March 2007 Volume 16, No. 3

www.aps.org/publications/apsnews

APS NEWS Spring 2007 Prizes and Awards A Publication of the American Physical Society • www.aps.org/publications/apsnews See insert inside

“Woodstock of Physics,” Quantum Computing Meet the New Editor-In-Chief: Gene Sprouse Gene Sprouse is the new ing LINAC, and then succeeded Among Highlights of 2007 APS March Meeting APS Editor-in-Chief, replacing in transferring the atoms into a Martin Blume, who has retired. magneto-optical trap for further More than 7000 physi- tant. Named for its three Blume had served as Editor-in- careful study of the atom’s prop- cists will converge on Den- originators–John Bardeen, Chief since the beginning of erties. Francium is the heaviest ver, Colorado this month for Leon Cooper, and Robert 1997. alkali atom, and holds special the APS March Meeting, Schrieffer, who shared a The APS Editor-in-Chief, one interest because its atomic prop- usually the largest physics Nobel prize for their efforts of the Society’s three operating erties can be calculated with meeting of the year. The –the BCS theory explains officers, has responsibility for all high precision, says Sprouse. It meeting will take place at superconductivity as aris- APS research journals–the Phys- can be used to study fundamen- the Convention Center in ing from the pairing of elec- ical Review, Physical Review tal interactions, in particular the Denver, at the threshold of trons through the mediation Letters, and Reviews of Modern strength of the weak interaction the beautiful Rocky Moun- of subtle vibrations rippling Physics–and in addition oversees between electrons and quarks in tains, March 5-9, 2007. The through the material. Physi- the editorial staff and the journal the atom, and the effects of the principal topic areas will be cist Paul Grant calls the BCS came superconducting only at liq- production staff associated with weak interaction in the nucleus. condensed matter physics, indus- work “the most monumental theo- uid helium temperatures, the pros- them. Sprouse took over the po- These effects have already been trial applications, new materials, retical achievement of condensed pect of critical temperatures above sition on March 1. chemical and biological physics, matter physics in the 20th cen- 100 Kelvin electrified scientists After attending fluids, polymers, and computation. tury.” A special evening session at and the public alike. Speakers re- MIT as an under- A number of sessions will address the March Meeting will look at the porting fresh results on so-called graduate, Sprouse re- social issues. impact of this theory on the study high temperature superconductors ceived his PhD from Happy Anniversaries. Two of not only atoms and solids but (HTSC) went on until 3:15 am. Stanford in 1968, momentous occasions in the 20th also nuclei, quarks, and the cos- Now, 20 years later, another set of and joined the fac- century history of physics will be mos itself. (G1) talks (a few by the same practitio- ulty at Stony Brook celebrated at the Denver meeting. Latest Quantum Computer ners from 1987) will review what University in 1970. The first is the 20th anniversary of Hardware. Physicists are pursu- has been learned and what we can He became full pro- the so-called “Woodstock of Phys- ing several hardware options for look forward to when it comes to fessor in 1979, and ics”: a mammoth session at the making truly powerful quantum superconductivity (B1). served as department 1987 APS March Meeting devoted computers that would fulfill their chair from 1990 to While the HTSC anniversary Photo by Ken Cole to the new class of ceramic super- potential of performing ultra-fast might command more attention, 1996. Last year he was Martin Blume (on the left) and Gene Sprouse conductor discovered not so many database searches, rapidly crack- the anniversary of the highly suc- promoted to Distin- months before. After decades of ing secret encrypted codes, and cessful theory of low-temperature guished Professor. He served as observed in cesium, but in fran- poring over materials which be- greatly improving molecular-level superconductivity is also impor- director of the Nuclear Structure cium, they are much stronger MARCH MEETING cont. on page 3 Laboratory at Stony Brook from and should be easier to measure, Poll Finds Significant Interest in School Boards Among Physicists 1984 to 1987, and again from says Sprouse. The Stony Brook 1996 to the present. His research accelerator has recently shut An APS News poll conducted neers for America (SEA), thinks countries in science proficiency, interests include nuclear struc- down, so Sprouse’s collaborators in February has found that while that school boards are an area and because of that we’re los- ture, neutral atom trapping, and will carry on the francium work not many physicists have served where scientists can be valuable, ing our ability to compete in the laser spectroscopy of radioac- at TRIUMF, in Vancouver, while on their state or local school and it’s relatively easy to get in- global marketplace, said Brown. tive atoms. Sprouse was elected he turns his primary attention to boards, a significant number volved. “Scientists have a lot to Encouraging scientists to get in- an APS Fellow in 1984. the APS journals. have been involved with their offer school boards,” said Brown. volved with school boards is one Starting in 1995, Luis Orozco When he’s not investigating school boards at some level, and SEA is an organization formed step we can take to improve sci- (now at the University of Mary- the atomic properties of fran- many would consider running last September to promote good ence education, he said. land) and Sprouse led a team at cium, Sprouse might be found for election if they had some or- science in policy making. The APS News survey asked Stony Brook to study the element in his kitchen, baking bread–his ganizational support. Students in the United States participants to answer three sim- francium with laser trapping tech- specialty is baguettes. Michael Brown, Executive continue to do poorly in science. ple yes/no questions: niques. Francium has no stable Now, he’s starting a new en- Director of Scientists and Engi- The US is falling behind other SCHOOL BOARDS cont. on page 6 isotopes, and is extremely rare; deavor: leading the APS journals. “There’s only about an ounce of Sprouse says he views his new APS Gathers Postdoc Best Practices; Comments are Invited it on the Earth,” says Sprouse. position as a challenge. “There In January, APS Executive Offi- ceived, from which APS extracted deliberately chosen to be someone They produced the francium in are very interesting things go- cer Judy Franz asked physics depart- quotes describing what the depart- other than the postdoc’s research Stony Brook’s superconduct- SPROUSE cont. on page 7 ment chairs in research universities ments do for postdocs, and what supervisor, to provide an alternative for information about an important issues are considered to be