The Bulletin 372

The Royal Society of New South Wales

ABN 76 470 896 415 ISSN 1039-1843 November 2013

Wednesday 18 December 2013 Special meeting to consider rule changes Future Events Jak Kelly Award Presentation & Christmas Party Wednesday 18 December 2013 Probing the Nano-World with the Symmetries of Light Special meeting to consider rule changes Delivered by Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto Union, University & Schools Club Union, University & Schools Club, 25 Bent St, Sydney City 25 Bent St, Sydney 6:00 for 6:15 and 6:30 pm 6:15 pm

Wednesday 18 December 2013 Note revised date for this meeting. The 2013 1217th OGM, Jak Kelly Award Presentation Jak Kelly Award Winner Xavier Zambrana- Delivered by: Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto Puyalto, Department of Physics and 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm Astronomy, ARC Center of Excellence for Union, University & Schools Club Engineered Quantum Systems, Macquarie 25 Bent St, Sydney University, will deliver his talk “Probing the Followed by the Society’s Christmas Party Nano-World with Symmetires of Light” at $35.00 for members & Guests the Society’s 1217th OGM. RSVP to [email protected] Abstract Wednesday 5 February 2014 1218th OGM, Scholarship Award In 1959, Richard Feynman gave a seminal Presentations lecture entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at Dr Donald Hector, Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto, Prof. Union, University & Schools Club the Bottom” which pushed scientists to set Michael Burton 25 Bent St, Sydney out on the journey of controlling light-matter 6:00 pm for 6:30 pm interactions at the nano-scale. Since then, nanotechnology has rapidly developed. dichroism (CD) of a sample. CD is a widely used Wednesday 19 February 2014 Nowadays it is inconceivable to think of any technique in science, and its uses range from Joint meeting with the Australian Institute new information devices whose circuits are not DNA studies to protein spectroscopy. It is of Forensic Sciences in the nano-scale. Whereas nanoelectronics is a defined as the differential absorption of left and Delivered by: well consolidated technology producing right circular polarization. Typically, it is Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett transistors of less than 50 nm, nanophotonics established that CD can only be found in Union, University & Schools Club has yet to overcome some drawbacks. So far, interactions with chiral structures, i.e. 25 Bent St, Sydney probably the most successful way of pushing structures whose mirror image cannot be 6:00 pm light-technology to the nano-scale has been superimposed with them. I will show that non- plasmonics. In plasmonics, plane waves are chiral structures, such as a circular nano- Thursday 27 February 2014 used to excite smartly designed nano-structures aperture, can also produce CD when light 5:30 pm for 6:00 pm to couple light with free electrons oscillations beams with cylindrical symmetry are used. We Meeting of the Four Societies on a metallic surface and transmit information. will be able to reconcile the experimental Future of Power Generation for NSW I will show that if symmetry considerations are results and extend the current understanding of Professor Mary O’Kane taken into account and more elaborate beams this phenomenon using symmetry considera- NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer of light are used, extra information can be tions. retrieved from the same samples. To prove this, Hamilton Room, Level 47, This will be followed by the Society’s Christmas I will present a recent experiment carried out in MLC Centre, Party. For booking and further details see my group where the complex behavior of a Martin Place, Sydney separate flyer. circular nano-metric aperture is easily predicted using symmetry considerations. The experiment Dress code: Jacket and tie. deals with an old problem – the circular Patrons of The Royal Society of NSW Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO Governor of NSW

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1216th Ordinary General Meeting Held on Wednesday 6 November 2013 The Senior Science National Curriculum Dr Mark Butler

