientists to become more involved Science has been the principal got 16 percent. For post-docs the only marginally better than for a the political establishment. And it with the lay public, not so much to driver of our nation’s economy order is flipped, with 73 percent of post-doc, about $50,000 per year prompted science insiders to won- teach science but rather to preach for six decades. It has protected us post-docs taking positions with ac- compared with $45,000 per year. der whether the anti-establishment the value of science. from our adversaries and provided ademic institutions, 22 percent in Post-docs at government institu- vote posed a danger for public sup- Professional societies, APS medicine with the diagnostic tools the government and only 1 percent tions took in a median starting sal- port of federal research. among them, devote considerable and cures we all prize. in the private sector. ary of about $63,400 per year. To shed light on the issue, the resources to outreach, education MARKETING continued on page 7 About 7 percent of new PhDs Because of the economic STUDENTS continued from page 1 took some other kind of temporary downturn, it’s not that surprising position, the majority of which, 60 Stanley and Lin agreed that the competition. that the highest team performance to see more students go into post- experimental section was com- “It was really interesting to see was third place, so this year ranks percent, are as visiting professors doc positions,” said Crystal Bai- or lecturers at colleges and univer- parable in difficulty to previous how it has grown and also to see among the best US results since ley, APS’s education and careers years. The experimental half of it from the leader's point of view,” the team first participated in 1986. sities. This number has been about program manager. “My guess is the exam included a circuit prob- said Lin. The American Association of the same since 1991, when the that students want to find perma- lem and an investigation of the Over the years, competition Physics Teachers and the Univer- annual survey, first started asking nent positions and there are lots of magnetic permeability of water. has stiffened as more teams have sity of Maryland are responsible about “other temporary” positions. resources to help them do that.” Event organizers even developed joined, but the US has consistently for recruiting and training the US All together, 82 percent of other APS’s Physics Jobs Center, run custom multimeters for the exper- performed at a high level. During team every year with financial temporary positions are in some in conjunction with Physics Today, imental section with simultaneous his roughly ten year tenure as aca- support from over a dozen organi- way connected to an academic in- AAPT, AAPM, IEEE Computing voltage and current measurements demic director, Stanley estimated zations, including the APS. stitution. and SPS, has hundreds of listings and data logging capabilities. Physicists who took a post-doc for positions in both academia and Students didn’t travel to Esto- position were much more likely industry. In addition, APS has an nia solely for their exams, how- to remain in the physics subfield archive of dozens of recorded ca- ever. For the rest of the trip, the of their dissertation, 72 percent reer webinars on subjects ranging teams mingled while exploring as compared to 16 percent who from networking tips at meetings cultural and tourist sites through- went into another subfield of phys- out the country. Outside of the ics and 12 percent who went into to alternative careers for physics graduates. A webinar on how to classroom, the students visited another discipline all together, in- coastal islands, a meteor impact cluding engineering, business or get a post-doc position is planned for early October. Both resources crater, surviving medieval towns, finance, education and other sci- and an outdoor adventure park. can be accessed through APS’s ences. On the flip side, graduates The sporting mood of the Lon- Careers in Physics website at who took a potentially permanent don Olympics even drifted east www.aps.org/careers. position tended to change fields, toward Estonia, and the students The two AIP studies looked at with 42 percent going into a new competed in a friendly interna- discipline and 27 percent pursu- data for more than 1,500 PhD re- tional soccer tournament. Stu- ing a different subfield of physics. cipients from every physics and dents on the team truly enjoyed Only 31 percent remained in the astronomy degree granting col- the opportunity to speak with their same subfield as their dissertation. lege and university in the country. international peers in a relaxed Where a graduate ends up also has The American Institute of Phys- setting, according to Stanley. a big impact on remuneration. Pri- ics conducts its surveys every fall Lin experienced similar oppor- vate sector potentially permanent to monitor the careers of physics tunities as an alumnus of the 1998 Photo by Paul Stanley positions had the highest median students and graduates. The full and 1999 US Physics Teams. Af- Every member of the U.S. Physics Team earned either a silver or gold medal at starting salary at $90,000, while text of these reports can be found ter traveling as a coach with the this year’s Olympiad, and the team placed 4th in the overall medal count. Pictured from left to right are traveling team members Jeffrey Cai (silver medalist), Jeffrey potentially permanent govern- at http://www.aip.org/statistics/ team this year, Lin now has a Yan (silver medalist), Allan Sadun (gold medalist), Kevin Zhou (gold medalist) and ment workers earned a median of catalog.html. more nuanced perspective on the Eric Schneider (gold medalist). 6 • August/September 2012