most voice should a conflict arise. One Fellows Reign in Southern California but sometimes overlooked segment important. These were posted on the chair had a global solution to career of their community: postdocs. In her APS website under “Postdoc Best development: “Work to increase the letter, Franz pointed out that post- Practices.” They are grouped into number of tenure-track faculty po- docs often face problems both with various subjects, such as “Benefits”, sitions! Everything else is just win- their present working conditions, “Combating Isolation”, and “Career dow-dressing.” and as they plan for their future ca- Development”, with the hope that As reported by the chairs, post- reers. they will be useful to other depart- docs are often involved in teaching, “Physicists in their postdoc years ments in finding ways to help their which is viewed as a benefit both in are especially vulnerable–their fu- own postdocs. combating isolation and in career ture careers depend critically on Many departments offer full development. Opinions varied as the success of their research during benefits to postdocs. Others of- to whether postdocs should expect this rather brief period,” the letter fer everything but retirement; one travel funds, or whether that should said, “yet we hear of concerns from covers everything except maternity be left to the discretion of the princi- post-docs about their isolation, poor leave. To combat postdoc isola- pal investigators. health benefits and maternity leave tion, departments listed such items The full list of best practices policies, lack of travel funds, and as a postdoc handbook, an annual can be found at http://www.aps. Photo by Darlene Logan being tied too closely to one advi- social event, and an active seminar org/careers/guidance/postdoc-best- On January 16, a large turnout of APS Fellows assembled in the UCLA Fac- sor or one project. APS would like program in which postdocs were in- practices.cfm. Interested readers, ulty Center to socialize and to hear about some APS programs. The eve- ning was hosted by Barry Barish of Caltech, and was presided over by APS to learn how your department deals vited to participate. especially postdocs, are invited to President-elect Arthur Bienenstock of Stanford. In addition to Bienenstock, with such concerns, as well as any Career development is an im- provide their own comments in a attendees heard from APS Executive Officer Judy Franz, Director of Educa- other ideas you have that would help portant issue for postdocs. Many box at the bottom of the page. The tion and Diversity Ted Hodapp, and Director of Public Affairs Michael Lubell. post-docs be more productive.” departments stress mentoring, and most useful of these will be posted In the photo, Bienenstock (center), enjoys the company of Fellows King-Ning Tu (left) and Roberto Peccei, both of UCLA A variety of responses was re- at one department, the mentor is on the site. .  • March 2007 APS NEWS

Members in the Media This Month in Physics History March 16, 1938: Katharine Blodgett patents “The spirit of this is that they “It’s going very well. And this are trying to get us to pay attention is such a delicate operation. You anti-reflective coatings to the issue and get our act togeth- always live on the edge with this any things became much clearer in 1938 Since she could precisely control the thickness of the er, which is not together.” project. It’s like driving a race car; after Katharine Blodgett developed anti-re- soapy films by building them up one molecular layer Frank von Hippel, Princeton you never know when you’re go- Mflective coatings for glass. Uncoated glass at a time, and could easily deposit the films on a glass University, on the Bulletin of the ing to go off the road.” is far from invisible. It reflects a significant amount surface, Blodgett figured out that she could develop a Atomic Scientists “doomsday Francis Halzen, University of of the light that hits it, creating distortion and glare. coating of just the right thickness to cancel out most clock,” which was moved closer Wisconsin, Madison, on the con- Blodgett, a physicist at General Electric laboratories, reflections from the glass surface. She built up a film to midnight due to the threat cli- struction of the IceCube neutrino developed a method of coating glass with a soapy with thickness equal to ¼ the average wavelength of mate change poses to civilization, detector in Antarctica, Wisconsin film that would eliminate most of those reflections. visible light (about 1388 Angstroms). This way, any Newark Star Ledger, January 18, State Journal, January 18, 2007 Her insight led to the practical ant-reflective coatings light that reflected off the glass surface would have 2007 that now coat picture glass, windshields, eyeglasses, traveled half a wavelength farther than light that had “There may be a period of time camera lenses and much more. Blodgett received a reflected off the film surface, so most of the reflec- “We only have to turn a knob when the only thing we have in patent for the process in March 1938, and GE an- tions would cancel out. Blodgett also tweaked the and it slows.” space is Webb. So we just have to nounced the discovery in December of that year. chemical composition of the film to adjust its index John Howell, University of get it right.” Katharine Burr Blodgett was born in Schenect- of refraction to enhance the reflection-canceling, and Rochester, on a new method of John Mather, NASA, on the ady, NY, in 1898. Her she was able to elimi- slowing light and using the slowed Webb Space Telescope, which is father, a patent attor- nate almost all of the light pulses to store an image, scheduled for launch in 2013, ney at General Electric, reflection, making the Washington Post, January 19, Washington Post, February 5, died shortly before she glass nearly invisible. 2007 2007 was born, and the fam- On March 16, 1938, ily moved several times Blodgett received US “The conditions here are not “Even a small change in de- during her childhood. patent #2,220,660 for easy. It’s very cold and dry, and celeration, if it goes from 1 mil- She attended Bryn the “Film Structure and there isn’t enough oxygen. In this lisecond to 3 milliseconds, it’s a Mawr College, and Method of Preparation.” season of the year, there is day- factor of three. It’s the difference during her senior year, This was one of six pat- light round the clock, the rooms between a lethal force and a force Blodgett visited GE to ents Blodgett received are tiny and one can shower only that just knocks you unconscious. tour the labs. Her tour in her lifetime. She also twice a week for two minutes.” The awning acted as a de facto air- guide was Irving Lang- published a paper titled Hagar Landsman, University bag.” muir, who had known “Use of Interference to Photo: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection of Wisconsin, on the conditions in James Kakalios, University her father. He encour- Extinguish Reflection Antarctica, where