May 2011 Volume 20, No. 5 TM www.aps.org/publications/apsnews

APS NEWS Inside the Oil Spill Commission A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews See page 8

Promise Lies Ahead for Superconductivity After 100 Years Congressman “Lights Up” The centennial celebration of the resistance of mercury when “Materials are very important superconductivity was the talk his instruments showed that it for superconductivity. In fact of this year’s March Meeting. dropped to zero at four degrees they drove most of the advances Both researchers and historians Kelvin. At first he thought the in the last century,” said George took time to reflect on the seren- results stemmed from a short in Crabtree of Argonne National dipitous discovery of supercon- his equipment because it was an Laboratory. “Superconductivity ductivity, and speculate about effect that no one had predicted. has in many ways led the field of its future promise for the world. Once he realized that his ex- condensed matter physics.” The Kavli Foundation sponsored periments were sound, this unex- An ultimate goal is to develop two sessions on the history and pected effect became the focus of a material that superconducts future of the effect, one of which intense study. From the start, the at room temperature. It’s been featured five Nobel Laureates. promise of dissipationless elec- a long and difficult search. Re- Dozens of sessions focused on tricity was evident. Laura Greene searchers have been pushing the applications and basic research in of the University of Illinois at envelope slowly but surely. For the field. Even before the meet- Urbana-Champaign pointed to a the first seventy years or so, the ing started, the Industrial Physics press release from Onnes’ lab in high temperature limit of super- Photo by Michael Lucibella Forum, organized by the Ameri- 1920 that said superconductivity conductors kept climbing on av- At a reception on Capitol Hill on April 6, the Science-Engineering-Technology can Institute of Physics, high- would lead to “better energy stor- erage of about a degree a year. Working Group (SETWG), to which APS belongs, presented two members of lighted current and future areas age, better magnets and helping Then in 1986, scientists at Congress with the George E. Brown, Jr. Leadership Award for their work on is- of research and industrial appli- the energy crisis.” IBM’s Zurich Research Lab dis- sues related to science, technology and engineering. In the photo, APS Head of Public Outreach Becky Thompson (right) gives an LED "throwie" to Congress- cations. Today superconductivity con- covered that copper-oxide-based man Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), one of the Award recipients. At the reception, APS A common theme for those tinues to be an active field of re- materials can superconduct at distributed throwies, which are battery-powered LEDs with magnets attached, to speaking was how the story of search. Five Nobel prizes have temperatures warmer than any the attendees in 3 patriotic colors, red (for the Republicans), white (for the inde- pendents) and blue (for the Democrats). The second Brown Award recipient was superconductors has been filled been awarded for research on un- previously known. Soon there Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). with unexpected discoveries. In derstanding the mechanisms be- were examples above the temper- 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, hind superconductors. Materials ature of liquid nitrogen. The goal The following day was Congressional Visits Day, sponsored by 31 professional societies and related organizations, in which some 270 members of the science the Dutch physicist who would physicists the world over have of a room temperature super- and engineering community came to Washington from all over the country to later win a Nobel Prize for liq- been working to develop high conductor seemed tantalizingly participate. They visited an estimated 350 different Congressional offices (out of uefying helium, was measuring temperature superconductors. a possible 535). PROMISE continued on page 4 Fukushima Disaster Alters Dialogue at Nuclear Session By Eric Betz it should,” said Raymond Orbach, ment of spent fuel rods away from With a nuclear meltdown un- director of the Energy Institute at the facility,” said Orbach, “and that derway at the Fukushima Nuclear the University of Texas at Austin, was not done.” Power Complex in Japan, a previ- “except for the tsunami.” According to Orbach, the plant ously planned session at the March Orbach, who had served as Un- survived the earthquake in good Meeting on the future of nuclear der Secretary of Energy for Science shape, but after the tsunami hit, all energy took on a decidedly differ- in the George W. Bush administra- the back-up generators failed and ent tone than the presenters had tion, broke down a blow-by-blow the batteries were soon exhausted. planned, and one of the presenters, sequence of the partial meltdown The power company then tried to Toshikazu Suzuki, of Japan’s Na- and said that much of the problem alleviate the problem by venting tional Institute of Radiological Sci- stemmed from the fact that the steam from the reactor, which also ence, was forced to cancel because spent fuel being stored in the reac- didn’t work, he said. At that point, of his role in the nuclear remedia- tor building was four times larger a process called core oxidization tion efforts at the ailing plant. than that actually in the reactor. In- started occurring rapidly, creating stead of transporting the spent fuel corrium–a lava-like mixture of ma- The Tuesday session was titled Photo by Mary Catherine Adams “Drowning in Carbon: The impera- away from the site or storing it in terials that forms inside a nuclear a nearby cooling pond as is done Panelists from the "Drowning in Carbon: The Imperative of Nuclear Power" ses- reactor during a meltdown–which tive of nuclear power,” however, sion answer questions from the audience. From left to right are Robert Rosner (U the focus turned to fallout from the in the US, the Japanese had simply of Chicago), Lee Schroeder (LBNL and TechSource), Victor Reis (Department of generated huge amounts hydrogen nuclear disaster. kept the material in the building. Energy), and Jay Davis (Hertz Foundation and formerly of LLNL). Raymond Orbach inside the building until it finally “There needs to be some move- of the University of Texas spoke at the session but had to leave before the panel NUCLEAR continued on page 7 “Everything worked exactly as discussion.

New Awards Issue a Call for Nominations March Meeting Teems with Graphene Talks By Eric Betz next door. Even then, many sat on Several new APS awards are making their debut this year, and those interested are urged to get the floor or leaned along the walls. them off to a good start by nominating worthy candidates. Few discoveries in physics have yielded a Nobel prize as quickly as Beginning his lecture by chiding other graphene speakers for skip- First up is the Stanley Corrsin Award in Fluid Dynamics, intended as a mid-career award, for Konstantin Novoselov and Andre ping their introductions because which the nomination deadline is May 31. Two new awards with deadlines of July 1 are the Geim’s 2004 breakthrough in gra- they said everyone else had already Landau-Spitzer Award in Plasma Physics, which will be administered jointly with the European phene. Research on the subject has given one, Novoselov took the time Physical Society, and the Henry Primakoff Award for Early-Career Particle Physics, which will exploded in the seven years since to trace a history of the two-dimen- recognize outstanding research in elementary-particle physics performed by a physicist who has then, and this year’s March Meeting sional substance from the discovery held the PhD for no more than 7 years, plus any career breaks. strongly reflected that trend. “It opened up this Pandora’s of graphite 500 years ago, through buckyballs and carbon nanotubes A new dissertation award in theoretical particle physics, with an October 1 deadline, will comple- box” said Novoselov in his lecture and on to the current status of gra- ment the Tanaka Dissertation Award for experimental particle physics. at the meeting. “I’m sure it will keep us busy for quite a few years phene research. “Each of you has synthesized Information about all of the awards mentioned above, as well as instructions for nomination, can because of that.” graphene many times,” he told the be found in the prize and award section of the APS website at www.aps.org (under "Programs"). So many wanted to attend No- audience, adding that “every time In addition, an award administered by the Committee on Education will recognize programmatic voselov’s lecture that the center you use a pencil, you create one- excellence in undergraduate physics education. More information about it can be found in the divider had to be removed between atom-thick layers of graphite on Education Corner column in this issue of APS News. the lecture hall Novoselov was scheduled to speak in and the room GRAPHENE continued on page 4 2 • May 2011 APS NEWS