APS Honors Two Colorado Sites Focus on In July, APS President Robert Byer presented a pair of plaques to two institutions in Colorado, each of which was Advocacy celebrating its 50th anniversary. The plaques designated these institutions as physics historic sites, as part of the APS Historic Sites Initiative. The top photo, taken on July Kevin T. Pitts is the associate 7, shows Board Chair Michael Turner head of undergraduate programs unveiling the plaque presented to the and a professor at the University Aspen Center for Physics, as Aspen of Illinois.Focus He ison an experimental- Center President Rosemary Wyse ist currently active on the Collider (left) and Byer (right) look on. Turner is DetectorAdvocacy and muon g-2 experi- also currently President-elect of APS. ments at Fermilab. Pitts became The lower photo was taken six interested in advocacy during the days later in Boulder, at the plaque 2007-2008 fiscal year when, as presentation to JILA, a joint institute chair of the Fermilab executive of the University of Colorado Boulder user’s committee, federal funding and the National Institute of Stan- dards and Technology. Eric Cornell, for high energy physics was sig- JILA Chair, dramatically unveils the nificantly cut. During that time, Kevin T. Pitts plaque while Byer (left) watches, and Pitts worked with the APS DC of- the crowd (not shown) goes wild. Top fice and authored a popular piece Gazette discussing the need for a Photo by Grundy Jonsson Photogra- in the Chicago Tribune, led letter congressional “champion of sci- phers. Bottom Photo by Brad Baxley/ writing drives and participated in ence.” (http://physics.illinois.edu/ JILA. congressional visits. Currently, undergrad/post-details.asp?1748 ) Pitts maintains a general physics While not all op-eds reach law- outreach blog, which discusses makers ears, Pitts said “I was en- policy among other topics. He couraged to hear a response from MASS MEDIA continued from page 5 recently published an op-ed in my senator’s office” regarding his there for a job. Again he worked students with science. Her official UCLA, to work at The Oregonian the Champaign Urbana News- call for science champions. out a way to split his time between title is the “Outreach Coordina- newspaper for the summer. She the two organizations, four days a tor,” which brings with it a range was excited to go. Writing for a LINDAU continued from page 4 week at the magazine and one at of responsibilities. She’s written science desk was something she “Master Classes,” in which some amplified by the students who at- NPR. In 1999 NPR hired him full articles about education, hosted had wanted to try for a long time. pupils gave ten minute research tended, who praised the experi- time as a science reporter. workshops on the subject and con- “It just sounded awesome,” talks to the laureates for feedback. ence as life-changing. “It made At NPR he covered science sulted with teachers. Podcasts are Nugent said. “I always thought There were also mandatory break- me question my career goals tre- for ten years, reporting on new her specialty, giving her a chance that being a reporter would be a fasts, lunches and evening affairs, mendously–whether I want to stay discoveries and the politics of to draw on some of the audio pro- super cool thing.” which usually consisted of various in academia or do something to science, as well as some of the duction skills she learned at NPR. While at the paper, Nugent cultural opportunities that encour- affect policy and attitudes in sci- “dark sides” of science, including “It’s turned out that I’ve used wrote articles about dogs help- aged students and laureates to get ence,” said Landerville. “I am the Northeast blackout, the failed the writing in general and the au- ing to save a rare species of but- to know each other. more open…that there might be New Orleans levees and the Gulf dio experience in particular in a terfly by sniffing out lupine blos- The Nobel prize winners were connections between my field and oil spill. lot of different ways,” Chasteen soms, the environmental effects very approachable, notes Dorney, others…It revitalized my interest In 2008, after the global finan- said. “I would say that my niche is of a common cleaning agent, and especially Brian Schmidt, the to get out on my own from grad cial crisis and ensuing recession, I write about education… It’s just home experiments for the micro- youngest and newest laureate in school and explore these possibili- fellow