I R P S BULLETIN Occasional Newsletter December, 2020

I R P S BULLETIN Occasional Newsletter December, 2020 IRPS COUNCIL MEETING 2nd and 3rd December, 2020 Photograph : Larry Hudson Editor: Dudley Creagh Composition and Publishing : Shirley McKeown From the Editor The cover page of this issue shows the David Bradley has provided a President’s present stage of scientific interaction : Column and as well, a description of how virtual meetings. In this case it is a he has fared during 2020. The sequence meeting of the IRPS Council, held in of the other offerings follows in December, 2020. alphabetical order. Chris Chantler describes the effect the pandemic has At this time almost the whole world is in had on his life, his students’ lives, and the lock-down to halt the progress of the wider scientific community. Malcolm COVID virus. There are exceptions, Cooper describes the continuing progress Australia for example, had only 2 active on his Beamline at the ESRF, Xmas, and cases in the whole country, and all of comments on the effect the virus has had these are in mandatory 14-day quarantine, on its progress. Dudley Creagh describes following their entry to Australia from problems he has had in undertaking elsewhere until recently. But then a experiments and his own personal solution driver for international flight crews must to the problem. Mahomed Gomaa details have contracted the virus from them, his activities and those of his Egyptian unintentionally infecting his family….and colleagues during the shutdown. Larry indirectly, many others (42 is the current Hudson offers some general advice about count). Greater Sydney has been coping with problems, and gives his own declared a hot-spot and frantic contract approach to a solution of the problems. tracing ensues. In the meantime State Shirley McKeown, my Research borders have been closed. The only way Asssociate, the person who has been out of this pandemic is vigilance and responsible for sub-editing and composing adherence to rules of members of the the IRPS Bulletin for almost 30 years, community. And good contact tracing. astronomer, geologist, bonsai-creator This Bulletin/Occasional Newsletter is an extraordinaire, and avid Death in Paradise outreach by the IRPS Council to its watcher writes of her time in isolation members. Each of its members are well and the lessons learned therefrom. aware of the great dislocation to life and livelihood caused by the pandemic. All have very different stories to tell. In this issue a number of members write We are interested to hear from you, the of their activities during the pandemic Members, to know how you are faring. Contributions (600 words + pictures) can be sent to Associate Professor Richard Hugtenburg, University of Swansea [email protected] Dudley Creagh Emeritus Professor, University of Canberra Former President of the IRPS Former Editor of the IRPS Bulletin FROM THE PRESIDENT Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Apollo 11 and all that th th 20 July 2019 marked the 50 anniversary their interactions, the issue of ionization is of the first person to step foot on the moon. fundamental to our work, from the This was a truly remarkable achievement; we interatomic through to the extra-nuclear, must laud the fearlessness, human endurance nuclear and nucleon scales. Proton and He-ion and of course the science, technology and bombardment as well as photoionization, life-support systems that provided the photonuclear and particle driven processes wherewithal for such voyage. During the (eg PIXE) all play a part in lunar surface and celebrations of the event these matters sub-surface phenomenon. In such an were not highlighted to the extent one might environment the dust is thus inevitably have wished for. In needing to overcome the ‘sticky’. Furthermore, the more penetrating manifold issues preventing those first literal radiations are considered to preclude the steps in interplanetary exploration, the establishment of a lunar surface vegetable voyage benefitted from technologies that garden, moisture issues apart. Thus said, most surely represented the state of the there are efforts, notably at the University art, even with electronics that in modern of Arizona (at the Controlled Environment terms might seem rather rudimentary. This Agriculture Center, CEAC) to examine the was just a single instance of advancements in viability of hydroponics retained in buried S&T that have occurred over the past 50 tubes, a shield against penetrating years. We are driven by the desire to learn, radiations. The group note CO2 to simply science in part being driven by statements of result from the act of breathing, while water uncertainty. On the moons’ surface dust could be extracted from ‘astronauturine’ and turned out to be a particular problem, the fiber optic light pipes could channel sunlight absence of atmospheric protection from from the surface to the plants. Incredible ionization leading to the issue of dust for sure and yet it is incredible difficulties adhering