she is working of Minnesota, on how a man sur- Blodgett (center) demonstrating surface chemistry experi- aged her to pursue fur- ments for visitors at the opening of General Electric’s new Re- of Light from Glass,” with the IceCube project to study vived a fall from a 17th floor win- ther studies in chemis- search Laboratory building in the Physical Review neutrinos, Jerusalem Post, Janu- dow, Associated Press, January try and physics. After in 1939. ary 28, 2007 23, 2007 receiving a master’s degree from the University of General Electric announced the discovery in De- Chicago in 1918, Blodgett returned to GE to work as cember 1938, and it immediately caused a lot of ex- Langmuir’s assistant. Langmuir, who went on to win citement. Blodgett and her “invisible glass,” as the the Nobel Prize in chemistry, was at the time open- popular press called it, were featured in Time, Life, Committee on Informing the Public ing up a new field of research by developing a way and The New York Times. The public’s fascination to produce uniform one-molecule thick oily films on with Blodgett and her work may have been due in Holds First Meeting a water surface. part to the fact that she was a woman in science, After Blodgett had worked for a few years as his which was still very unusual at the time. assistant, Langmuir encouraged her to continue her During WWII, Blodgett contributed to the war education still further. In 1924 she went to Cam- research by developing poison gas absorbents, a bridge University, where she worked with Ernest method for de-icing aircraft wings, and improved Rutherford and wrote a thesis on the topic of gas- smokescreens. She also developed a “color gauge” eous electronics. She was the first woman to receive to measure the thickness of coatings, conducted a PhD in physics from Cambridge. She returned to more research on films, studied electrically conduct- the United States in 1926 and rejoined the staff of GE ing glass, and developed a way to use electrical dis- as a research scientist. At first, she collaborated with charges in gases to clean solid surfaces of impurities, Langmuir on some improvements to light bulbs, and a method that is used in semiconductor device fab- then in 1933 they began working again on surface rication. Blodgett retired in 1963 after a long career films. The monolayer films were well understood by at GE. She died in 1979 at age 81, having received this time, so Blodgett and Langmuir began building numerous awards for her work, though she was con- up thicker films to study. Blodgett developed a way spicuously left out of a 1953 article in Science cel- to transfer the soap film from a water surface to a ebrating 75 years of research at GE laboratories. Photo by Ken Cole solid surface such as metal or glass, and found that Blodgett’s original soap coatings were not use- On January 29, the new Committee on Informing the Public held its first meet- ing at APS headquarters. The committee will oversee APS’s media relations by repeating the process she could build up films ful for commercial products because they were and public outreach activities (see story in the December 2006 APS News, of barium stearate layer by layer, up to about 3000 too soft and could easily be wiped off the glass available online). Seated at the table are (l to r) Dan Dahlberg of the University layers. These became known as Langmuir-Blodgett surface. Soon after her announcement, however, of Minnesota; APS Head of Public Outreach Jessica Clark; and APS Public films. other groups developed durable coatings and im- Outreach Specialist Kendra Rand. Gathered behind them are APS Head of Media Relations James Riordon; APS Associate Executive Officer Alan Cho- Blodgett then began looking for some applica- proved methods of production. These coatings dos; Sean Carroll of Caltech; Committee Chair Philip W. Hammer of the Frank- tions for the films. She noticed that even the clear- have been reducing reflections from eyeglasses, lin Institute; Ivan Schuller of the University of California, San Diego; Laura est glass reflected as much as 10 percent of incident picture glass, camera lenses, microscopes, wind- Greene of the University of Illinois; Paul Zitzewitz of the University of Michigan, light, making it difficult to see through. Blodgett shields, televisions and computer screens ever Dearborn; Gianfranco Vidali of Syracuse University; Larry Gladney of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania; and Paul Chaikin of New York University. realized her soapy films could solve that problem. since.

Series II, Vol. 16, No.3 For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Division, Editor-in-Chief (Plasma), Scott Milner (Polymer Physics), Paul Wolf March 2007 American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Huntington Gene Sprouse*, Stony Brook University (on leave) (Ohio Section) APS NEWS © 2007 The American Physical Society Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Allow at least Past-President 6 weeks advance notice. For address changes, please John J. Hopfield*, Princeton University ADVISORS send both the old and new addresses, and, if possible, General Councillors Representatives from Other Societies Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 include a mailing label from a recent issue. Requests Robert Austin, Christina Back, Elizabeth Beise, Wendell Marc Brodsky, AIP; Harvey Leff, AAPT from subscribers for missing issues will be honored Hill, Evelyn Hu*, Ann Orel*, Arthur Ramirez, Richart Editor ...... Alan Chodos without charge only if received within 6 months of the Slusher*, International Advisors Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette issue’s actual date of publication. Periodical Postage Paid International Councillor Francisco Ramos Gómez, Mexican Physical Society Staff Writer...... Ernie Tretkoff at College Park, MD and at additional mailing offices. Albrecht Wagner Melanie Campbell, Canadian Association of Physicists Art Director and Special Publications Manager...... Kerry G. Johnson Postmaster: Send address changes to APS News, Mem- Chair, Nominating Committee Design and Production...... Nancy Bennett-Karasik bership Department, American Physical Society, One Margaret Murnane Staff Representatives Forefronts Editor...... Craig Davis Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Ken Cole, Proofreader...... Edward Lee Robert Eisenstein Special Assistant to the Executive Officer; Amy Flatten APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X yearly, ed to: Editor, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College APS COUNCIL 2006 Division, Forum and Section Councillors Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director monthly, except the August/September issue, by the Park, MD 20740-3844, E-mail: [email protected]. President Charles Dermer (Astrophysics), P. Julienne (Atomic, of Education and Diversity; Michael Lubell, Director, American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Col- Leo