reporter Adam Davidson a different kind of science” wave oven. Her favorite was about attendance. In fact, one evening, ties.” asked Kestenbaum to join Planet At NPR’s science desk, she an entomologist whose job was to while Dorney was having din- As for the laureates themselves, Money, NPR’s new venture to re- helped cover stories, and devel- identify insects that people mailed ner with other students, Schmidt many of whom have participated port on the economy. Though he oped a few stories of her own for to him. Every day some new ar- “came out of nowhere and sat down in the conference more than once, had little background in econom- the radio. She reported on the first thropod would show up in his and spent the next 3-4 hours talk- they enjoyed the opportunity to mailbox from some far off part of ics, the subject’s quantitative na- cloned horse, and the discovery of ing with us.” He gave the emerg- meet and speak with students from a new dinosaur fossil in India. Da- the state. ture appealed to Kestenbaum, and ing scholars advice about pursuing all over the world. “That’s the he’s been on the beat ever since. vid Kestenbaum even helped her “It was really funny, it was re- what they love. During an after- best part of being in Lindau,” said “I often think that business is with voice coaching lessons on ally strange and I really enjoyed noon chatfest, “Schmidt said ‘we Bill Phillips. “That’s the reason to like engineering and economics is occasion. talking with him,” Nugent said. don’t do physics to win a Nobel come here. I don’t come here to sort of like physics,” Kestenbaum “I feel that that NPR experience Today she’s working on finish- Prize, we do it because it’s inter- meet the other Laureates.” He not- said. “It’s the sort of underlying showed that I was really capable,” ing up her PhD thesis on asteroids esting.’ He truly believes he was ed that he finds inspiration from rules, or what we think might be Chasteen said. “Once I got that on at UCLA. She has her eye on a doing what he was doing because the students, perhaps as much as the rules.” my resume with NPR, people re- couple of post-doc positions, es- it made him happy,” recounts Dor- they do from him. “One of the Stephanie Chasteen had experi- ally started to notice me.” pecially one at NASA’s Jet Propul- ney. “On my own, I have struggled things I learn here is how little I ence behind a desk at NPR during After her summer internship, sion Laboratory. In 2011, Nugent because …I thought my research understand, and how much I need her summer as an APS fellow in she received an NSF grant for a developed a ten-week astronomy was not very novel. But going to to deepen my knowledge, about 2003. Today she runs a science post-doc position at the Explor- seminar for undergraduates in the Lindau inspired me that no mat- certain things.” outreach business called “Science atorium in San Francisco. There school’s education program, cen- ter what happens, I am going to be But the fact that his Prize- Geek Girl” that helps educators her focus shifted from reporting tered on the premise of Earth not ok and it won’t be the end of the winning peers are also present and researchers develop new cur- science news to improving sci- having a moon. She also works for world if I have to switch fields.” does make a positive impression. ricula for college and high school ence education in the classroom. the American Astronomical Soci- And regarding Schmidt’s advice, students. Working with teachers, running ety’s division of planetary scienc- “I may never see him again but for “I have had [the] experience a “I do a variety of education workshops and teaching inquiry es subcommittee on federal rela- that week he was like a mentor,” few times, of meeting physicists consulting,” Chasteen said. “I call methods of education replaced tions advocating for more NASA he says. who were already legendary long myself a consultant who provides tracking down sources and hunt- funding. She says she frequently This year’s conference was before I started studying physics, support for educational reform.” ing for stories. draws on her experience at the Or- punctuated by the Higgs Boson and that’s really quite remarkable She is also working to help “I felt that I could make a big- egonian. announcement. The Lindau lead- to meet these people who I viewed professors and future teachers ger impact through the educa- “I think it’s been extremely ers arranged for the CERN press as legends of the past,” described develop new educational mate- tion,” Chasteen said. “I’m sort of helpful,” Nugent said. The con- conference to be broadcast live Phillips, with a chuckle. “One of rial at the University of Colorado, one small drip in one large pool of gressional briefings she helps pre- during the conference, and then the things that was really remark- Boulder. There, she helps instruc- science literacy.” pare for lawmakers “have to be later in the day organized a special able about Lindau the first time I tors and education undergradu- In 2008 APS sponsored Carrie clear and accessible and short,” a panel discussion with several Lau- went was I met