An issue of particular interest to the Society over recent years has been the importance of the teaching of maths and science to schoolchildren. This issue was a subject of the 2013 Royal Society of NSW Forum, so at our November meeting, the Society was delighted to have the opportunity to hear directly from one of the key people in developing the senior secondary science curriculum, Dr Mark Butler. The background to the current curriculum dates from 1989 when the Education Ministers of all the states issued “common goals for schooling”. In 2004, the Federal Government started to explore the notion of an Australian Certificate of Education that would harmonise the approaches of each of the States. This led to the Melbourne Dr Mark Butler Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians and resulted in the creation of the National Curriculum Cadetship. unit structure with each unit able to Board, now known as the Australian be taught in about half a school year Curriculum Assessment and Developing the national curriculum (about 50-60 hours including Reporting Authority (ACARA). involved an extensive process of assessment and examinations). The consultation between education The role of ACARA is to develop the K States are responsible for assessment authorities in each of the States. It -12 national curriculum in specific and certification and will determine was agreed that State and Territory learning areas, to coordinate the the permitted entry and exit points in curricula, assessment and National Student Assessment line with their requirements. certification authorities would Programme (NAPLAN) and to integrate the Australian Curriculum The framework of the Australian administer a public data collection subject matter into courses, adding Curriculum revolves around two and reporting system (the “My assessment and certification important concepts: first, is an School” website). This was specifications as required. That is, underlying foundation of “systems”, implemented in a number of phases, States have responsibility for teaching systems thinking as a means commencing with the development preparing the courses and, as far as to unify scientific knowledge and of the K-12 national curricula in possible, will incorporate the understanding and as a way to relate English, Mathematics, Sciences and Australian Curriculum requirements. and describe phenomena. Models History. The second phase was the The aim is to have the senior and theories are taught as being a development of curricula for secondary Australian curriculum for means of representing systems in Languages, Geography and the Arts, each subject as accessible to as many order to explain, analyse and predict and the third phase was curricula for students as possible within the system behaviour. This approach is Design and Technology, Health and context of the nature of the subject taught through three integrated Physical Education, ICT, Economics and its specified rationale. The strands – Science Understanding, and Business, Civics and Citizenship, curriculum is designed around a 4- Work Studies, and National Trade (Continued on page 3)

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(Continued from page 2) The Pollock Memorial Lecture 2013

Science As a Human Endeavour, and The Royal Society of NSW and the Univeristy of Sydney Science Enquiry Skills. Each of these are In Conjunction with the intended to teach fundamental core Australian Insitute of Physics content expressed as concepts rather than facts and to encourage representation using theories and models to represent the phenomena being investigated. This core content then is extended into science enquiry skills on how to conduct research, design and conduct investigations, represent and analyse data, evaluate processes, claims and conclusions, select and use appropriate representations and then to communicate information to specific audiences. Of particular importance is teaching students the unique nature of scientific enquiry and scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge and its application affects people’s lives, how it is influenced by society and how it informs decision-making. Dr Butler’s talk stimulated an extensive discussion session, reflecting his passion Professor Michelle Simmons and enthusiasm for the subject.

A crowd of diverse attendees gathered at 1999, she was awarded a QEII Fellowship onald Hector the University of Sydney to experience and came to Australia where she was a the 2013 Pollock Memorial Lecture in founding member, and now the Director D October. The event occurs only once of the Centre of Excellence. The lecture every four years in the memory of was entitled “Quantum computing in Paperless Bulletin? Professor J.A. Pollock, Professor of silicon and the limits of silicon miniaturi- If you have the capability to read the Physics at the University of Sydney (1899- sation”. 1922) and a 25-year member of the Royal Bulletin digitally please email the Professor Simmons’ commenced her Society of NSW, which has sponsored this office. address by overviewing the advances of event since 1949. the now conventional semiconductor The recipients of this accolade include industry. From the first, famously crude, [email protected] some very eminent scientists such as Fred transistor, through discrete silicon Hoyle (1962), Brian Josephson (2006) devices in “transistor radios” through to and, most recently, Brian Schmidt (2009). modern day integrated circuits com- Tonight the lecture was delivered by posed of billions of devices. A point, Professor Michelle Simmons of the well made, was that there were a full University of New South Wales (UNSW). ten years between the laboratory transistor and the first integrated device Professor Simmons is the Director of and yet another 15 years before mass the Australian Research Council products flooded into the market. It has Centre of Excellence for Quantum been a technology that has revolution- Computation and Communication sied the way we live, but remarkably still Technology, a Federation Fellow and a has not deviated from Moore’s Law. Scientia Professor of Physics at the Prof Simmons described the basics of University of New South Wales. what the term “quantum computer” Following her PhD in solar engineer- means and the various characteristics a ing at the University of Durham in the device must exhibit to comprehensively UK she became a Research Fellow at the qualify as such. Although scientifically Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, UK, advanced, the area is in its infancy working with Professor Sir Michael www.facebook.com/royalsoc Pepper FRS in quantum electronics. In (Continued on page 4)