P. Kadanoff*, University of Chicago Molecular & Optical Physics) Robert Eisenberg (Bio- Public Affairs; Stanley Brown, Editorial Director; Chris- lege Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It con- Subscriptions: APS News is an on-membership publi- President-Elect logical), Charles S. Parmenter (Chemical), Richard M. tine Giaccone, Director, Journal Operations; Michael tains news of the Society and of its Divisions,Topical cation delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing Arthur Bienenstock*, Stanford University Martin (Computational), Moses H. Chan (Condensed Stephens, Controller and Assistant Treasurer Groups, Sections and Forums; advance information on abroad may receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Vice-President Matter Physics), James Brasseur (Fluid Dynamics), Peter meetings of the Society; and reports to the Society by its Nonmembers: Subscription rates are available at http:// Cherry Murray*, Lawrence Livermore National Labora- Zimmerman* (Forum on Education), Roger Stuewer committees and task forces, as well as opinions. librarians.aps.org/institutional.html. tory (Forum on History of Physics), Patricia Mooney* * Members of the APS Executive Board Executive Officer (Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics), David Ernst Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- Subscription orders, renewals and address changes Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville (Forum on International Physics), Philip “Bo” Ham- ship. Letters must be signed and should include an ad- should be addressed as follows: For APS Members– (on leave) mer* (Forum on Physics and Society), Steven Rolston dress and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves Membership Department, American Physical Society, Treasurer (Laser Science), Leonard Feldman* (Materials), Akif the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844, Joseph Serene*, Georgetown University (emeritus) Balantekin (Nuclear), John Jaros* (Particles & Fields), correspondence regarding APS News should be direct- [email protected]. Ronald Ruth (Physics of Beams), David Hammer APS NEWS March 2007 •  Built for Speed: NASCAR Physics Featured in Public Lecture

In February, 200,000 people Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida. swers to this and other questions gathered in Florida to watch the This includes why racecars are took her to some unexpected plac- Daytona 500, with another 35 mil- shaped like kidney beans; why es for a physicist: from behind the lion tuning in via TV. But NAS- they don’t have mufflers; why hit- scenes at top racing shops, to the CAR is more than just a sport: ting the car in front of you makes asphalt at the Texas Motor Speed- there’s real science involved in pi- both cars go faster; and why NAS- way. loting a car around the 31‑degree CAR vehicles need 110‑octane Leslie‑Pelecky earned her PhD banked turns of the Daytona Inter- gas when the average SUV gets by from Michigan State University national Speedway at 190 mph. on 92 or 93. and joined the faculty at the Uni- “Mastery of the laws of phys- A long‑time NASCAR fan, versity of Nebraska in 1994. Her ics is a pre‑requisite to compete, Leslie‑Pelecky’s interest in the sci- academic research focuses on let alone win,” says Diandra Les- ence behind the sport was piqued magnetic nanomaterials with po- lie‑Pelecky, an associate profes- when she watched a car crash, tential applications in improving sor of physics at the University of even though the replays showed MRI technology and cancer diag- Nebraska, who will talk about the no obvious cause–no collision, no nosis, and she is also very much physics involved in NASCAR in sideswipe, no flat tires, no engine involved with science education a public lecture at the APS April failures. Her quest to find the an- and public outreach. The car says “DLP,” Diandra Leslie-Pelecky’s initials.

MARCH MEETING continued from page 1 simulations for designing drugs in the US is a $50 billion busi- Energy Boosts from Land the cell’s cytoskeleton, making it mospheric Administration) is a and other new materials. At the ness and accounts for 22 percent and Sea. Douglas Schmitt (Uni- more likely that the next pseudo- co-chair of the current study by Denver meeting, researchers will of electricity use. Solid-state light- versity of Alberta) will report on pod will point in a new direction. the Intergovernmental Panel on describe quantum-computer de- ing, as manifested in light emitting new seismic imaging methods A similar mechanism might exist Climate Change (IPCC), the orga- signs based on a newer approach, diodes, seeks to get the most light to track the flow of heavy oils, in a variety of other single-cell or- nization jointly established by the the use of superconducting elec- out of available electricity. LED such as those in Colorado’s shale ganisms and even in human cells World Meteorological Organiza- tronic components, which could light flourishes in niche markets, and Canada’s abundant oil sands, such as neurons. (U35.4) tion and the United Nations En- be made with existing manufac- such as brake and traffic lights, and when they are extracted via the Mapping Protein Folding. vironment Programme (UNEP) in turing methods and are inher- future conquests are in sight. Per- injection of solvents or steam into Understanding how proteins fold 1988. An expert on the ozone hole, ently less noisy than classical formance of 138 lm/W(lumen per the ground. Accurate imaging of is one of the questions at the heart Solomon will discuss the upcom- semiconductor circuits. Develop- watt) have been achieved in the lab reservoirs will be vital if sand or of biophysics. Atomic force mi- ing report of the IPCC Working ments include the construction of for low power devices and over 90 shale oils are ever to become sig- croscopes allow one to unfold pro- Group 1. Doug Nychka (National a component called a controlled- lm/W for high power devices. Ac- nificant energy sources. Later in teins essentially by hand, and to Center for Atmospheric Research) not quantum logic gate, the first cording to George Craford (Phil- the same session, Timothy Collett compare the energy of the folded was a member of a recent NAS proposed superconductor-based ips Lumileds Lighting Company), (U.S. Geological Survey) will pro- and unfolded configurations. A panel exploring the “hockey stick” quantum computing architecture “high power commercial products vide an assessment of the promise new technique uses a microscopic shaped curve of temperature ver- that enables error correction, and a with performance in excess of 100 of another unconventional energy cantilever, attached to the AFM sus time. The NAS came up with “dial” that can vary how strongly lm/W will become available soon, source–icy combinations of natu- tip, to pull and stretch a protein a reasonable judgement that the the superconducting quantum bits which is substantially more effi- ral gas and water known as hy- while