Mössbauer. Now, I ates find new ways to connect Nugent, a recent graduate from skill she picked up at the paper. reates and a live feed with LHC thought Mössbauer was dead.” scientists to discuss the signifi- Alaina G. Levine is a science cance of the discovery. The panel writer and President of Quan- CIFS continued from page 3 consisted of David Gross, George tum Success Solutions, a science of the Coalition, which facilitates In particular, APS was pleased of scientists around the world Smoot, Carlo Rubbia and Marti- career and professional develop- communication and cooperation to participate in the Welfare of whose rights have been violated. nus “Tini” Veltman, all of whom ment consulting enterprise. She within the scientific community Scientists Working Group meet- Learn more about the Coalition trumpeted the discovery as a tri- attended Lindau on a travel fel- on the topic of human rights. Co- ing. This Working Group seeks to at: http://shr.aaas.org/coalition/ umph for physics, theory, and hu- lowship from the Council for the alition members recognize that increase the effectiveness of sci- index.shtml manity. Dorney recalls a specific Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, there is a connection between sci- entific organizations in defending Please follow new develop- message from the panel: “there is administered by the National As- ence and human rights and that the human rights of scientists. ments and reports of activities much more to do, there are more sociation of Science Writers. She scientists have an important role Coalition members learned about on the CIFS website: http://www. Nobel Prizes to be won.” can be contacted through www. to play in the realization of hu- the actions that other scientific or- aps.org/about/governance/com- Lindau’s leitmotif of “Educate. alainalevine.com. man rights. ganizations have taken on behalf mittees/cifs/index.cfm Inspire. Connect.” was certainly © 2012, Alaina G. Levine August/September 2012 • 7
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Childcare Grants Available Reviews of Modern Physics What: Small grants of up to $400 Multiphoton entanglement and interferometry Jian-Wei Pan, Zeng-Bing Chen, Chao-Yang Lu, Harald Weinfurter, Who is eligible: parents/caregivers who plan to Anton Zeilinger, and Marek Żukowski attend the APS March or April meeting with their small Light is made out of photons, which now can be efficiently creat- children or who incur extra costs to bring them along or ed, manipulated, and detected. This provides us with the possibility leave them at home. Preference is given to early career of testing several fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, rang- applicants. ing from the quantization of energy to the superposition principle, or Deadline: the violation of Bell inequalities. Also, the degree of control that has January 4, 2013 (for March) been achieved over the properties of the photons has opened up February 1, 2013 (for April) a broad spectrum of applications in the context of quantum infor- mation science. This review provides an introduction to multiphoton systems, with an emphasis on their entanglement properties. It also contains an exposition of the fundamental tests that have been car- Details at www.womeninphysics.org ried so far with such systems, as well as the key experiments on quantum communication and computation. ARGENTINA continued from page 3 ment of physics and astronomy. sent a letter signed by 26 profes- employee of UNC, attempted http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/RevModPhys.84.777 “He is an esteemed teacher and sors to the whole faculty of UNC to visit Frampton at the prison. accomplished researcher, having on August 1, alerting the school He was prevented from meet- published over 300 scholarly pa- to Frampton’s predicament and ing Frampton face to face, but http://rmp.aps.org pers and several advanced scien- lawsuit. Within a day of the let- Schwartz’s brother in law, who is tific books,” Glashow wrote in his ter being sent out, more than two a lawyer in Argentina, was able to reference for Frampton. “I cannot dozen people added their names to pass a message to him. Professional Skills Development imagine that Paul was aware of the letter in support. Several of the “He wanted me to know that he Workshops the illegal drugs that were secreted founders of the website have also was ok and appreciated that I had for Women Physicists within his checked luggage. Pro- written to the Argentinean judi- come,” Schwartz said. Also in the fessor Paul Frampton is an inter- ciary in an attempt to expedite the letter, Frampton said that he was nationally known scholar; he is case. However it is an uphill legal happy to be able to read physics When:::: honest, but he is also naive.” fight for Frampton. papers again, but the prison stay March 17, 2013 - Baltimore, MD Eight other professors, includ- “There is almost no record of had been taking its toll on his April 12, 2013 - Denver, CO ing former APS President Eugen success in cases like this,” Wil- health. Schwartz added that even Merzbacher, have also written let- liams