The Bulletin of the Royal Society of NSW, no 372 3

mechanical notation. The latter may New Members of the Society have left behind anyone without degree analogous to the time of the first level physics, but it was fascinating to We welcome the following new transistor, when the plethora of future many that do. members to the Society: applications could not have been conceived – and that is just how it is · Ian Hugh Sloan now with quantum computers – we Finally, Prof Simmons gave an overview cannot begin to estimate their future of the different research approaches · Judith Wheeldon impact. being applied around the globe towards realizing the first true quantum computer · Kenneth Henry Dawson Some problems scale exponentially – like – elucidating the strengths and potential the Travelling Salesman problem where issues with each of the categories. The · Margaret Sybil Cameron the task is to calculate all possible work at UNSW involves excavating a · Michael Kelly alternative routes of a salesman visiting N surface of silicon atom by atom and then cities in any order. As N is increased the placing and burying a single dopant atom · Richard Payne number of options explodes, quickly to form a qubit, before covering it over outstripping the capacity of even a with silicon and attaching electrodes. Her · Robert Spanswick supercomputer. Other such problems are group is the only group world-wide that many-body models for simulating can make such atomically precise devices · Thomas Maschmeyer molecules and materials. Whereas in silicon: they have developed the conventional “serial” computers become world’s thinnest conducting doped wires For information about membership overwhelmed, quantum computers in silicon, and the ability to manipulate please contact the Society’s office or mirror the exponential character of these and electronically measure devices with visit the Society’s website or contact problems with the exponential number of atomically precise dopant placement. possible quantum states held in superpo- Emma at [email protected] sition across the qubits of the quantum computer. Indeed, with only 300 qubits, Prof Simmons address was followed by We encourage members to introduce a quantum computer would possess 20 minutes of insightful and imaginative new members to the Society. more processing power than all of the questions from the audience. Dr Scott computers currently in the world. Martin, NSW Chair of the Australian Institute of Physics made the vote of thanks and presented an AIP scarf and a They are known to be suited to particular bottle of wine as tokens of appreciation. The Perfect Present niche problems such as decryption, but Members of the Royal Society of NSW they may be combined in many architec- and the AIP were honoured to further for the scientific mind tures to perform different logical opera- engage with Prof Simmons at dinner tions, some of which Prof Simmons afterwards. Contatct the office to place your order described using truth tables and quantum just in time for Christmas! A perfect present for the scientifically inclinded,

or treat yourself, we won’t tell anyone... [email protected]

Professor Simon Fleming, Dr Scott Martin, Professor Michelle Simmons and John Hardie