to practically all surfaces, suits and that drive science and technology. visors included (the low gravity also resulting in material damage, dust kicked-up during a While ionized dust was clearly not a part of landing attaining incredibly high speeds, a the Jules Verne 1865 novel, From the Earth prime mediator of damage). Quite how much to the Moon, dust did play a central role in preparation had been made for such a the Arthur C. Clarke 1961 novel A Fall of situation is perhaps something that one or Moondust (Arthur C. Clarke being perhaps two readers of this piece might be able to better known for his novel 2001: A Space answer. Odyssey, pub. 1968). The context one is For us, in this Society of people who show directly alluding to is the desire to know the highly expressed interests in radiation and elemental content of lunar soil and whether ..//Continued k President ’s Report (Continued) this might sustain life. The group at Guelph, Argentina, in Cordoba, at ISRP14 (October famed for GUPIX software (providing meeting has now been published in the analysis of multi-element PIXE spectra), are journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry just one member of a NASA project group (Special issue dedicated to the 14th that lead to the creation of an alpha particle International Symposium on Radiation Physics x-ray spectrometer, excellent in sensitivity ‘February 2020, Radiation Physics and and sufficiently small and lightweight Chemistry 167(1)\doi10.1016/j.radphyschem. (reported to be the size and shape of a Rubik 2019.05.020) cube) to allow it to form a part of an More recently still, in Lisbon, we met again, exploration rover (to-date of Mars); the this time for ICDA-3 (May 29th to June 6th, website 2019), the Linear No Threshold (LNT) model, https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/instrume the basis of the present legislative approach nts/apxs to radiation protection, being just one of the refers. issues coming under scrutiny. As an example, Where is one going with this? It is a well- at the organized tissue level can the worn phrase, nonetheless true, that complexities of radiation hormesis ever be necessity is the Mother of Invention. While untangled (read ‘understood’) to the extent the efforts of 50 years ago were doubtless that it can form a practical influencing driven by the space race and a desire for a factor on protection legislation? In this and high visibility demonstration of S&T prowess, other matters IRPS is undoubtedly playing risk being tempered by the prospects of its part. The Proceedings of ICDA-3 can be failure, yet the science and technology found in volume 171 (June 2020) of the payoff has been invaluable. The international journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry. cooperation resulting from world-wide We will soon meet again, in the conference efforts has as an instance played no small IRRMA 2021, this time in Moscow (present part in the forming of a global family of plans being for it to be held 4-9 July 2021) scientists and none the less so in the and in ISRP-15 in Kuala Lumpur, 6-10 radiation sciences. Five decades since that December 2021; we invite our members to moon landing, radiation continues to pose a push on with their efforts towards aims such great many challenges, offering at the same as those discussed herein and to present time the opportunity for gain in fundamental your work at our meetings, to the greater understanding. The IRPS seeks to play its benefit of us all. part; some two years ago the International Radiation Physics Society came together in We look forward to seeing you. David Bradley Emeritus Professor University of Surrey Head of the Centre for Biomedical Physics Sunway University President IRPS THE PLAGUE YEAR From David Bradley This has been one heck of a year’, a truism two weeks, with timings arranged to allow by any measure but not one stated lightly. for the opportunity for global participation; Sars-cov-2 came into my personal horizon in for me and for others also on my time zone March 2020, most vividly in a darkened and this meant being online from 8 pm to 11.30 largely empty airport terminal (albeit with pm. Once daylight saving kicked in, it was some fraction of the passengers clothed in then from 9 pm to 12.30 am. There was disposable chemical suits, a frightening some measure of sleep disturbance but vision, but hardly on the scale of the again not much of a sacrifice; global Hieronymus Bosch scenes of hell). By that participation had meant there were some time international flights had already 900 attendees. become difficult to arrange; had I not been gifted with good fortune and fate For the group I am a member of, we agreed notwithstanding, I could well have spent the that the time now available to us could be last eight months in ‘grand’ isolation, my used profitably, writing the reviews and entire family residing in the city of my book chapters that we had convinced destination.

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