said. “It’s a tough thing to Frampton’s public defender in Ar- Deadlines to apply:°: ters on Frampton’s behalf. argue because everyone in this gentina agreed it was a difficult December 7, 2012 (for Baltimore) While in jail, Frampton has situation claims that they were case. January 11, 2013 (for Denver) continued to advise his two gradu- set up,” He added that Framp- “It’s one thing if it’s some na- ate students through sporadic ton’s computer records of emails ive kid from the provinces saying phone calls. He has authored two and chats with the person claim- ‘I was set up,’” Schwartz said. See http://www.aps.org/programs/ scientific papers with the help of ing to be Milani should show that “It’s harder to convince a judge or women/workshops/skills/ the prison’s collaboration with the he honestly thought he would be jury that someone who is well re- University of Buenos Aires. meeting the model at the airport. spected for his intelligence can be The website organizers also In June, David Schwartz, an entrapped in this way.” SCHOLARS continued from page 1 on tackling the problem of how group. Her group at MIT works ARONSON continued from page 1 to reduce beam loss in high pow- on eliminating neutron back- the excitement and importance of the universities and the research ing public lectures, appearing on er particle accelerators. He noted grounds with shielding, calibra- scientific discovery and science- centers but the large programs television, writing three popular that although this research was, tion, and neutron I.D. algorithms. based policy making,” Aronson that are fundamental in these new books about particle physics and at times, frustrating and unsuc- Natalia’s research focus, how- wrote. “I believe this advocacy is discoveries,” Barbosa said. “The helping to start NPR’s science and cessful, the process of discovery ever, was on the neutron calibra- among the most important tasks of community has to be prepared to culture blog "13.7." that followed was rewarding and tion system for the MiniCLEAN the APS and I would like to work show to the society that physics Paul McEuen is a physicist at fulfilling. experiment. to extend and expand the APS’ and in particular basic physics is Cornell where his work focuses on Michael Karl Medina also at- A standout writer, Haris Dur- reach outside the scientific com- very important not only for restor- the electronic, mechanical and op- tends Yale and is taking a full rani studies applied physics at munity to communicate this to the ing the economic growth but also tical properties of nanostructures load of physics courses for the Columbia University where he next generation of physical scien- for doing that in a more sustain- and their applications. He served upcoming year including quan- is an Egleston Scholar. This past tists, policy makers and informed able and socially fair way.” on the APS Division of Con- tum mechanics, introduction summer, he held down two jobs. citizens.” She added that as International densed Matter Physics Executive to nuclear and particle physics, First, he was a research intern at Marcia Barbosa is a statistical Councilor she hopes to strengthen Committee from 2003 through and statistical thermodynamics, Columbia’s Robotics Lab on a physicist at the Federal Univer- ties with societies in other parts of 2006. In addition he has been on along with continued lab ex- Brain Computer Interface wheel- sity of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil the world. “Establishing programs numerous government advisory perimentation in preparation for chair/mobile-manipulator and where she studies the thermody- and exchange of experiences be- committees, including the Depart- a senior research project. Last robotic arm project. His second namic behavior of complex fluids. tween the physical societies of ment of Energy’s Basic Energy summer, he interned at NASA’s job was at Scholastic, for The Langley Research Center where She is currently the director of the these countries and APS would be Sciences Advisory Committee, Alliance for Young Artists & he produced a versatile computer physics institute at her university. beneficial for both. In particular I Grand Challenges in Energy Sub- Writers as the Editor for the an- In addition she is also currently hope to be able to serve as a link committee and the National Re- program in Mathematica output- nual anthology, The Best Teen the chair of the physics committee for the science with no borders, a search Council’s Decadal Survey ting a highly random pattern of Writing of 2012, which will be at the Brazilian funding agency, new program that send students Team on Condensed Matter and elliptical markers used in opti- published this fall and available the National Council for Scientific from Brazil to other countries.” Materials Physics. cal techniques. This past sum- on Amazon. Haris has also been and Technological Development, Marcelo Gleiser is a theoretical “We must more effectively mer, he participated in the Sci- published in the 2010 and 2011 and a member of the National physicist at Dartmouth College communicate the content and ence Undergraduate