This Month in Physics History François-Marie Raoult and Raoult’s Law: May 23, 1887 “The idea is pretty simple. It a very thorough look at what they “He discovered a universal property of dissolved with volatile solutes, different compounds behave posits that social groups that have were doing. …Unfortunately, it molecules and showed how to use it.” differently. Exploring these conditions provides more members are going to be took this Macondo accident to re- Full acceptance of the atomic-molecular theory abundant data, the basis for fractional distillation more attractive to join, and it pos- ally open up the eyes for deepwater of matter depended on the ability to relate familiar and other industrial processes. Also, for several salts, its that social groups have a social drilling safety.” macroscopic properties to the properties of individ- such as sodium chloride in water, Raoult found about status or utility. For example in lan- Steven Chu, Department of En- ual molecules. This began to happen when Amedeo twice the expected number of molecules. This was guages, there can be greater utility ergy, comparing Fukushima to the Avogadro proposed that, under similar conditions, an early clue that sodium chloride in water dissoci- or status in speaking Spanish in- Gulf Oil Spill, National Public Ra- all gases contain the same number of molecules per ates to sodium and chloride ions. stead of [the dying language] Que- dio, March 31, 2011. unit volume. Building on this foundation, the Ideal François Marie Raoult [1830-1901] was born in chuan in Peru, and similarly there’s Gas Theory initiated a flowering of activity and un- Fournes in the departement du Nord, son of a cus- some kind of status or utility in be- “We haven’t seen any of the derstanding in physics. In the ideal gas, molecules of toms agent. He spent a brief period at the University ing a member of a religion or not.” heavier stuff that would come right any kind behave the same way. The universality em- of Paris, but lacked financial resources to continue. Richard Wiener, Research Cor- from the core, which people saw bodied in this concept shows that there is underlying He then spent 14 years teaching physics and math- poration for Science Advancement, 30 years ago during the Chernobyl physics that covers a broad range of matter. Eventu- ematics in several high schools. He worked full time on why belief in religion is on the accident.” ally, physicists found ways to determine the magni- teaching, over the years moving from one school to decline, BBCNews.com, March Andreas Knecht, University tude of Avogadro’s Constant, the actual number of another. At the same time, on his own, at considerable 22, 2011. of Washington, on the dangers of molecules in a given volume. Molecular weights hardship, he continued research on the energy rela- trace amounts of radiation detect- could then be determined simply by measuring the tions in voltaic cells. This led to the docteur ès sci- “If you’re positioned between ed on the West Coast, U.S. New density of a gas. ences physiques degree from the University of Paris. two major financial hubs, you may and World Report, March 29, 2011. But the understanding of gases did little to ad- Though little noticed at the time, it was pioneering be far out of the way, rather far vance our understanding of liquids, solutions, and work. He was one of the first to show that the energy from population centers, maybe “The last three days we’ve had condensed matter. Most molecules cannot easily be of the chemical reaction and the electrical energy of economically poor, but because of reassuring words, we’ve turned the observed as gases. But, dissolved in a liquid, their a voltaic cell were not identical. Recognition of the your unique position, that could be corner, things are stable but it’s on aggregate behavior can be observed, as in the Ideal work would come only later when thermodynamic a natural resource.” knife’s edge, any small earthquake, Gas Theory. How to do this awaited the work of concepts of free energy and entropy were understood Alexander Wissner-Gross, any spent fuel pond boiling inci- the French scientist, François Marie Raoult. After as they applied to electrochemical cells. Harvard University, on develop- dent could cause the workers to years of careful experiments, he published a land- Finally, in 1867 he came to the Sciences Fac- ing a global stock trading system, evacuate.” mark article, “General Law of the Vapor Pressure of ulty in Grenoble to become Professor of Chemistry. BBCNews.com, March 22, 2011 Michio Kaku, City College of Solvents”, in the French Journal, Comptes Rendus, There was some objection that he was really a phys- New York, on the ongoing Fuku- in May, 1887. It contains the core idea of what is icist, but the appointment was finally approved, and “You can only do your quantum shima disaster, ABCNews.com, now recognized as Raoult’s Law. He dissolved low he continued his research in Grenoble for thirty one magic as long as you have coher- March 22, 2011. concentrations of different non-volatile compounds; years. The lab at the time was plain and simple. In ence… If you have a lifetime of 5 kinds in water, and 14 kinds in each of 11 organic her book, Science in the Provinces, historian Mary milliseconds, that lets you do mil- “Though we’ve developed solvents, and measured the effect of the dissolved Jo Nye quotes Raoult’s description; “Each profes- lions of operations.” these tools for black hole colli- compounds on the vapor pressure of the solvent. He sor possessed his own little table. This room which Sebastian Loth, IBM’s Almaden sions, they can be applied wher- found the remarkable result that, within the range of was a laboratory during the daytime served simul- Research Center, on why diamond ever space-time is warped… For his experiments, the presence of a given mole frac- taneously as the living quarters for the concierge. might be used to store quantum in- instance, I expect that people will tion of any dissolved substance in any liquid caused Here the physics professor arranged his instru- formation in the future, U.S. New apply vortex and tendex lines to the same fractional reduction in the vapor pressure. ments; the zoology professor dissected his rabbits and World Report, March 24, 2011. cosmology, to black holes ripping Later confirmed by others, these experiments provid- and fed his pigeons; ...the geology professor laid apart, and to the singularities that ed the kind of universality that Avogadro and the ar- out his fossils;...and the chemistry professor carried “People have mainly looked at live inside black holes. They’ll chitects of the Ideal Gas Theory gave to the physics out all his operations.” its biological applications, treating become standard tools throughout of their time. In other work, Raoult showed a similar His life was one long struggle to do the work he cancer and Alzheimer’s and so on, general relativity.” effect for the reduction of the melting point of a liq- loved and to see its merits recognized. He endured but nobody has looked at making Geoffrey Lovelace, Cornell, uid by dissolved substances. Subsequent theoretical financial straits and hardship completing his doc- optical devices out of them.” MSNBC.com, April 13, 2011. work by Jacobus van’t Hoff and Svante Arrhenius, torate; an extended apprenticeship of high school Abhishek Kumar, of the Uni- confirmed Raoult’s result, provided the thermody- teaching; a slow start in a reluctant department at versity of Massachusetts, Lowell, And finally, some comments on namic basis, and showed how to understand what, at Grenoble. But ultimately, he received the recogni- on using the curry powder cur- the announcement from the CDF first, seemed to be exceptions. tion he deserved, first in other countries, finally in cumin to help detect traces of ex- collaboration at the Tevatron at The universality of Raoult’s Law led to a burst France. plosives, BBCNews.com, March Fermilab, concerning an anomaly of creative activity concerning liquids and solu- On his death in 1901, Nature reported: “François 24, 2011. recently found in their data: tions. For a given weight of a dissolved material of Raoult, professor of chemistry at Grenoble, died unknown molecular weight, including a polymer there on April 1. In him, France has lost one of her “It’s not a magic bullet–there “Nobody knows what this is… or other high molecular weight substance, Raoult’s most distinguished men of science, whose discov- never is in this business… But I If it is real, it would be the most Law allows one to determine molecular weights by eries have supplied material for theoretical consid- think as a general tool for art and significant discovery in physics in measuring the vapor pressure or other properties of erations, ... a most profound influence on chemistry art historical and archaeological half a century.” the solvent. and physics.” exploration, it’s the best new thing Christopher Hill, Fermilab, Both Raoult’s Law and the Ideal Gas Law apply The 1901 Dutch Nobel Laureate, J.H. van’t to come out in a very long time.” The New York Times, April 6, only within a restricted range of conditions. For the Hoff, said of Raoult “He lived in that somewhat out Robert Thorne, Cornell, on 2011. gas law this means relatively high temperatures and of the way town, Grenoble... the romance of his life using high energy X-rays to find low pressures. At higher pressures and lower tem- was that almost sudden rise to fame, spreading from forged artwork, United Press Inter- “This is huge–an unexpected peratures, the Ideal Gas Law no longer applies. Dif- this nearly unknown corner, first over the frontier of national, March 28, 2011. discovery which could completely ferent gases behave differently, often following the his country, and then back to France, which made transform high-energy physics, Van der Waals equation, with eventual condensation him one of the most prominent men of science of “I think what happened is after and cosmology as well, as the two to liquid. A rich new physics was discovered by go- his age.” His achievement lives on, a century later, Three Mile Island, that event actu- fields are joined at the hip… But ing beyond the conditions that led to the original law. in the law that bears his name. ally spurred the nuclear industry there is one big IF–if it holds up Raoult’s Law applies at limiting low concentrations Ed. Note: This month’s column has been con- for non-volatile solutes. At higher concentrations or tributed by guest writer Richard Williams. and the regulatory agency to take MEMBERS continued on page 3

Series II, Vol. 20, No. 05 and, if possible, include a mailing label from a recent is- General Councillors ADVISORS May 2011 sue. Requests from subscribers for missing issues will be Marcela Carena*, Haiyan Gao, Marta Dark McNeese, Representatives from Other Societies honored without charge only if received within 6 months Katherine Freese*, Nergis Mavalvala*, Warren Mori, APS NEWS © 2011 The American Physical Society Fred Dylla, AIP; David R. Sokoloff, AAPT of the issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Post- Pierre Meystre, Jorge Pullin* age Paid at College Park, MD and at additional mailing International Councillor International Advisors Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Belita Koiler Louis Felipe Rodriguez Jorge, Mexican Physical Society; Membership Department, American Physical Society, Editor•...... Alan Chodos Henry van Driel, Canadian Association of Physicists One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Nominating Committee Staff Science Writer ...... Michael Lucibella Steven Girvin Staff Representatives Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson APS COUNCIL 2011 Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten Proofreader...... Edward Lee President Venkatesh Narayamurti Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director Barry C. Barish*, Caltech Division, Forum and Section Councillors of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director, Public Affairs; Dan Kulp, Editorial Director; Christine APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- Neil Cornish (Astrophysics), Thomas Gallagher (Atomic, Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael monthly, except the August/September issue, by the cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing President-Elect Molecular & Optical Physics), Mark Reeves (Biologi- Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Robert L. Byer*, Stanford University cal), Nancy Levinger* (Chemical), Arthur Epstein (Con- lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It contains Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// densed Matter Physics), David Landau (Computational), Administrator for Governing Committees news of the Society and of its Divisions, Topical Groups, librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. Vice-President James Wallace (Fluid Dynamics), Gay Stewart* (Forum Ken Cole Sections, and Forums; advance information on meetings Michael S. Turner*, University of Chicago on Education), Amber Stuver*, (Forum on Graduate of the Society; and reports to the Society by its commit- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Student Affairs), Michael Riordan (Forum on History of tees and task forces, as well as opinions. should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– Executive Officer Physics), Stefan Zolner* (Forum on Industrial and Ap- * Members of the APS Executive Board Membership Department, American Physical Society, Kate P. Kirby*, Harvard-Smithsonian (retired) plied Physics), Herman Winick (Forum on International Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Physics), Philip “Bo” Hammer (Forum on Physics and ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- [email protected]. Treasurer/Publisher Society), Anthony Johnson (Laser Science), Ted Einstein dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Divi- Joseph W. Serene*, Georgetown University (Emeritus) (Materials), David McIntyre (Northwest Section), Wick the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All cor- sion, American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Editor-in-Chief Haxton (Nuclear), Marjorie Corcoran (Particles & respondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Huntington Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Gene D. Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) Fields), John Galayda (Physics of Beams), Vincent Chan Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, Allow at least 6 weeks advance notice. For address (Plasma), Scott Milner (Polymer Physics), Bruce Barrett Past-President MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. changes, please send both the old and new addresses, (4 Corners Section) Curtis G. Callan, Jr.*, Princeton University APS NEWS May 2011 • 3