measuring the protein’s re- statistics used in making the curve (qubits) interact. (N2) cient than incandescents (15 lm/ drates. Collett will summarize the action force by how much it bends were not perfect but that this in- Several other researchers will W) and compact fluorescents the cantilever. This way, the accuracy wouldn’t change the net discuss quantum computing de- (60 lm/W) and equivalent to protein’s energy landscape can conclusion much, namely that an- signs based on trapped ions, pres- high performance fluorescent be mapped along the entire un- thropogenic warming was taking ently the most technically ad- lighting.” Representatives from folding process, something that place. David Randall (Colorado vanced approach. NIST-Boulder’s a variety of labs pursuing solid- was previously only estimated State) will talk about counting David Wineland (D2.2) will dis- state light will provide reports by theoretical methods or sim- clouds and, more generally, how cuss a promising new multiple- on their progress. (J3) ulations. The new technique to address the problem of accom- electrode, single-plane ion-trap Knowing Left From Right. can be applied to any protein, modating such widely different design that potentially prevents Like many other biomolecules, as well as to DNA and RNA. size scales in climate modeling. ions from overheating, currently RNA and DNA exist in nature (V15.10). (V7) the bane of all ion-trap groups. Lu- in right-handed but not in left- Liar, Liar. A new network Entrepreneurial Physics. cent’s Dick Slusher (D2.4) will talk handed form. This asymmetry, theory model could be the clos- Spinning a promising new technol- about silicon-based VLSI (very- known as chirality, is one of est analogue yet to the clas- ogy into a viable commercial busi- large-scale integration) processes the most mysterious open ques- sic Washington game of who- ness has its pitfalls. Philip Wyatt for scaling up the number of traps tions about the origin of life. A knows-whom and how best to of Wyatt Technology Corporation so that they would contain enough previously unknown difference Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory leak information (and disinfor- will share his experiences starting Multi-color light emitting diodes ions to perform useful quantum between the two versions of the mation) to the press. When in- his own company. His first attempt simulations of real-world materi- RNA molecule has now emerged. latest estimates of hydrate reserves dividuals try to get in contact with failed, but he took the lessons als. Additional meeting talks feature Raman spectroscopy seems to sug- and survey the various methods people who can lead them to the learned and successfully started a semiconductor-based (B43.4), exot- gest that the energy levels of cer- for extracting natural gas from information they want, the result second venture, commercializing ic-particle-based (D7.4), and optics- tain electrons are slightly different them. (A2) is a dynamically evolving web of new instrumentation for studying based (S33.3) quantum-computing in the two versions. This slight To Mars! Manned missions to social connections. The new mod- the laser-scattering properties of designs. asymmetry could be an effect of Mars and a semi-permanent lunar el shows that if too many of the in- cola beverages. Other speakers of- Natural Glue. Studying ad- the weak nuclear force. Future base are currently high on NASA’s dividuals spread false information, fering their entrepreneurial insights hesives in natural composite ma- studies will use a new free-elec- priorities. Unfortunately, once we the result is a global breakdown of at the session include James Wyant terials such as bone and mollusk tron laser to probe other electron leave the protection of Earth’s the network, with true information (University of Arizona), founder of shells at the nanometer scale, mi- energy levels in RNA. (V35.7) magnetic field and atmosphere, sent on ever longer paths and es- the WYKO Corporation; Virgil El- croscopy pioneer Paul Hansma Security Scanners Look to we are mercilessly exposed to sentially lost. (P22.2) ings, co-founder of Digital Instru- and his colleagues have learned a the Stars. A new imaging sys- numerous sources of radiation. In Down to the (Nano)Bone. ments; and John Woollam, founder few lessons which they have con- tem could surreptitiously identify order to survive trips to Mars and Bone contains important nanome- of J.A. Woollam Co. (H6) cluded can lead to a new class of people carrying concealed weap- even extended stays on the moon, ter-scale structures that endow it Pauli as Mephistopheles. tough, lightweight, and damage- ons with the use of detectors de- we are going to have to come up with much of its strength. Chris- Quantum physicists attending resistant artificial materials. Natu- rived from instrumentation that with light, effective shielding. tine Ortiz (MIT) will describe a 1932 meeting at Niels Bohr’s ral composites are held together has long been a mainstay in astro- Ram Tripathi (NASA) will discuss experiments involving “nano- Copenhagen Institute amused by organic glues that make up just nomical observations. The system some of the shielding options, in- granular friction,” the resistance to themselves by staging an up- a few percent of the composite by that Panu Helisto (VTT Technical cluding carbon nanofibers, that motion caused by nanometer-scale dated version of Goethe’s Faust. weight. These glues hold together Research Centre of Finland) will could offer long term protection to mineral particles in bone, which The plot featured Pauli tempting the stronger elements in the com- describe detects the terahertz ra- space travelers. (W28.13) help to increase the strength of Paul Ehrenfest to accept the idea posite. They yield just before the diation that people and warm ob- Brainy Amoebae. For the bone when compressed. Ortiz and of a chargeless, massless particle, strong elements otherwise break. jects naturally emit all the time. first time, the hunting strategy of her colleagues are studying the then called the neutron. George They heal themselves by re-form- Terahertz imaging provides higher an amoeba has been shown to be variations in its composition and Gamow’s second wife, Barbara, ing chemical bonds. According to resolution than infrared monitors somewhat better than random. porosity in different points of its translated the anonymous Faust: calculations by Hansma and col- and works at ranges of 10 to 30 The amoeba called Dictyostelium structure, and are proposing that Eine Histoire, which was pub- leagues, combining stiff and strong meters. Because they detect tem- seems to remember its previous these structural variations lead to lished in Gamow’s Thirty Years nanostructures such as carbon perature variations, they don’t re- steps–which it performs by pump- a new mechanism of energy dissi- That Shook Physics. Karen Keck nanotubes or graphene with just veal anatomical details that show ing itself into