Laboratory editions of The Best Teen Writing Council of Science and Technol- who studies the many intersec- value of our research to the pub- Internships program at Argonne and was interviewed thrice on ogy which is chaired by Brazil’s tions of field theory, relativity and lic and to policymakers,” McEuen National Laboratory. He worked president. cosmology. He has been at Dart- said. “This is especially important with the Medium Energy Physics John Hockenberry’s NPR show, “Physics is on the edge of new mouth since 1991 and received in these times of extreme bud- group involved in several mea- The Takeaway, which is about discoveries in many sub fields the Presidential Faculty Fellows getary and societal pressures. Si- surements aimed at understand- writing, multiculturalism, and from high energies to astrophysics Award from Bill Clinton in 1994. multaneously, we must resist the ing the quark substructure matter. youth issues. His engineering- and nanoscience. However, this He has served on several of NSF continual bureaucratic creep from Scholar Natalia Guerrero is a focused novelettes, “The Photo- very interesting moment coincides and NASA advisory panels. In universities and funding agen- physics major at the Massachu- synthesis of Living Engines” and with economic difficulties that af- addition, he has worked to pro- cies that slows down research and setts Institute of Technology. She “Tethered,” were semifinalists at fect not only the everyday life of mote science to the public by giv- makes us less effective.” entered MIT interested in astro- the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of physics broadly but has since the Future Contest, one of the MARKETING continued from page 5 started to focus on dark matter. most esteemed competitions for It is now time for us to broad- good to a vast public that has beyond the beltway. We must be- This past summer, she conducted budding talent in the field of sci- cast the science story more widely. likely never thought about it. It is come as adept with public engage- research at the MIT Laboratory ence fiction. As odious as it may sound to a time for us to expand the public ment as we are with research and for Nuclear Science on the Mini- More information about the community that probably doesn’t outreach toolkit. discovery. We owe it to ourselves CLEAN (Mini Cryogenic Low scholarship and the names of all watch the TV hit show “Mad In an era when public trust in and to our nation. We must begin a Energy Astrophysics with Noble the recipients can be found at Men,” we must begin to market government is at a historic low, science marketing campaign now. liquids) experiment with the neu- http://www.aps.org/programs/ and advertise science as a social we must move science advocacy Science matters. trino and dark matter physics minorities/honors/scholarship/ 8 • August/September 2012 The Back Page
hree years ago at a symposium on lithium-air bat- its full range–say 150-300 km–and must use most of Tteries at IBM Almaden there was great optimism. its charge/discharge range. These requirements mean The symposium “Scalable Energy Storage: Beyond the battery for a BEV will be large, heavy, expensive, Lithium Ion” had as a working message: “There are Has the Battery Bubble Burst? and have a limited cycle life. Replacing a battery for no fundamental scientific obstacles to creating bat- a BEV could entail a cost exceeding ten thousand dol- teries with ten times the energy content–for a given by Fred Schlachter lars, which, divided by miles driven, will likely ex- weight–of the best current batteries.” ceed by a large amount the cost of electricity to power Optimism had all but vanished this year at the fifth the car. conference in the scalable-energy-storage series in Berke- The Berkeley 2012 symposium focused on two alterna- ley, California. The symposium announcement reads: tive chemistries: lithium/oxygen (lithium/air) and lithium/ “Although new electric vehicles with advanced lithium sulfur. Both theoretically offer much higher energy density ion batteries are being introduced, further breakthroughs than is possible even at the theoretical limit of lithium-ion- in scalable energy storage, beyond current state-of-the-art battery development. However, the technical difficulties in lithium ion batteries, are necessary before the full benefits making a practical battery with good recharging capability of vehicle electrification can be realized.” The mood was using either of these chemistries are considerable. cautious, as it is clear that lithium-ion batteries are ma- There are major research issues concerning all aspects turing slowly, and that their limited energy density and of a battery: the cathode, the anode, and the electrolyte, as high cost will preclude producing all-electric cars to re- well as materials interfaces and potential manufacturing is- place the primary American family car in the foreseeable sues. A Li/air (Li/O2) battery requires cooled compressed air future. “The future is cloudy” is how Venkat Srinivasan, without water vapor or CO2, which would greatly compli- who heads the battery research program