It's...Alive! The one on the left is, anyway. That's Education C orner David Hanson, of Hanson Robotics, A column on educational programs and publications getting ready for his March Meeting talk on "Robotics in the World of En- Physics Education Funding and the Federal Budget tertainment." Seated next to him is a As details emerge about the bill that will fund the government for the rest dead ringer for famed science fiction of Fiscal Year 2011, it appears programs affecting science education writer Philip K. Dick, but, as a sec- have largely emerged unscathed. The budget of the National Science ond look will confirm, actually a ro- Foundation’s Education and Human Resources (EHR) directorate, bot with wires for brains. The meet- which administers a number of science education programs, lost only ing session, entitled Science, Art and Culture, was organized by Brian $10 million relative to FY2010, although its allocation is $29 million less Schwartz of CUNY, and featured, in than the Obama administration’s FY2011 request. EHR’s total FY2010 addition to Hanson, Stephen Whar- budget was $872.76 million. ton of SkyCam Inc. on "XPower plus the Physics of Rodeo", Joe DiPri- The Obama administration’s proposed FY2012 budget, released a few ma of Arc Attack on "Singing Tesla weeks ago, lays out some significant changes for science education Coils", and Davey Griffin of Texas programs. Within EHR, programs affecting undergraduate, graduate, A&M on "The Science of Barbecue and postdoctoral students would receive a substantial increase, whereas (Texas Style)." those affecting K-12 students would see a significant decrease. One Photo by Michael Lucibella new program to keep an eye on is “Teacher Learning for the Future (TLF),” to be funded at $20 million, which plans to “provide R&D awards to further understanding of the preparation and continuing education of APS Website Hosts Ethics Training Materials STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] teachers,” according to the directorate’s budget document. Of course, it remains By Gabriel Popkin group called the Task Force on for ethics training. As Thomsen to be seen how much of the President’s vision will make it into the Physicists looking for ethics Ethics Education, with a charge pointed out in a recent Physics budget that Congress eventually passes. training materials have a new tool to advise APS on encouraging Today blog post, much of the ex- in their repertory. APS has pub- physics departments to improve isting training material in science Committee On Education Departmental Award ethics training, and to develop research ethics focuses on top- The APS Committee on Education has established a new award to lished an activity and discussion guide based on a series of case materials that would aid physics ics like human subjects research recognize departments and programs that support best practices in departments in these efforts. This that are more common in biology. education at the undergraduate level. Programs will be recognized for a studies describing ethical issues group’s work culminated in a set “Most physicists place a high pri- three-year term, acknowledged on the APS website, awarded a plaque, that can arise in the process of announced in APS News, and recognized at an annual meeting. These physics research. The case stud- of case studies describing hypo- ority on relevance when it comes awards are intended to acknowledge commitment to inclusive, high- ies, which cover topics such as thetical scenarios that might arise to ethics,” writes Thomsen. He quality physics education for undergraduate students, and to catalyze data acquisition, mentoring, pub- during the course of doing phys- worries that without more relevant departments and programs to make significant improvements. APS will lication practices, and responsible ics research, and in most cases a materials, “physicists will regard recognize one to three programs and departments each year. conduct of research, are designed discussion of the various ethical the required RCR [responsible to help physics faculty and others issues that arise out of the scenar- conduct of research] education as A full description of the award and the application are available at www. io. The guide provides additional an irrelevant bureaucratic exer- aps.org/programs/education in the "Undergraduate Physics" section. provide ethics training to under- graduates, graduate students, and discussion, suggestions for activi- cise.” ties such as role-plays, and further Although no high-profile fraud Also, nominations for the APS Excellence in Physics Education Award are postdoctoral researchers. being accepted, at www.aps.org/programs/honors/awards/education.cfm Ethics became an issue of sig- reading. cases in physics have surfaced nificant concern for APS after the “My hope in developing these since the two incidents in 2002, it PhysTEC Conference physics community was hit by case studies was that we would not is important that the physics com- The 2011 Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) Conference two high-profile cases of data fab- only raise issues but generate dis- munity not become complacent will be held on May 23-24, 2011 in Austin, Texas, with the theme of rication early in the last decade. In cussion,” says J. Marshall Thom- about ethics, says Kate Kirby, APS Sustainability for Teacher Education Programs. The conference will sen, a professor of physics at East- Executive Officer and a member feature plenary speakers Carl Wieman, Associate Director for Science response, APS convened an Eth- ics Task Force, which surveyed ern Michigan University who was of the original Ethics Task Force. at the US Office of Science and Technology Policy and a Nobel on the task force that developed “APS has a critical role to play in Laureate in Physics, and , Professor of Astrophysics and the society’s junior membership Eugene Levy the studies. This is reflected in the continuing to raise the commu- former Provost at Rice University. The conference will be held jointly about issues related to ethics. The with the annual conference of The UTeach Institute, which is a national task force found, among other discussion sections that follow nity’s consciousness about these program to educate more math and science teachers. things, that most survey respon- many of the scenarios in the stud- important issues,” she says. “The dents had not received formal eth- ies, where multiple perspectives ethical questions that arise in the M. Hildred Blewett Fellowship ics training; rather, they reported and courses of action are offered. course of physics research can be APS is now accepting applications for the M. Hildred Blewett Fellowship gaining exposure to the subject “There are a number of situations subtle, and often have no clear (formerly the Blewett Scholarship). This award is intended to enable where reasonable people can dis- answers. These case studies pro- women to resume physics research careers after an interruption. The mostly through informal channels such as research group meetings agree about ethical issues,” says mote conversations that we hope deadline to apply is June 3, 2011. For more information and the online Thomsen. will help people in making good application, go to www.aps.org/programs/women/scholarships/blewett or discussions with faculty or stu- dents. (see January 2004 article The APS case studies also fill choices.” AAPT Summer Meeting http://www.aps.org/publications/ a need for ethics training materi- The activity and discussion The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) will be having its apsnews/200401/ethics.cfm for als that are relevant to physics— guide comes in separate editions annual summer meeting in Omaha, Nebraska from July 30 to August 3, more information). a need made more urgent by new for teachers and students, and can 2011. This meeting features sessions and workshops on a wide variety In response to the original task requirements that all projects with be downloaded in pdf format at of physics education topics, and typically draws over 1,000 physics force’s findings and recommen- funding from the National Science www.aps.org/programs/educa- educators from universities, K-12 schools, and other institutions. The Foundation include provisions tion/ethics theme of this summer’s meeting will be “Communicating Physics dations, APS convened a second Outside the Classroom.” For more information and registration, go to www.aapt.org/Conferences/sm2011 Materials Physicists Attracted to Spider Webs ALPhA to Offer “Laboratory Immersions” During the summer of 2011, the Advanced Laboratory Physics Association By Eric Betz spider’s glue in his lab. their coworkers. “If you breathe, (ALPhA) will be offering its second slate of “Laboratory Immersions.” Among the many break- Sahni said that spider webs are you can see it on the force sen- ALPhA’s Laboratory Immersions offer an opportunity for participants to throughs in materials science pre- made from two different types of sor,” said Sahni. spend two to three days learning the details of a single experiment well sented at this year’s March Meet- silk. The first type is called drag- They inserted a custom glass enough to teach it with confidence.T he 2011 Immersions will take place ing, it was hard not to be drawn line silk, which makes up the radi- probe into the tiny glue droplets during July and August at a number of institutions around the country. For details and registration, go to www.advlab.org in by a physicist claiming to have al lines going from the outer edges and measured the force needed to figured out the physics of spider of the web toward the center. The stretch one individually. They de- MEMBERS continued from page 2 webs. second type is called capture silk, termined that the nodules behave and is not explained by standard April 7, 2011. If you were a fly, freeing your- and these lines are responsible for like a viscoelastic solid and then model physics.” self from a spider web would be absorbing momentum when the used that information to create Michael Turner, Kavli Insti- “The unfortunate thing is, [the an insurmountable task, but why prey collides with the web. How- their own spider glue. Sahni said tute for Cosmological Physics, heavier particle] doesn’t appear in the spider’s glue is so sticky has ever, the soft and highly sensitive the technology could be used for University of Chicago, MSNBC. other analyses where it might also been an unsolved mystery. Even capture silk must also ensure that everything from underwater seal- com, April 6, 2011. be expected to appear… My per- in wet weather, the spider’s natu- they prey is caught and can’t get ants to in-body sutures. sonal opinion is that it will prob- ral net is often the end for a non- away after impact. Among the other materials “If this thing is real, it is a new ably be understood in ways that observant insect. And according These lines have a silk core advances at the meeting was a type of very heavy particle that are not new physics… But even if to Vasav Sahni of the University with tiny water and polymer nod- presentation by Tobin Filleter is not one of the ones theorists there is just a small chance that it of Akron, studying what makes ules dispersed along them. Sahni of Northwestern University on a have been sitting around thinking is new physics, that is very excit- spider webs sticky could lead to and his colleagues set out to find new fabric made by weaving to- about…It would be very heavy, ing,” myriad adhesive applications. exactly how these nodules be- gether carbon nanotubes. Filleter very interesting and very funda- Mark Kruse, Duke University, Sahni is tight-lipped about haved so that they could mimic said that scaling carbon nanotubes mental. It would turn over our un- who led the team at Fermilab that what his team is currently devel- the system. up into larger structures has been derstanding of particle physics.” detected the unexpected anomaly oping, but in a press conference To do that, they met in their lab difficult so far, but he thinks his Michael Witherell, UC Santa in the Tevatron’s data, The Los at the meeting, he discussed how at night so as to avoid any tiny vi- team may have found a solution. Barbara, The Los Angeles Times, Angeles Times, April 7, 2011. his team was able to replicate the brations that might be created by WEBS continued on page 7 4 • May 2011 APS NEWS