protuberances known pation that might enhance certain of the Net Advance of Phys- a few percent by weight of bio- up on some other clothes-pierc- as pseudopods–and to explore new bone properties such as ductil- ics will talk about the parallels logically-inspired adhesives could ing scanners. Such a technology grounds, increasing its chances ity, the ability of bone to change between Goethe’s original and lead to a new generation of high- would be an ideal security scan- of finding food. One hypothesis shape. (Y4.5) the parody, and how Barbara performance materials (A4.3). ner for airports and other public is that the formation of pseudo- Climate Change. Susan Solo- Gamow’s translation compares The Cost of Light. Lighting spaces. (Y39.1) pods leaves temporary “scars” in mon (National Oceanic & At- to both. (U20.2)  • March 2007 APS NEWS Letters Scientists: Humble, or Arrogant? In his back page article in the I felt sufficiently troubled by look at a few pages of search re- Bugeja, I typed “arrogant sci- There is no Truth January APS News “Sound Sci- the “order of magnitude” differ- sults reveals even more. On each entist,” “humble scientist” and ence or Sound Bite,” Michael ence suggested by the article that page of ten entries, one or two en- “modest scientist” into Google. in Science I quite enjoyed reading Mi- Bugeja tries to convince the reader I decided to carry out the experi- tries are either duplicate or irrel- The results: arrogant-668, mod- chael Bugeja’s Back Page in the that the public perceives of scien- ment myself. Luckily, such an evant. That roughly corresponds est-615, humble -1210. 668 is not January APS News. Everything tists as arrogant, by providing the experiment does not need any to a 10 to 20 percent error in the an “order of magnitude” greater was dandy until I reached his results of a simple Internet search funding or exceptional facili- outcome of Bugeja’s experiment, than 615 or 1210, and both 615 comments on TRUTH. Scientists experiment. The article quotes, ties and would not demand much which makes the “humble” and and 1210 are orders of magnitude observe and then attempt to cor- “What’s the first thing that comes time. I searched for the exact “arrogant” scientist numbers even larger than “a couple.” relate their findings through theo- to mind when you hear the word phrases “humble scientist(s)”, more comparable. Your humble servant, retical constructions. If the con- ‘scientist?’ Chances are it isn’t “modest scientist(s)”, and “de- To be precise, and putting Ronald Ransome structions are good enough then ‘modesty or humility.’ A simple mure scientist(s)”, which re- aside the humor, such a simple New Brunswick, NJ we can use them to predict fur- experiment underscores this con- sulted in 1230(326), 620(232), experiment is not credible enough ther observations. That is all sci- clusion. Type ‘modest scientist’ or and 53(0) hits, respectively. On to base any conclusion upon, but * * * * * * * * * * * * * ence is, not truth seeking. There ‘humble scientist’ into the Internet the other hand, I searched for perhaps only good enough to give In his recent Back Page article, are no certitudes in science that search engine Google and you’ll “arrogant scientist(s)”, “ego- a ballpark estimate of what peo- Michael Bugeja claims Google can distinguish between truth and be lucky if you get more than a tistic scientist(s)”, “pomp- ple, and in particular those who will find 10 times as many hits falsehood. couple of hits. Then do the same ous scientist(s)”, and “haughty contribute to the Internet, may for “arrogant scientist” as “mod- All I know about truth is very thing with ‘arrogant scientist’ and scientist(s)”, which resulted in think of a scientist when it comes est scientist.” Actually searching personal: when persons say or the number of hits increases by an 609(517), 30(10), 398(1160), and to the subject of humility. on those terms produces about 1 write what they believe they are order of magnitude.” 53(46) hits, respectively. What is disturbing, neverthe- million hits for each. If the terms telling the truth. When they fal- Naturally, favorable and unfa- The “humble scientist” case less, is the claim that an almost- are quoted, the number of hits is sify what they say or write they vorable public opinion of a social yields the total of 2461 hits, while effortless experiment would have reduced to about 600, again for are telling a lie. Couldn’t be class should almost be equal, un- the “arrogant scientist” case gives a certain outcome to support a each. simpler than that. There are no less (at least) some people in a 2823 hits. Amusing, isn’t it? The certain point of view, when it ap- The results are nearly identical truths in science but many false- class tip the public’s perception “humble scientist” indisputably parently has never been carried if you substitute “journalist” for hoods. God help us all if some one way or another–for example, scores more than “a couple of out. “scientist.” The exception is for truth seeking scientist says he has we have all heard about used car hits” and the two cases do not dif- “modest journalist” (with quotes). found TRUTH, and is believed. dealers. Although the result of fer by an order of magnitude at all. Mehrdad Adibzadeh That produces half the number of Let’s leave truth out of science. It Bugeja’s experiment concerns In fact, they are comparable. That Charlottesville, VA hits that “arrogant journalist” pro- never belonged there. only one aspect of a scientist’s would be also the case if you limit duces. * * * * * * * * * * * * * persona, the result still points to- the search to only “humble” and Following the suggestion in Charles Bloch Moishe Garfinkle ward an unbalanced public view. “arrogant” scientist(s). A quick the Back Page article by Michael Houston, TX Philadelphia, PA Michael Bugeja Responds Ah, the irony of it all! lucky if you get more than a couple cists, who practice an experimental Who, would you say, are the mind you, for one measly “modest I have been asked to respond of hits. They the same thing with science) to test the assertion about most modest and most arrogant of geneticist.” to inquiries, such as the letter pub- “arrogant scientist” and the num- the results of the Google search.” that sample in the Google test? Well, you might argue, why don‘t lished here by Mehrdad Adibzadeh, ber of hits increases by an order of Did you think that a journalist Turns out, physicists are the you try the same experiment using concerning a quotation that was magnitude. also would fail to test the asser- most arrogant with 171 listings “modest journalist” versus “ar- mistakenly attributed to me in part As my essay notes, a scientist tion? under “arrogant physicist.” That rogant journalist.” Are you likely because APS News condensed my comes to my town to discuss why Before “Sound Science or was followed by “arrogant math- to get the same results? Google essay, cutting out a vital sentence. intelligent design is not science Sound