at Berkeley Lab, cate a Li/air battery system. A Li/air battery would be both summarized the conference. larger and heavier than a Li-ion battery, making prospects Electric cars have a long history. They were popular at for automobile use unlikely in the near term. However, a the dawn of the automobile age, with 28 percent of the Photo by Roy Kalschmidt/Berkeley Lab leading battery-development group at IBM wrote in a 2010 automobiles produced in the United States in 1900 powered article on lithium-air batteries; “Automotive propulsion The 2013 Ford Energi plug-in hybrid, with the by electricity. The early popularity of electric cars faded, Golden Gate Bridge visible in the background. batteries are just beginning the transition from nickel metal however, as Henry Ford introduced mass-produced cars hydride to Li-ion batteries, after nearly 35 years of research (EPA 2012). With the ratio about 5, a battery with an energy powered with internal-combustion engines in 1908. and development on the latter. The transition to Li-air bat- storage density 1/5 of that of gasoline would have the same Gasoline was quickly recognized as nature’s ideal fuel teries (if successful) should be viewed in terms of a similar range as a gasoline-powered car. We are not even close to for cars: it has a very high energy density by both weight development cycle.” Perhaps we need to be patient. this at present. and volume–around 500 times that of a lead-acid battery– Many approaches are being followed to develop and im- Powering a car with electricity is considerably more effi- and it was plentiful, inexpensive, and seemingly unlimited prove battery performance, including studies using nano- cient than powering a car with gasoline in terms of primary- in supply. By the 1920s electric cars were no longer com- tubes, nanowires, nanospheres, and other nanomaterials. energy consumption. While the efficiency of energy use of mercially viable and disappeared from the scene. They did However, none of the researchers reported progress to the an electric car is very high, most power plants producing not reappear until late in the 20th century as gasoline be- point where a practical battery using Li/air or Li/S could be electricity are only about 30 percent efficient in converting came expensive, supplies no longer seemed unlimited, and envisioned primary energy to electricity delivered to the user. Conver- concerns over the possible effect of combustion of fossil Thomas Greszler, manager of the cell design group at sion of petroleum to gasoline is highly efficient. This results fuels on global climate reached public awareness. General Motors Electrochemical Energy Research Lab, was in electricity having a factor of 1.6 improvement in use of Electric cars are returning with the advent of battery pessimistic about the prospects for new battery chemistries: primary energy relative to gasoline, and is an important chemistries that are more efficient than the lead-acid bat- “We are not investing in lithium-air and lithium-sulfur bat- point in its favor. teries of old. A new generation of electric cars has come tery technology because we do not think from an automo- A 2008 APS report on energy efficiency examined sta- in the form of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hy- tive standpoint that it provides a substantial benefit for the tistics on how many miles Americans drive per day. The brid vehicles (PHEVs), and fully electric or battery electric foreseeable future.” conclusion of that study was that a full fleet of PHEVs with vehicles (BEVs). Most of the latest generation of electric A significant infrastructure challenge is the network that a 40-mile (60-km) electric range could reduce gasoline con- vehicles are powered by lithium-ion batteries, using tech- will need to be constructed for recharging the battery of a sumption by more than 60 percent. Thus America may not nology pioneered for laptop computers and mobile phones. BEV. There are more than 120,000 gasoline filling stations need a full fleet of BEVs to achieve a very considerable Powering cars with electricity rather than with gasoline in the United States. With the range of a present-day BEV reduction in gasoline use. offers the dual advantages of eventually eliminating our de- being less than a third of that of a gasoline-powered car, a The compelling question is whether electric cars can pro- pendence on imported fossil fuels and operating cars with very large number of recharging stations will be required, in vide the convenience, cost, and range necessary to replace renewable energy resources. Eliminating dependence on addition to home charging, which may be feasible only for their gasoline-powered counterparts as the primary standard petroleum imported from often-unfriendly countries will those who live in private homes or apartment buildings with American family car. And this hinges almost entirely on the greatly improve our energy security, while powering cars dedicated parking. state of battery development, coupled with issues of making from a green grid with solar and wind resources will sig- Charging an electric