Let APS Members Speak for Themselves Letters In the March issue of APS News duty to do so.” Viola also says the cial competence and should not two letters appear that comment 90% of the APS membership is hesitate to speak out.” Our thesis is Readers interested in submitting a letter to APS News should on our letter (APS Should Stick to in “accord” with the APS global that speaking out is an individual’s email [email protected]. Scientific Matters; January, 2011.) climate change statement. Is this responsibility and that APS should We would like to respond. number pulled out of some hat? As not try to speak for its entire mem- The letter by Viola (APS far as we know the APS survey on bership on public policy issues. Don’t Be Ridiculous! Should Engage in Climate Change this issue has not yet seen the light It is unfortunate that our letter Debate) misrepresents the content of day. was falsely represented. Perhaps Regarding “This Month in if the noose was provided by Isaac of our letter by using in isolation The second letter, by Blumen- the title our letter (given by the Physics History” in the March Newton. the quote: Wolfram and Werner ar- feld, (Physicists Need to Speak APS News editors), APS Should APS News: Great story, but don't gue that the APS “should limit its Out) says: “Thomas Wolfram and Stick to Scientific Matters, con- be ridiculous. Hanging a counter- activities to scientific matters and Sam Werner...believe that climate Michael Nauenberg tributed to the misunderstanding feiter has nothing whatsoever to avoid societal and political issues change is a purely political mat- do with the history of physics even Santa Cruz, CA altogether.” ter.” On the contrary, we believe apparent in the Viola and Blumen- We also said “We feel the APS that climate change is purely a feld letters. Strange Memory Demands Confirmation should limit its activities to estab- scientific matter. We would like The March, 2011 Bygone memory remains. Can you con- lishing facts and finding the truth to keep the discussion out of the Thomas Wolfram Years item stimulated a memory firm its one-time existence, give by scientific means. Individuals or realm of politics and that is why San Clemente, CA I have often wanted confirmed. us the year of its demise, and re- groups within the APS member- we wrote our letter. We totally Back in about 1949 I recall that publish the last list, if it ever ex- ship have every right to express agree with Blumenfeld that “APS Sam Werner some journal of the APS once a isted. political or policy views...It is their members in general, have a spe- Gaithersburg, MD year ran a list of the most distin- GRAPHENE continued from page 1 guished twenty (?) physicists, in Henry R. Lewis top of whatever surface you’re writ- “For the last several years gra- phene. numerical order. I was a graduate Cambridge, MA ing on.” The challenge for him and phene has been a material with “Graphene is the most active student at the time at Harvard and Geim in the beginning, he said, was enormous potential for many appli- Ed. Note: We have been unable area in physics and may be the most remember a young faculty mem- sorting through their sample trying cations; now it’s time to start mak- active area in science” said Sankar ber complaining that after the first to confirm the existence of the list to find those one-nanometer-thick ing devices,” said Palacios. “The Das Sarma, director of the Con- ten names he would claim equal to which the writer alludes. Per- layers. next few months are going to be re- densed Matter Theory Center at the distinction with anyone on the list. haps one of our readers can shed But nature hates low-dimen- ally exciting.” University of Maryland. Das Sarma It is hard now to imagine that some light on what the memory sionality, he said, and much of the Speaking at a press conference, showed a graph that demonstrated there ever was such a list but the refers to. research that was presented at the Walter de Heer, a professor of the exponential rise in the number meeting focused on trying to iron physics at the Georgia Institute of of papers published on graphene PROMISE continued from page 1 out the many difficulties associated Technology, pointed out that gra- since 2004 and attributed the mate- near. Dreams of superconducting Transporting energy is anoth- with making something essentially phene had been discovered before rial’s rapid increase in popularity to power lines, low energy server er area that laboratories and com- two-dimensional. the work in 2004 by Geim and No- Geim and Novoselov’s paper. farms and magnetic levitating panies are actively investigating. Throughout the week, many voselov, showing a patent he held In his lecture, Novoselov also trains seemed palpably close. The US power grid loses about talks described experimenting with for “thin film graphite” in 2003. gave a glimpse at what the future People compared the perceived ten percent of generated electric- different materials as substrates for Though de Heer admitted that the might hold for a substance that is coming superconducting revolu- ity in the transmission from gen- synthesizing high quality graphene. graphene that existed in the early the strongest, stiffest and thinnest 2000s was “lousy,” he said that he tion to the way semiconductors erating plant to end user. Super- Others dealt with trying to achieve known. He said some of the most in- the same by removing the substrate had made measurements on gra- revolutionized the world through conducting cables should be able teresting applications arise, not from altogether. phene before Geim and Novoselov, computer processing. to eliminate almost all of that graphene itself, but instead from Tomás Palacios, an associate but didn’t know it at the time. As it turned out, the revolution loss. At the same time, as renew- combining it with other materials in professor of electrical engineering He also challenged the idea that hasn’t quite come. “It was fun ac- able energy becomes a bigger what he described as drawing with and computer science at MIT, said graphene would result in cheap tually to imagine all that stuff,” part of the country’s supply, the many different colored pencils. one of the major problems with electronics any time soon and in- said Seamus Davis of Brookhav- need to transfer large amounts He said we can now start to en National Laboratory. But he graphene is that putting it in con- stead asserted that it would create of electricity great distances be- think about creating other two-di- added, “it’s really not like what comes imperative. With the best tact with metal will dramatically better, but far more expensive elec- tronics that would ultimately lead to mensional materials, each with its happened in the world of semi- sources of wind power in the decrease its performance. Any resi- dues that build up on the surface of advances. own unique properties and benefits. conductors.” Midwest and solar in the South- a one-layer sample will drastically “In the 1900s, a shipbuilder “One of the highlights of the last It soon became apparent that west, electricity will have to be alter its properties, he said. would look at a balsa-wood-and few months is that you can now start the cuprate superconductors transmitted hundreds of miles to Palacios described graphene as bicycle-parts-designed airplane and with graphene and break it apart and topped out around 164 K. Then reach the population centers on “a great material looking for an ap- say ‘what are you going to do with put it back together to get new 3D in 2008, the surprise discovery the east and west coasts. plication,” and said he’s currently that’,” said de Heer. crystals.” by scientists in Japan that iron- Starting in 2008, the Long Is- working on realizing that potential Addressing de Heer’s comment, For example, if you combine based pnictides can supercon- land Power Authority, with sup- by creating a graphene circuit. Novoselov later said that he never layers of graphene with layers of duct at temperatures as high as port from the Department of En- 55 K touched off another flurry He doesn’t expect graphene to claimed to have “discovered” gra- boron-nitride, hydrocarbons, or ergy, has been testing a prototype of excitement. This opened up a compete with silicon as a mate- phene, and readily conceded that fluorographene–each carbon atom high-temperature superconduct- whole new family of high tem- rial anytime soon, because silicon parts of the discovery he received bound to one fluorine–you get en- ing cable with generally positive perature superconductors to ex- has been studied so thoroughly for the Nobel Prize for were in place tirely different materials. performance results at a trans- plore. Though still far below more than a generation. However, already. Instead, he says that his “The real breakthrough of gra- mission voltage of 138 kV. The room temperature, the discovery graphene can still be beneficial in 2004 paper with Geim was chosen phene isn’t its optical properties or need for cooling the line and high offered physicists hope that some the short term because one can use because of the major breakthroughs its electrical properties,” said No- costs of the lengths of cable has new unexplored material will ul- it to create highly flexible and cheap they were able to achieve when they voselov, “it’s the opportunities for been the biggest impediment for timately yield a superconductor electronics, he said. used adhesive tape to create gra- all these new materials.” widespread integration into the that can work its magic without grid. However South Korea has the need for cryostats. “I don’t think that there’s taken the lead in actually integrat- anyone in the room saying you ing superconducting lines into its couldn’t get a room temperature grid. The South Korean utility superconductor,” Crabtree said. company KEPCO announced in Willebrord Snellius, also known as Willebrord Snel (or Snell) van Royen As researchers continue to 2010 that it was purchasing three by Nicole Yunger Halpern million meters of superconduct- probe for a general understanding North of the Alps Thanks to his Even if young ing wire to fabricate ten kilome- of superconductivity, new uses and south of the fjords enlightened insight, Snellius’s ters of superconducting cable for for the phenomenon continue to lived a man successes kindle use in the country’s power grid, be developed. Today, the most called Willebrord. optics pupils, jealiouses, including three kilometers feed- frequently encountered use of York to Utah, superconductivity is in MRI ma- ing directly into Seoul. The University know his surname who could help chines. As early as the 1970s, it “We are at the point of an his- of Leiden from his Law. but choke and gag was realized that the strong mag- toric transition in the field of the conferred another if forced to own netic fields generated by a su- application of high temperature appellation: Yet another this teacher’s tag? perconducting coil would make superconductivity into the power moniker clearer images and be more reli- grid,” said Alexis Malozemoff Professor of belonged to this I wonder if able than those generated from from the company American Su- Mathematics, trigonometer: the man could tell the fields of conventional mag- perconductor which also makes he described that history nets. Today, virtually all MRIs superconducting wires. “[Until] the erratic Like his title would favor “Snell.” are built with superconducting US utilities show similar leader- of employment, Nicole Yunger Halpern is a coils generating their powerful ship…it looks like the Koreans behavior of from Daddy came Modified Physics major at Dart- magnetic fields. are going to lead the way.” refracted light. the name van Royen. mouth College. APS NEWS May 2011 • 5