The Bulletin of the Royal Society of NSW, no 372 4

Southern Highlands Branch Report of November Meeting 2013 Outsmarting Superbugs? Prof Elizabeth Harry Professor of Biology and Deputy Director of the ithree institute, University of Technology Sydney The 77 attendees waiting to greet mycin and tetracycline, by 1958 the experimental testing of honey as a Professor Liz Harry for her Southern resistant to sulphonamide, then in topical antibiotic. She showed photo- Highlands lecture at 6.30pm on 1961 resistant to methicillin. The graphs of a case where honey- November 21 were quite disappointed pattern of resistance continues to this impregnated dressings were effective when told of her unavoidable delay in day. In USA, the number of S. aureus in healing infected skin ulcerations that Sydney. (MRSA) infections in intensive care unit had resisted other antibiotic treat- patients was less than 2000 in 1993. By ments. Honey appears to have a Fortunately the wait was made 2005, there were 368000, an alarming general antibiotic property that allows enjoyable and enriching by the increase. it to be safely stored by bees and in our ingenuity of some in the audience. pantries and refrigerators for Committee member Andrea Talbot extended periods. The honey that outlined the speaker program for Professor Harry and her colleagues 2014. Then Royal Society member have chosen for research is Douglas Mackinlay delivered an Manuka honey. impromptu address on his current research into ancient Egyptian Professor Harry lamented the fact timelines. It was a fascinating that research on antibacterial presentation. agents of all varieties has lan- guished mainly due to commercial Professor Harry began her lecture considerations. Drug companies with an overview of bacteria, clearly stand to make larger profits emphasizing their prevalence and from drugs designed for chronic the fact that we cannot live conditions, such as hypertension, without them. They make about than from the design of more half of the oxygen we breathe, and effective antibiotics which are used 80% of the nitrogen we use. There for shorter periods of time in are more bacteria on a person’s addressing acute conditions. hand then there are people on the entire planet, and bacterial cells Her research so far has resulted in Liz Harry spent quite some time in her produce 100 times more protein in our her awards of the Australian Eureka lecture describing how bacteria are bodies than human cells do. The global Prize for Scientific Research in 2002 able to generate resistance to antibi- number of bacteria is of the order of 6 and the Australian Society of Microbi- otics. She has pioneered the develop- x 10^30, 90% of all bacteria occurring ology Frank Fenner Prize in 2008 in ment of microscopy techniques for at the subsurface (sediment depth recognition of her distinguished ‘seeing’ where proteins are in a approx 500m). The biomass of contributions to Australian research in bacterial cell. These techniques have subsurface microorganisms corre- microbiology. revolutionized our view of the internal sponds to one third of the total living organization of bacterial cells. Her At the end of the lecture, Professor biomass on Earth. Despite this huge research on bacterial cell division has prevalence of bacteria, only very few Harry very kindly offered access to her had a significant impact on our cause disease. Tuberculosis and PowerPoint presentation to those understanding of how bacterial cells meningitis are caused by airborne further interested. It can be requested multiply, and how they control this bacteria. Lyme disease, anthrax, process to ensure equal partitioning of at [email protected] and at leprosy, cholera and typhoid are all chromosomes vital for survival. She has [email protected] bacterial in origin. So too are infected worked with industry to develop novel wounds on our skin. antibiotics that target this process in The emergence of antibiotic resistance pathogens, and to examine how was first noted in 1947, nineteen years natural products, such as honey, after the discovery of penicillin, when function as effective therapeutics for S. aureus was found to be resistant to infectious diseases. nne Wood it. By 1955 it was resistant to erythro- One of her areas of research has been A

The Bulletin of the Royal Society of NSW, no 372 5

From the President

There were a in conjunction with conferring of cant change regarding fellowship of number of honorary degrees at the University of the Society that we expect to have a important New South Wales and was an very positive impact on our member- activities in outstanding success. ship. Members will receive a notice November. of meeting shortly that will include We have been doing quite a lot of In addition to an Explanatory Memorandum work regarding our Journal exchange the monthly regarding each of the Rule changes. programme and this has slightly meeting, and It is most important that members delayed printing of the edition excellent participate in this process – if you are published in June. If you have presentation not able to attend the meeting in subscribed to the hardcopy of the on the preparation of the Australian person would you please lodge a Journal, you should receive it in the science curriculum by Dr Mark proxy. next couple of weeks – some good Butler, the winner of the Jak Kelly Christmas reading! Our editor, Immediately following the special Award was determined and the 2013 Professor Michael Burton is putting meeting and the presentation by the Dirac lecture was presented by Sir the finishing touches to the second Jak Kelly award winner, we will have Michael Pepper, an internationally- edition for the year and this is the Society’s Christmas party. I do renowned physicist. expected to be published electroni- hope you can attend and look On Tuesday 19 November, in cally before the end of December, forward to seeing you there. conjunction with the Australian with hardcopy being printed early in Institute of Physics, the Jak Kelly the New Year. Award was determined. The winner onald Hector As mentioned in recent Bulletins, the was Xavier Zambrana-Puyalto, from D Council has recently conducted a Macquarie University for his out- major review of the Rules and By- standing presentation “Probing the Laws in order to modernise them, nano-world with symmetries of For information about membership particularly making them consistent light”. Xavier will present to the please contact the Society’s office or with current corporations law. This visit the Society’s website or contact Society at the next meeting to be is now complete and a special Emma at [email protected] held on Wednesday 18 December. meeting to consider them will take The 2013 Dirac Lecture was delivered place immediately prior to the We encourage members to introduce at the University of NSW on the meeting to be held on Wednesday 18 new members to the Society. evening of Thursday 21 November by December. Most of the changes are Sir Michael Pepper. This took place procedural but there are is a signifi-

Contact your office bearers

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The Bulletin of the Royal Society of NSW, no 372 6