car takes hours, and even a fast the grid green and providing widespread infrastructure for nificantly reduce the amount of CO released into the at- charge will take longer than most people will be willing to 2 recharging electric vehicles. mosphere. wait. And charging should be done at night, when electricity The answer today is mixed: The major barrier to replacing the primary American generation and grid capacity are most available • HEVs are already popular, even though they represent family car with electric vehicles is battery performance. Battery research is being funded at a modest level, as only a small fraction of cars on the road today. The The most significant issue is energy storage density by both there is a false perception among the public and policymak- present generation of batteries is adequate for HEVs, weight and volume. Present technology requires an electric ers that present battery performance is adequate for wide- and range is not an issue, as 100 percent of the energy car to have a large and heavy battery, while providing less spread acceptance of battery-electric vehicles. The national to power the car comes from gasoline. Purchase cost is range than a car powered by gasoline. focus has been on renewable sources of energy. The United higher than for a conventional car; the advantage is a Batteries are expensive, resulting in electric cars typi- States will not become independent of foreign oil and com- 40 percent or more improvement in fuel economy (EPA cally being much more expensive than similar-sized cars bustion of fossil fuels until new battery technologies are 2012). powered by gasoline. There is a sensible cost limit when developed. This will require a concerted national effort in • PHEVs are now coming onto the market (Fig. 1). Elec- the cost of an electric car and electricity consumed over the science and technology at a considerable cost. tric range is limited, and batteries presently available life of the car considerably exceeds the cost of a car with an Fred Schlachter recently retired as a physicist at the Ad- are only marginally adequate. Total range is not an is- internal combustion engine including gasoline over the life vanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Labora- sue as gasoline is stored onboard as a “range extender.” of the car. tory. He is co-author of the 2008 APS report Energy Future: • BEVs coming onto the market are expensive and the Safety is an issue much discussed in the press. Although Think Efficiency, for which he wrote the chapter on trans- range is too small for many American drivers, at least there are more than 200,000 fires per year in gasoline-fu- portation. as the primary family vehicle. Batteries with a much eled cars in America, there is widespread fear of electricity. higher energy storage density and a lower cost are Batteries in cars powered by electricity will surely burn in needed for BEVs to become popular outside a limited “Moore’s Law” for Batteries? some accident scenarios; the fire risk will probably be simi- market of upscale urban dwellers as a second car to be lar to gasoline-powered cars. used for local transportation, where home recharging is Isn’t there some kind of “Moore’s Law” for batteries? Stored energy in fuel is considerable: gasoline is the feasible, and where charging time is not an issue. Why is progress on improving battery capacity champion at 47.5 MJ/kg and 34.6 MJ/liter; the gasoline in a Battery requirements are different for HEVs, PHEVs, so slow compared to increases in computer- fully fueled car has the same energy content as a thousand and BEVs. A battery for an HEV does not need to store processing capacity? The essential answer is that sticks of dynamite. A lithium-ion battery pack has about 0.3 much energy, but needs to be able to store energy quickly electrons do not take up space in a processor, MJ/kg and about 0.4 MJ/liter (Chevy VOLT). Gasoline thus from regenerative braking. Because it operates over a lim- so their size does not limit processing capacity; has about 100 times the energy density of a lithium-ion bat- ited charge/discharge range, its lifetime can be very long. limits are given by lithographic constraints. Ions tery. This difference in energy density is partially mitigated A PHEV battery must have much greater energy-storage in a battery, however, do take up space, and by the very high efficiency of an electric motor in convert- capacity to achieve a reasonable electric range and will op- potentials are dictated by the thermodynamics of ing energy stored in the battery to making the car move: erate with a considerably greater charge/discharge range, the relevant chemical reactions, so there only can it is typically 60-80 percent efficient. The efficiency of an which limits the cycle life of the battery. The battery for be significant improvements in battery capacity by internal combustion engine in converting the energy stored a BEV must supply all the energy to power the car over changing to a different chemistry. in gasoline to making the car move is typically 15 percent
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