Spice Ingredient Touted as Explosive Detector At this year’s March Meet- onds where an explosive might ing, physicists presented new and be present. If there are any stray unorthodox projects that are de- molecules from the explosive signed to help detect concealed floating in air, they will bond to Another SSC Moment? threats. One researcher developed the compound, quenching the flu- A small cohort from the APS tion, 17 shafts were dug, and about passed to the Europeans. a way to use the optical properties orescence. After being exposed to March Meeting in Dallas took the 15 miles of the projected 54-mile President Reagan gave his of a curry powder ingredient to light the sample is observed to see detect explosives, while another if it darkens. opportunity one afternoon to cel- tunnel had been bored. The tun- blessing to the SSC with the ex- has been working on a way to use “Once you expose this film ebrate the centennial of supercon- nel is still down there somewhere, hortation “Throw Deep.” The ball lasers to take air samples from ki- to TNT vapor, you don’t see ductivity by making a pilgrimage probably mostly filled with water. was indeed thrown deep, but the lometers away. anything. The fluorescence is to the site of the Superconducting It’s hard to visit the site and pass was never completed. Anoth- Supercollider in Waxahachie. avoid comparing it, in one’s mind, Though it sounds fantastic, Ab- quenched,” Kumar said. “This er Reagan quote, from the 1980 hishek Kumar from the University could be very specific as well as Waxahachie was selected as to the CERN laboratory in Gene- presidential campaign, was the the site in 1988, and large-scale va, where the Large Hadron Col- of Massachusetts, Lowell found sensitive.” question “Are you better off now construction began in 1991. But lider is up and running and where a way that curcumin, an ingredi- Already Kumar and his team than you were four years ago?”. Is in October of 1993, the project major discoveries are presumably ent used in the spice turmeric, can have been conducting some field was terminated by Congress, just around the corner. The SSC physics in the US better off today be made to detect the presence of tests and are talking with two dealing a severe blow to the fu- would have been finished earlier, than it was in 1993, when the SSC TNT. companies about commercializ- ture of high-energy physics in the was canceled? The Tevatron at “Curry powder can detect ex- ing the technology. So far the cur- United States, and to some extent Fermilab will soon be shut down, plosives,” Kumar said. “We can cumin is highly effective in satu- negatively affecting the whole after a distinguished career but predict in a few seconds the pres- rated environments, darkening by spectrum of American physics re- without the chance for the biggest ence of DNT, TNT or other explo- as much as 90 percent. They’re search. prize; and the Holifield Research sive substances.” right now working on ways to im- The buildings, which loom Accelerator at Oak Ridge is also When curcumin is exposed to prove the sensitivity of the detec- suddenly and incongruously out being terminated. With the federal intense light, it fluoresces a bright tor in environments less saturated green color, a property that re- with explosive vapor. Kumar said of the rolling pastureland, are budget process in disarray, further searchers have turned into a bomb that once the device is finished, it abandoned now. Their corrugated cuts, possibly drastic ones, are on detector. Kumar and his collabo- would be well-suited for detect- metal sides resound eerily as the the table. President Obama has rators Mukesh Pandey and Jay- ing hidden explosives and buried wind sweeps past them across the referred to a “Sputnik moment” Texas plains. Inside, virtually ev- ant Kumar mixed curcumin with landmines. that will re-ignite enthusiasm and the chemical novozym-435 so Finding dangerous substances erything has been stripped bare, Photo by Quantum support for science and technol- although in one building there that the two substances bonded from far away is the focus of the Abandoned buildings at the SSC ogy. If we're not careful, we may are some unopened crates full of to form one long molecule. When work of Andrew Traverso, a grad- be facing another “SSC moment” equipment that had the bad luck probably a decade earlier, and traces of explosives come near it, uate student at Texas A & M. He instead. to be delivered just as the project would have run at much higher they bond together with the end of proposes using the atmosphere to was being shut down. energy (colliding proton beams -Alan Chodos the novozym, causing in turn the create a “backwards propagating Outside, mounds with deep of 20 TeV each, compared with Readers can find some inter- fluorescence of the curcumin to laser in the sky” to look for the pits inside them are scattered like 7 TeV for the fully operational esting before and after photos of quench and dim. spectral signature of WMDs. miniature calderas. These are the LHC, although the LHC is now the SSC site at the March 24 blog The device Kumar is work- “We’d like to detect minute filled-in shafts that once gave ac- running at half that). But the cost post of “Physics Buzz,” the blog ing on takes this compound and particles in the upper atmosphere cess to the tunnel that would house was deemed prohibitive, and lead- hosted by the APS website for the spreads it over a film. The film is kilometers away without sending the accelerator. Before cancella- ership in high-energy physics has public, PhysicsCentral. waved in an area for a few sec- SPICE continued on page 6

Developing Hands-On Sustainable Energy Solutions By Michael Lucibella

Pete Schwartz has undergone standard toilets with biodegrading “The human being is the most newable and conventional energy This question drove him toward a transformation. When he started pit toilets. interesting physical system,” being used,” Schwartz said. finding ways to develop renewable his research as a faculty member “In the process I realized I was Schwartz said. One area that he looked at was energy solutions cheaply and eas- at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in more excited about these scientific He took a sabbatical in 2006 how energy consumption affects ily. He began teaching a course at the early 2000s, he built on cut- explorations than what was going and 2007 with Dan Kammen and quality of life around the world. Cal Poly, Appropriate Technology ting-edge nanotechnology, grow- on in the lab,” Schwartz said, “I the Energy and Resources Group The United Nation’s Human De- for the World’s People, which had ing decane thiol monolayers and could see the results…It was sim- at UC Berkeley. There he studied velopment Index weighs the per- students create technologies for studying meniscus force nano- ple, it was something I could grab everything he could about sustain- sonal wealth, education and health developing nations that are easy to grafting. Today he is much more onto, but the scientific process was able energy. He participated in of a population to quantify how build, cheap and environmentally likely to use a ball-peen hammer still complete.” studies of California’s low carbon “well off” a nation is. The higher friendly. than an electron microscope now When speaking at the the HDI number, the Part of the curriculum is to learn that he’s devoted himself to creat- “Physics of Sustainable better off a nation is. from past projects that have either ing sustainable technology for the Energy” conference at In his talk, Schwartz failed or caused unforeseen con- developing world. the University of Cali- highlighted a graph of sequences. On one trip to Nicara- “Right now I have students fornia, Berkeley in early the world’s HDI num- gua in the summer of 2009, while working on a low-cost solar con- March, he illustrated his bers against energy us- conferencing with nonprofits and centrator that could be used to thought process as he age per capita. The re- other nongovernmental organiza- cook in developing countries,” shifted from nanotech- sults are dramatic: the tions, Pete met a researcher named Schwartz said. nology to sustainable-en- more energy a nation Luz Marina Delgado who had Schwartz said that his perspec- ergy research. He began uses, the “better off” its been teaching a similar course at tive began to change around 2005 by showing a series of population is. Most of Caltech. The two became friends when he started doing work on his photos of splashing and the world’s population and Schwartz and Delgado set out house. He had always felt strongly flowing water. Films of is poor and uses a small on a three week tour of Delgado’s that people needed to make bet- liquid flowed off an ob- fraction of the energy native Guatemala in 2010. ter decisions about energy and scured surface, undulat- used by the developed Schwartz said that much of resources, and saw this as the op- ing and spraying every- industrialized nations. Guatemala he visited was “cha- portunity to put it into practice for where. He talked about As poorer nations de- otic,” and the towns often had himself. He went about greening the fluid dynamics of the velop, they’ll likely streets filled with trash and feral Pete Schwartz poses with his daughter Tekuru on his shoulders his home, pulling out the irriga- forming ripples, com- and several children from San Pablo Guatemala. start using exponen- dogs. During his travels, however, tion systems and instead installing plete with overlaid force tially more energy, and he came across one village that a solar shower in his back yard diagrams and equations. The final fuel standards, wind energy poten- generating correspondingly more was different. Called San Pablo, whose runoff flows into his - gar slide pulled back and the audience tial off the coast of Santa Barbara, greenhouse gases. it lay close to the Mexican border. den. He made other changes to the could see that the water had been and electric car costs. “This is just a hopeless situ- Schwartz described it as a “bastion house, like installing energy effi- flowing off a smiling infant, bath- “It forced me to deeply inves- ation,” Schwartz said. “Can we of progressive, very enlightened cient windows and replacing his ing in a sink. tigate every different kind of re- help them develop carbon-free?” SOLUTIONS continued on page 7 6 • May 2011 APS NEWS