Bite?” found its way to In- ematician” with 117 entries, “ar- lists 163 “modest journalists” and To read “Sound Science or and seemingly makes an arrogant side Higher Ed, it was a speech rogant biologist” with 31 entries, 181 arrogant ones. That passes for Sound Bite?” in its entirety, visit statement. The scientist is the same delivered at a biotechnology con- “arrogant geneticist” with 22 en- “fair and balanced,” I guess. this URL: http://insidehighered. one who published the In Charac- ference. I will conclude by quoting tries, “arrogant chemist” with 10 Question: Why was this section com/views/2006/10/10/bugeja ter essay. How could that happen? verbatim from that speech: entries, and a very respectful three omitted from my essay? Answer: I The quotation in question con- The rest of my piece addresses that In the spirit of scientific inquiry, entries for “arrogant botanist.” fact-checked the piece before publi- cerns humility and appears in the sublime irony. I tested this experiment on April 10, Okay. Which branch of science cation with a scientist at Iowa State journal In Character as a subtitle to Journalists wait decades for iro- 2006. I thought you would enjoy was the most modest? There were University who felt the Google an essay written by a scientist (not ny like that to happen. To assume the results: 37 modest mathematicians, accord- experiment was cute but detracted me, the journalist): that I wrote the quotation misses There were 325 entries for ing to Google, 31 modest biologists from the irony of the piece. What’s the first thing that comes the careful foreboding that propels “humble scientist” and close to tri- with an equal number of modest Lesson? Don’t cut vital irony or to mind when you hear the word the essay to conclusion. ple that, 861 entries, for “arrogant chemists, 7 modest physicists, 1 irony will cut you. “scientist?” Chances are it isn’t And now, I confront another as- scientist.” Well, I thought, “scien- modest botanist, and, as you might “modesty or humility.” A simple sumption. The editor of APS News tist” is such a generic term. Why suspect, there were no Google Need Survey on experiment underscores this con- writes, “Even though the author of don’t we refine that using “bota- phrases in the 1.5 million Web sites clusion. Type “modest scientist” or the letter failed to notice that you nist,” “physicist,” “biologist,” in the search engines directory Global Warming “humble scientist” into the Internet were quoting someone else, it is “mathematician,” “chemist” and containing millions, if not billions Politicians and news reporters search engine Google and you’ll be still of interest (especially to physi- “geneticist”? more pages of text, not one entry, claim that scientists overwhelm- ingly “believe” man-made glob- Ben Franklin Blazes Trail for IBM Inventors al warming is a fact and needs to be addressed using draconian Ben Franklin’s experiments with leftovers from his Thanksgiving real appreciation of the cleanliness in 2002. Today, nearly 15 million measures. Who has done these turkeys (APS News, This Month in dinner to our lab (IBM’s T.J. Watson of the three-dimensional groove people been treated with laser re- surveys and where are the re- Physics History, December 2006) Research Center), where he used that had been produced by the uv fractive surgery to correct myopia, sults? As an APS member and were not known to IBM colleagues the excimer laser to produce a clean excimer laser, in contrast to the ir- astigmatism, and hyperopia. professor at a college, I’ve en- and me when we discovered ex- incision in a sample of cartilage at- regular, charred region produced by Little did we know that we were countered numerous other sci- cimer laser surgery in 1981, using tached to a turkey bone. Soon after- the green Nd-YAG laser. Then, with following in Ben Franklin’s foot- entists who are skeptical about leftover Thanksgiving turkey. wards, he showed the laser-etched some trepidation, we shone the laser steps in using a turkey as our first man-made global warming. As a Prior to this discovery, my col- sample to Sam and me. I took this beam on our skin (my left pinkie fin- experimental sample. scientific society, I believe you league Rangaswamy “Sri” Srini- sample and tried to make an inci- ger).To our delight, it did not hurt. James J. Wynne have an important role to play in vasan had co-discovered that short, sion using green (532 nm) pulses of We believed we had discov- Yorktown Heights, NY this issue. I suggest you initi- high fluence pulses of ultraviolet light from a frequency-doubled, Q- ered a new form of laser surgery, ate a web-based survey of APS (193 nm) light from an ArF ex- switched Nd:YAG laser. in which living laser-etched tis- Memo to APS: Practice members to determine whether cimer laser could photoetch plastic My “eureka” moment came sue would heal without scarring, What You Preach in fact these news reports are of the kind used for packaging of when I compared the two irradiated due to the absence of trauma to correct. I enjoyed Bill Hooker’s Back semiconductors. Sri and I then had regions of the cartilage under an op- the collateral tissue. We wrote up The survey might include a Page Article “The Future of Sci- casual discussions on the possibility tical microscope. The excimer laser- an invention disclosure, “Far Ul- question such as: ence is Open (Access)” in Feb- of using the excimer laser to excise irradiated incision was extremely traviolet Surgical and Dental Pro- Choose the statement with ruary’s issue of APS News. It’s human and animal tissue. Together clean, with no visible evidence of cedures,” which was eventually which you agree: a shame that APS isn’t part of with our colleague Sam Blum, we burning, charring, or other collateral issued as a US patent, and which (1) Warming of the Earth is that future: online access to the irradiated our fingernails and ob- damage. In contrast, the green-ir- laid the foundation for today’s la- occuring and is primarily caused current APS News is restricted served clean etch patterns, but we radiated region was black, looking ser refractive surgery procedures, by man-made sources. Drastic to APS members. were afraid to irradiate our skin. like a piece of burnt toast. LASIK and PRK. For our inven- measures need to be initiated to The breakthrough occurred when A high-resolution electron mi- tion, we were inducted into the Geoffrey Crew “Sri” decided to bring some turkey crograph of the sample gave us a National Inventors Hall of Fame Cambridge, MA NEED SURVEY continued on page 5 APS NEWS March 2007 • 