March Meeting Prize and Award Recipients

The Path Forward May Get Considerably Harder by Michael S. Lubell, APS Director of Public Affairs The deal President Barack far into the realm of compromise. Obama, House Speaker John Even when they have cut him Boehner and Senate Majority some slack, they have remained Leader Harry Reid struck in early an effective anchor of the conser- April to fund the government for vative agenda, jerking him back the rest of fiscal year 2011 will to the right should he haw ever so probably make it more difficult slightly. for Republicans and Democrats And so it was on the morning to come together on two remain- of April 14, as the House was pre- ing issues: raising the debt ceiling paring to vote on the budget bar- to keep the United States from gain Boehner, Reid and Obama Photo by EventWork Photography defaulting on its financial obli- had struck five days earlier, that APS President Barry Barish presented prizes and awards to these individuals at the March Meeting ceremonial session in gations and passing a fiscal year nearly a third of the Republi- Dallas. Further information can be found in the prize and award insert that was published with the March APS News (avail- able online), and also on the APS website under the "Programs" tab. Seated (l to r): Xiaowei Zhuang, Peter D. Johnson, 2012 budget to keep the govern- can freshmen made it clear that Zhi-Xun Shen, Erez Lieberman-Aiden, Nicholas P. Economou, Billy W. Ward, Christopher Chudzicki, Dmitry Fedosov, and ment operating beyond September they would oppose the speaker’s Herbert Spohn. Standing (l to r): Stephen Leone, Ian Walmsley, Bernard S. Meyerson, Arthur P. Ramirez, Juan Carlos 30. deal. Their conviction and zeal Campuzano, Shaul Mukamel, Gary Grest, Kurt Kremer, Raffaele Mezzenga, and Chia Wei Hsu. Contention is the essence of caught fire, and by noon 32 more democracy, and in Washington GOP House members had joined genuine civility is sometimes hard them, making it impossible for Physics Sheds Light on Cancer and Bacteria Evolution to find. But Republican freshmen the speaker to pass the budget in the House of Representatives bill without significant help from By Gabriel Popkin at the epigenetic level, where DNA tidimensional morphology state have shaken the foundations of Democrats–humble pie under any transcription and gene expression space,” which he hopes will lead Cancer and bacteria have a congressional decorum in ways circumstances, but especially in are controlled. He and his col- to insights into the mechanism of lot more in common, it turns out, probably unseen since the early the hyper-partisan atmosphere of leagues use microfluidics devices tumorigenesis. Ping Ao, a profes- than the fact they can kill us. Both days of the republic. the post-2010 elections. called nanochannels to stretch out sor of physics and engineering at types of cell live in highly regu- It has been an unwritten rule Whether their action signals small sections of tumor cell DNA, Shanghai Jiaotong University in lated communities, communicate for as long as any of the old bulls that John Boehner is in danger and fluorescent markers to observe China, described an approach us- with their neighbors using signal- in the House or Senate can recall of losing his base and whether important signatures of epigenetic ing network theory to map cancer ing molecules, and undergo rapid that new members of Congress his leadership position is in any changes that occur in cancerous onto a fitness landscape, similar to evolution when exposed to envi- put in their time as silent onlook- jeopardy, only time will tell. But cells. These changes can lead to an energy landscape that might be ronmental stresses. Physicists who ers before they gain the privilege without question, the budgetary the expression of normally silent used to model protein folding. Ao presented their research at this of using the microphone. They are contentiousness of recent weeks genetic programs which Riehn and said, “As physicists, we want to year’s APS March Meeting hope supposed to be seen, not heard, has been sufficiently unsettling for others believe lead to the evolution know if there is a simple perspec- to use experimental techniques and they are supposed to toe the the speaker that he is less likely to of the dangerous metastatic behav- tive behind all the complexity” of and models from physics to unlock line, not charge across it. bend during negotiations with the ior that makes cancer such a big cancer. the secrets of such deadly phenom- Not so for the gang of 87 new- White House over raising the debt killer. Another theme that emerged ena as tumor metastasis and drug comers to the House who have ceiling and adopting a budget for Others presented studies of from talks on both cancer and bac- resistance. displayed more defiance than def- fiscal year 2012. drug resistance and metastatic be- teria is the use of game theory, a In a session on the physics of erence, more spine than silence. A mile and a half away down havior related to changes in cells’ concept borrowed from math and evolution, Robert Austin, profes- They swelled the ranks of the Pennsylvania Avenue, President environments. Guillaume Lam- economics. Austin argued that cur- sor of physics at Princeton, laid House Republicans and gave the Obama is having problems of his bert, a graduate student at Princ- rent cell-death treatments tend to out the challenges for physicists GOP one of its largest congres- own with his Democratic base. eton, described research using leave behind only the most aggres- taking on cancer: mortality rates sional majorities in history. And in Having given the House Repub- microfluidics techniques to expose sive cancer cells, which are the for the disease have mostly been every debate, they have confirmed licans $38.5 billion of the $61 tumor cells to chemical gradi- ones that have evolved the most flat in the past three decades, and their populist roots and their liber- billion in cuts to non-security dis- ents of drugs, nutrients, or other radically. “We need a game theory in some cases are rising; moreover, tarian leanings. cretionary spending they had de- chemicals, and measure their evo- approach to dealing with cancer,” what treatments we currently have They have been as effective in manded, Obama suddenly found lutionary response. Along similar he said. “How can we design a se- tend to moderately extend life, pushing the conservative budget- his left flank on the verge of re- lines, Qiucen Zhang, also a Princ- lection pressure that rewards slow but rarely save it. Austin heads ary envelope as they have been in volt. They thought the president eton graduate student, described a growth, decreased mutations, and the Princeton Physical Sciences garnering the attention of the me- was about to concede even further method of rapidly “fixing” drug re- belonging to a community?” Oncology Center, one of twelve dia with their rhetorical flourishes. ground: on environmental regula- sistance in a population of bacteria A number of researchers in Jeff centers around the country that are And having helped elect John tions, funding for Planned Parent- in as little as ten hours, by growing Gore’s lab at MIT applied game applying techniques and insights Boehner speaker, they have made hood, support for National Public the bacteria in a micro-environ- theory to the evolution of drug re- from the physical sciences to the his life miserable whenever they Radio and use of local taxes in the ment containing a gradient of the sistance in bacteria. Tatiana Arte- battle against cancer. He says, “We have perceived him straying too BELTWAY continued on page 7 welcome crazy ideas.” antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Cipro). mova, a graduate student in Gore’s One of those “crazy ideas” is Meanwhile, Liyu Liu, a postdoc at lab, investigated how cooperation SPICE continued from page 5 the possibility that cancer repre- Princeton, presented research on between different strains of bacte- sents a sort of atavism—a regres- the metastatic behavior of cancer ria helped them develop resistance an airplane up there, and we’d like where these two beams meet sion to the evolutionary past, in cells he grew on microchips, in en- to a new antibiotic. In a related to do it using lasers,” Traverso would excite the atoms in the which ancestral, normally noncod- vironments called “tepuis,” whose talk, Hui Chao, an undergraduate said. atmosphere, allowing for stimu- ing regions of human DNA start name was inspired by a form of in the lab, explored how “cheat- Using high-powered lasers lated Raman spectroscopy of that being expressed again. Despite the isolated mesa found in the Guiana ing” non-resistant bacteria may and precision timing, Traverso point. With precision timing the fact that tumor cells are mutated Highlands of South America. By take advantage of drug-resistant says that his team could turn a third beam from the ground and versions of our own cells, they are placing different types of cancer bacteria to survive in an environ- distant point of the atmosphere the backward-traveling beam can very poorly differentiated, resem- cells in the “lowlands” and allow- ment that contains an antibiotic. into a lasing medium. He pro- be made to intersect at any alti- bling embryonic stem cells rather ing them to invade the tepuis, Liu Both speakers used quantitative poses firing two laser pulses into tude. than the more specialized cells is hoping to determine some of models of cooperation and cheat- the sky along the same path. The “We’ve shown the viability of that make up our tissues. “Cancer variables that influence metastatic ing to describe the evolution and second pulse would have a longer using the atmosphere as a remote is evolution running backwards,” behavior. Lambert, Zhang, and Liu behavior they observed. wavelength than the first, mean- laser,” Traverso said. “We’re said Austin. To understand this, all work in Austin’s group. While too early to tell if any ing that it travels slightly faster working to perfect the spectros- “We need to build biological time Theorists also got in on the of this work will lead to the long- in the atmosphere and gradually copy at the moment.” machines. Can we invent a time game, presenting several models sought cures for cancer and drug- overtakes the first pulse. The ni- The team is still developing machine that runs cells back- for understanding cancer develop- resistant bacteria, it is clear that trogen or oxygen atoms in the their techniques. So far they have wards?” ment. Simone Bianco, a postdoc physicists are bringing new tools atmosphere get excited where the built a tabletop version of the sys- Robert Riehn, a professor at in bioengineering and therapeutic to the table. “Through our naivete, two pulses meet, sending a laser- tem, which has demonstrated the North Carolina State University, science at the University of Cali- physicists are not bound to the par- like pulse back down the path of proof of concept. Running field described research aimed at bet- fornia, San Francisco, studies the adigms of biology,” Riehn said. the first two pulses. tests likely poses logistical prob- ter understanding this backward changes that occur in internal ar- “We ask other questions.” To take the spectrographic lems, because the Air Force is re- evolution of cancer. Riehn studies chitecture when a cell becomes Or as Liu put it, “We go in with data, a third pulse would be fired strictive about giving out permis- changes that occur in cancer cells cancerous. Bianco presented a way our intuition. I am not afraid of from the ground, intersecting sion to fire high-powered lasers to model these changes in a “mul- failure.” the backwards beam. The region into the air. APS NEWS May 2011 • 7

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Reviews of Modern Physics Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Program in Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia

Electronic transport in two-dimensional graphene The Division of Laser Sciences (DLS) of the American Physical Society announces its lec- S. Das Sarma, Shaffique Adam, E. H. Hwang, and Enrico Rossi ture program in Laser Science, and invites applications from schools to host a lecturer in Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms forming a hexag- 2011/2012. Lecturers will visit selected academic institutions for two days, during which onal lattice, has many remarkable properties, including an time they will give a public lecture open to the entire academic community and meet infor- electron spectrum that is a realization of nonrelativistic Dirac mally with students and faculty. They may also give guest lectures in classes related to Laser fermions. This review focuses on the transport properties of Science. The purpose of the program is to bring distinguished scientists to colleges and this extraordinary material, which are contrasted with those of universities in order to convey the excitement of Laser Science to undergraduate students. two-dimensional semiconductor systems. A thorough under- standing of these issues will be essential for any future use of The DLS will cover the travel expenses and honorarium of the lecturer. The host institution graphene in electronic devices. will be responsible only for the local expenses of the lecturer and for advertising the public lecture. Awards to host institutions will be made by the selection committee after consult- http://rmp.aps.org ing with the lecturers. Priority will be given to those predominantly undergraduate institu- tions that do not have extensive resources for similar programs. WEBS continued from page 3 Applications should be sent to the DTL committee Chair Rainer Grobe ([email protected]) By irradiating fibers of carbon her colleagues were developing, and to the DLS Secretary-Treasurer Anne Myers Kelley ([email protected]). The nanotubes with an electron beam, which is capable of withstanding deadline for application for visits in Fall 2011 is May 30. Filleter was able to induce cross- a record range of temperatures. Detailed information about the program and the application procedure is available on the linking between the fibers and Xu said the viscoelastic material DLS-DTL home page: http://physics.sdsu.edu/~anderson/DTL/ cause them to bundle into a much is made entirely of carbon nano- tougher carbon nanotube twine. tubes and that a sample withstood His next step is to try to produce Lecturers for 2011/2012: her team shooting metal spheres a macroscopic yarn, and if his at it while they exposed it to tem- • Laurie Butler, University of Chicago. • Christopher Monroe, University of Maryland. methods hold up, Filleter said it peratures ranging from -196 C to • Hui Cao, Yale University. • Luis A. Orozco, University of Maryland. could lead to some of the toughest • Eric Cornell, University of Colorado. • Carlos Stroud, University of Rochester. textiles ever made. 1000 C. • Jim Kafka, Spectra Physics. • Ron Walsworth, Harvard University. Ming Xu, a researcher from the Xu said the ultimate applica- • Fleming Krim, University of Wisconsin. • Linda Young, Argonne National Lab. National Institute of Advanced In- tions were unknown, but that it dustrial Science and Technology could be used in anything from SOLUTIONS continued from page 5 in Japan, also demonstrated a new spacecraft to earthquake retrofit- thinking.” There were no feral inexpensive technologies using work together and combine what rubber-like material that she and ting. dogs or trash. Though it was pri- recycled and renewable materials, they’ve learned about business marily a subsistence agricultural investigating everything from har- and technology so that the enter- BELTWAY continued from page 6 town, students went to school six nessing streams for “micro hydro” prises they’ve started will last. District of Columbia to provide he pivoted and began to pepper his days a week because people there electricity production, house insu- Schwartz hopes that San Pablo abortions, all of which Boehner rhetoric with populist polemics. put such a premium on education. lation from recycled bottles and residents will integrate the green & Co. opposed. And they started He chided Republicans for boost- The town was poor, so resi- prototype electricity-less refrig- technologies into their lives and screaming, “Hell no!” ing the fortunes of the rich at the dents had improvised a number erators. work. Where was the first African expense of the middle class, and of solutions in place of technol- In the coming summer, stu- “We’re not going to fix any- American president they had he aggressively promoted his own ogy they couldn’t afford. One lo- dents will travel to San Pablo thing,” Schwartz said. “It’s not helped elect who had promised debt reduction plan as a middle- cal had run PVC pipes across his and put the technologies to use. something you can just fix. We hope for the middle class and the class counterpoint to the Republi- roof to heat his water, while others Schwartz sees it as a teaching op- can benefit from learning from poor? Where was the man, they can budget resolution that had just use natural adobe for insulation. portunity for his students to learn them and in the process under- wondered, who had spoken glow- passed the House on a party-line Schwartz saw a golden opportu- by doing while at the same time standing their situation better.” ingly of single payer health care vote. He was drawing a metaphor- nity to have his students from Cal benefiting the local community. Schwartz knows that his plan and the pressing need to address ical line in the sand. Poly come to Guatemala and learn “If you want to help people, is ambitious. He said that so far global warming? Where was the I could write an entire column about green solutions by helping you’ve got to go be with people,” the administration at Cal Poly has president who had said science, about who occupies the moral the local community develop their Schwartz said. been supportive, but there are still education and energy technology high ground on this issue, but that natural and renewable resources. The program is more involved many unknowns about the project were his signature issues? is not my purpose, at least for now. To lay the groundwork for his than just installing these renew- he’s taking on. However he’s stay- If the Democrat base becomes Rather, I am hoisting a warning “Guateca” program, in Decem- able technologies in the village. ing optimistic about the program. too disillusioned, the 2012 elec- flag about the budgetary horizon. ber of 2010 Schwartz led a team Students will work with the local Already one of his teaching assis- tion could be a nonstarter, and Science dodged a nasty bullet in of twelve Cal Poly students to residents to set up a local enter- tants has headed down to Guate- Obama could well join Jimmy the fiscal year 2011 skirmish when San Pablo to start building a re- prise with the technology they de- mala to start an English language Carter and George H.W. Bush as Boehner, Reid and Obama finally lationship between the town and velop that will continue after the program for the residents. a one-term White House resident. struck their deal, wiping out the the university. The group took a students leave. “We have confidence in our Polls showing Obama’s approval draconian cuts to NSF, DOE and survey of the town, asking people The heart of Schwartz’s plan intent to work through what hap- ratings in the 30s among white NIST that the original House bud- questions about year-round living is a summer school he intends to pens,” Schwartz said. “If you ap- voters have not been lost on the get bill, H.R. 1, had promised. It conditions, energy usage, diets establish in San Pablo for both US ply things with a benevolent cu- Ivy-League-educated president. may not be so lucky the next time and education. Already students and Guatemalan students. There, riosity and hard work, technical Less than a week after he had around if deal making becomes an at Cal Poly had been developing residents and students would achievements follow.” agreed to the fiscal year 2011 deal, unattainable goal.

NUCLEAR continued from page 1 exploded. The spent fuel rods are of the Under Secretary for Science, security and economic well-being, According to Reis, America’s said that America had responded thought to have been stored in the had originally planned to echo re- all of which are affected by nuclear nuclear future was dependent on exactly the wrong way after our upper levels of that building, he marks made in the President’s State energy. the fate of having long-term nu- own country had problems at Three said. of the Union speech that America Reis, who was not speaking clear waste storage at the Yucca Mile Island. The power company then was at a Sputnik moment with re- on behalf of the Department of Mountain site in Nevada after in- Rosner described wings falling pumped the building full of sea gard to energy. Energy, categorized much of the terim storage options were taken off of airplanes and fuselages disin- water to try to stop the meltdown. Instead, he spoke at length about problem with energy as getting out away for political reasons. Politi- tegrating in mid-air during the early Orbach classified that as a standard a five-postulate argument that he of the coal business. He said that cians also canceled funding for days of flight, and said that govern- move and not a “Hail Mary”, as he had presented to the Blue Ribbon currently the US produces 800 Ter- small, modular designs because ment action at the time wasn’t to said much of the press had catego- Commission on America’s Nuclear awatt hours (TWhr) from nuclear many didn’t see a need if waste stop making new airplanes. He said rized it. However, he questioned Future, which is currently working power plants, but that in order to was to be taken straight to Yucca the federal government invested the power company’s motive in on policy recommendations. meet the President’s stated goals, Mountain. When the site was taken heavily in determining what went waiting so long to reach the conclu- “If nuclear is going to partici- that number would have to grow to off the table, it placed all of US wrong and then invested again in sion that it was necessary and sug- pate, it’s got to grow and it’s got to 2500 TWhr. nuclear energy at risk. gested they might not have wanted grow fast,” he said. Achieving that amount of elec- He said the Blue Ribbon Com- fixing the problems. That decision to admit that everything else had The five postulates were: that the tricity from nuclear plants would mission is expected to help change is why we now have the safe air- failed. availability of electricity is essen- require a $10 billion investment some of these decisions. planes that we do. Each of the speakers took time tial to prosperity; climate change is over the next five years, Reis said. Robert Rosner, of the Harris “Is this the way to run–not the to reiterate their belief that nuclear real and time-critical; nuclear ener- He also seized on an idea that Energy Policy Institute at the Uni- airline industry–but the fission in- power was imperative to America’s gy is a prime replacement for coal; each of the speakers repeatedly versity of Chicago, said that we dustry?,” asked Rosner. “I think the future. electricity will remain private; and emphasized–that small, modular needed to think carefully about answer is no. Engineering fields Victor Reis, a senior adviser in the US government is interested in designs could solve many of our spent fuel storage in light of what learn from mistakes; it’s time to the Department of Energy’s Office the environment, safety, national nuclear woes. happened at Fukushima, but he start putting those lessons to use.” 8 • May 2011 APS NEWS The Back Page

Ed. Note: Established in May, 2010, by Presi- neers. There has been considerable damage done to dent Obama, the National Commission on the BP the area, basically due to industrial use for the last Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drill- forty years, and you can’t just restore it to what it was ing issued its report on January 11, 2011 after 6 The Gulf Oil Spill Commission: on April 20th a year ago–it needs considerable resto- months of intensive effort. Cherry Murray, Dean ration. A glass-half-full look at this situation is that of the Harvard School of Engineering and Ap- An Inside Look there will be money, and one of our recommendations plied Sciences, and APS President in 2009, served to the president is that 80 percent of the damages that on the commission, and shortly after it ceased op- get paid because of this spill go into the restoration of erations on March 11, she talked with APS News the Gulf, which should bring this into a sustainable staff writer Michael Lucibella about her experiences. The condition. Over the last 40 years the Gulf has lost land area following is an edited transcript. equivalent to something like the state of New Jersey. Q: In a nutshell, how would you describe what the Q: What do you hope the country, the government commission found? and the public take away from your report? A: Let me explain what our charter was first, because A: The biggest lesson to be learned is that we need a very it was quite broad. What we needed to do was look at the different safety culture in the Gulf of Mexico. The industry whole picture, figure out what the root cause of the Deep- is perfectly capable of doing this. Since the Exxon Valdez water Horizon blowout was, and then develop some options incident, there has been no improvement in the technology for guarding against and mitigating oil spills associated with of oil spills at all. We were doing exactly the same things offshore drilling, learn from this disaster and figure out what that we were doing for the Exxon Valdez. We need to do government, industry and whoever else needed to do in or- better than that. der to prevent this from ever happening again. We also need to understand how to contain a well blow- There were seven commissioners: two co-chairs, Bob out like this. The technology that the oil and gas industry Graham and Bill Reilly, and five others. There were 60 staff uses to drill these wells in very deep water is comparable and the staff did a huge amount of work. The executive di- rector was Richard Lazarus. We had six months. This was in sophistication to the technology to go into space. What the fastest any presidential commission has ever been asked they have not done is put as much energy and resources into to do a report. We had a huge amount of work to do in a very the technology for safety and for containment and spill re- short amount of time, and how that got accomplished with credible political and legal situation, we had to do our work sponse, and that has to change. seven commissioners is by having this incredibly able staff as clearly as possible. So we were not to interfere with the There are now two containment companies, one called of sixty people. The investigation of what actually happened criminal investigation, which we didn’t. We were not to Helix Producer and another one called Marine Well Con- is still ongoing and there are at least 13 different groups comment on the political situation of ‘Should we have a tainment Corporation, which was about a two billion dollar studying this. moratorium at this time?’ Instead we stepped back and lis- investment by a number of oil industry people who realized Our job was to look at the root cause and leverage but tened politely to everyone’s comments in the hearings, and that the moratorium would not stop until we could actually not interfere with any other investigations that were going letters and other input, and asked the question, ‘In the future, do containment. The only way that oil wells can be killed for on. We had several subcommittees who were working on would it be a good idea if we have another incident like good is to drill a relief well, and that takes 90 days, which various aspects of this. this, is the moratorium a good way of dealing with it?’ not is why we had 90 days of oil spilling into the Gulf. We need We ended up making recommendations on nine distinct ‘Should we or should we have not called the moratorium something better than that, and that’s already happening in areas. The first area was improving the safety, because it right now?’ the industry. became very obvious that this was a serious issue in that The other thing that we did was look at how well the We need an industry self-policing unit and much better eleven people died. We asked what should the government oversight was being carried out. It was very clear that need- oversight. The safety and environmental oversight needs to do to improve the safety, and what should the industry do ed a complete revamping. It was clear to secretary Salazar as be removed from the leasing and revenue generation. Mi- to improve safety, then looked at safeguarding the environ- well, and he called in a new chief of the Minerals Manage- chael Bromwich has already started this process. ment, which is not the same as human safety, but obviously ment Service (MMS), Michael Bromwich from the Justice Q: Are you optimistic about your recommendations linked. Other issues included strengthening oil spill re- Department. There was a lot of back and forth on ‘Here’s being adopted? sponse planning and capacity, advancing well containment, what we think, here’s how we think your agency should be Yes, many of the most important recommendations don’t and then what to do about restoring the Gulf. We also looked reorganized,’ and he took that as helpful advice, and is do- cost a lot of money. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to reorga- at ensuring financial responsibility of the parties at fault. ing it. There were a huge number of conversations with him, nize the MMS, but we said it needs to be better funded. One The major conclusion is that this incident was a failure not just hearings, and therefore I think we had a lot more way of better funding it, which has already been proposed in of management. Offshore oil drilling can be done safely. It impact. Congress, is to take a percentage of the lease money. Right will always have risks, and we need to better mitigate those Q: What was it like traveling down to the Gulf Coast now the lease money goes right into the federal treasury. So risks. So it was a failure of management, both of the indus- at this time? instead of having a Congressional line item, make sure that try and of the government oversight. The Gulf region, in those five states, has a particular, very the industry is paying for its regulation. family-centered culture, and each family does one of three Q: What was your personal role? Any energy industry is risky, but you can mitigate the things: tourism, fishing and oil exploration in some way– A: I was on three subcommittees; the subcommittee risks and you need to have very good industry safety cul- it’s either services to oil rigs, working on the rigs or some on what actually happened at the well, the subcommittee ture, but you also need to have good federal regulation. That other aspect of the oil and gas industry. The moratorium was on industry safety and the subcommittee on containment. is probably the most critical of our recommendations. We called so that all halted, the tourism went down by a factor They’re slightly more engineering-oriented committees. also believe there needs to be way better science being used of two, and fishing was halted because there was a zone of Q: How did you go about investigating for these com- in all of the environmental impact statements the industry mittees? no fishing. It was a terrible time of depression and anxiety. generates. Serious laws that are already on the books need A: The first thing we did as a commission was fan out. The local governments were extremely upset because the to be better enforced. There are five states involved so we fanned out to the five national response plan, which was being carried out as a re- Q: How did actually being on a rig change how you states to look at the impacts on the local governments, peo- sult of the oil pollution act, written in 1990, did not include thought about it? ple, industry and other entities down in the Gulf. We did a local governments. It took a month for [the federal govern- A: I think seeing the enormity of just how big these quick tour and then held a hearing in New Orleans for sev- ment] to realize that this was not working well. The Coast rigs are and how huge the blowout preventer is, which is eral days. We talked to companies. We had experts from the Guard was actually doing an incredibly fantastic job, but oil industry–for example, Rich Sears, who was the senior there was a communication problem. The locals felt com- about four stories tall. You see pictures of these things, but advisor for science and engineering, who retired a year ago pletely left out so they were ad-hoc added into the teams. it doesn’t really strike you how much energy you need to from being head of the deepwater Shell exploration in the So I guess the nation learned the lesson that we need better shear the drill pipe for example. I got a much better feel for Gulf. The investigative lawyer team and I went down to the local involvement in the response. the risks associated with this industry. sister ship, the Deepwater Nautilus, which is leased by Shell The other thing that we learned is that the problem of per- We also cautioned against very quick production of oil and owned by Transocean, to look at what it would be like ception is way worse than the actual circumstances, which in the Arctic, a frontier area where we don’t know enough being on the rig and see exactly what’s where, because we is why tourism went down by a factor of two. That was bil- about what’s there to know what we could possibly be dam- were trying to figure out who knew what when. lions of dollars for the tourism industry and contributes a aging. More science needs to be done just to figure out what Q: What stuck with you when you were working on large part of the tax base and they were just wondering how resources are there. We know for sure that it will be much the project? What will you remember most about work- they were going to make ends meet. harder to clean up. There’s a Coast Guard station, and it’s a ing on this? Q: What kind of perceptions do you mean? thousand miles away. It took three and a half hours to get A: The team was just absolutely first rate. The staff were A: The perceptions that you couldn’t possibly eat Gulf out to the Deepwater Horizon rig; how long is it going to outstanding people and it was incredible to get to know seafood. It was and still is much safer than public percep- take to go a thousand miles? The bacteria and other marine them, as well as the commissioners. We had decided as a tion. And also that you couldn’t go to the beaches. There organisms that eat gas, if not oil, are not there in the Arctic commission that we would have a consensus report. It was were very few oiled beaches. Yes there was some oil on the and all chemical reactions are going to be slower, so the deg- bipartisan. One of the two co-chairs is a Republican and beaches, but the major decrease in tourism was completely radation of the oil would be incredibly slow. The damage one’s a Democrat. unnecessary. would be much worse in the Arctic. We don’t know how to One thing that’s quite different from the normal com- Q: What is the future looking like for the Gulf region? do spill cleanup among sea ice. We didn’t say ‘Don’t drill in mittees that I’m used to serving on is that this was highly A: The Mississippi Delta has been shrinking under sea- the Arctic’, we said ‘Look, we need to understand the risks, politically charged, and obviously there are many lawsuits water for forty years, and that is due to the dredging for perhaps one should look at this a little more carefully before that are going to come from this. In the middle of this in- shipping canals, which is done by the Army Corps of Engi- doing a huge amount of development in the Arctic.’

APS News welcomes and encourages letters and submissions from its members responding to these and other issues. Responses may be sent to: [email protected]