Letters continued The Answer, My Friend, is Blowin’ in the Wind Two statements regarding re- for electricity generation. Flexible 2005, EnerNex for Minnesota newable energy contained in the generators such as natural gas-fired 2006.) Chu suggests that wind and Back Page interview with Steve units and hydropower are generally other renewables require storage Getting High on Physics Chu and Steve Koonin [APS News, much more economical than stor- because they are “transient.” This December 2006] deserve correc- age devices for system balancing. misunderstanding stems from a tion. Renewable energy (wind and Third, construction of new trans- narrow definition of the energy sup- solar) are dismissed for reasons that mission lines will be needed under ply. An energy technology does not do not stand up under principles any type of electricity growth sce- have to be “baseline” (baseload) in that should be well understood by nario. A key to large-scale develop- order to make a large contribution your members. The statements are ment of wind in the US is trans- to electricity supply. An example that “[Sequestration and nuclear] mission investment to tap the vast is natural gas, which now accounts are the only technologies we know resources of the US heartland–an for close to 19% of U.S. electric- that we can scale now to the magni- investment that is quite affordable ity supply, about the same share tudes needed,” and “…because it is compared to that of carbon se- as nuclear. Natural gas is mostly a transient source, without efficient questration on a large scale or new valued because of its flexibility in and cost effective energy storage, networks of Liquified Natural Gas responding to peaking demand. the base line will be nuclear power (LNG) terminals and pipelines. In Wind and other technologies can and coal in the near-term future.” fact, the authors described seques- make a large energy contribution Wind power can in fact be tration in their reply to the previous to the nation’s supply even while ramped up quickly and on a large question as “not yet demonstrated” their contribution to baseload may scale today, without waiting for fu- and of “unknown cost.” be modest. In wind’s case, its value ture technological breakthroughs. The annual rate of growth of is in the large amounts of energy it Denmark currently gets 20% of its wind generation over the past 10 can deliver, and in the fact that it electricity from wind without “stor- years has been 28%. Globally, there is clean (zero-emissions, light foot- Photo: Nepalnews.com, 2006 © Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd. age” or “back-up” capacity. In the is now over 70,000 MW of wind print), cost-effective (cost of elec- You’re probably thinking this picture must be faked, because who in the U.S., a country with a vast wind re- generation in operation. There have tricity produced does not vary over world would carry a protest sign saying “We Want to Study Physics?” source, wind power is growing fast, been 10,000 MW of wind capacity time since there is no use of fuel), Students in the mountain kingdom of Nepal, that’s who. Last Decem- and was the second-largest source installed in the US to date, and not energy-efficient (wind has one of ber, a group of students demonstrated in front of Nepal’s Ministry of of new power generation in the a single megawatt of backup capac- the highest energy payback ratios Education and Sport, demanding greater access to physics classes, country in 2005 and 2006. Barriers ity or storage for the wind genera- of any energy technology), and which apparently is severely limited. APS News has not been able to find out whether the protest resulted in satisfaction of the students’ to wind power’s growth on a large tion has been required by the power that it strengthens energy security demands. For those who doubt the authenticity of this picture, a video scale are regulatory, not technical, system operators. This growth in (wind is domestic and inexhaust- version is available at http://www.nepalnews.com/nepalnewsvideo/ and a task force including the U.S. wind is supported by a young, dy- ible). Moreover, wind observed and dec_12_06_student_strike_physics.wmv . Department of Energy, National namic workforce, and major manu- captured at a single location is vari- Renewable Energy Laboratory, facturing companies (GE, Siemens, able, but within patterns that can duction is more concentrated than ways blowing somewhere, wind- American Wind Energy Associa- Mitsubishi, Caterpillar), major be anticipated on a seasonal and energy consumption, and transmis- farms spread across the Eastern or tion and utilities, foundations and financial institutions (Goldman even daily basis and are modeled sion is key to keeping the supply Western Interconnection of North other groups, is evaluating the goal Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Berkshire with increasing accuracy. What’s and demand of electricity in bal- America can, and already do, pro- of 20% of U.S. electricity from Hathaway), as well as energy com- more, the circulation of air around ance at all times. Chu is correct vide large amounts of clean, eco- wind. panies FPL, Iberdola, EDF, Shell the earth is constant, driven by in advocating greater attention to nomical energy and even a mea- One of the keys to successful and even Steve Koonin’s BP. the constant energy of the sun. To new, high voltage transmission. surable amount of reliability, what large-scale integration of wind are With this demonstrated ability make practical use of this simple The point he misses is that the dis- Chu called “baseline.” large regional electric power mar- to scale wind generation, we can phenomenon requires some scale, tribution of wind generation across kets where variability of both load look to actual experience as well as which the wind industry is capable a wide region allows a much Mike Jacobs and generation are smoothed out numerous peer-reviewed studies of of delivering, despite the authors’ greater reliance on wind, because Concord, Massachusetts and where system operators can large-scale use of wind for answers comment to the contrary. the variation in wind production more reliably balance electricity to the authors’ concern. (See for ex- Wind generation is added to at any one location is offset by Ed. Note: The author is Deputy demand and supply. Another key ample GE Power Systems Energy power grids which can span por- the production at other locations. Policy Director, American Wind is diversity in the mix of fuels used Consulting for New York State, tions of continents. Energy pro- Just as the wind is necessarily al- Energy Association

NEED SURVEY cont. from page 4 reduce global warming. climate change. (2) Warming of the Earth is This would be a good way to occuring but is probably due to determine your members’ opin- cyclical temperature changes ions and contribute to the global which have occured over millen- climate change discussion. nia. Man is probably a minor ef- fect on atmospheric climate, and Mark Campbell Bipartisanship? Fuggedaboutit! major measures are not needed Annapolis, MD in an attempt to minimize global By Michael S. Lubell, APS Di- 60 House Republican budget hawks their predicament.” rector of Public Affairs blocked all further action. And final- That was the first evidence I had A few months ago, several Belt- ly, David Obey (D-WI) and Robert –although it came as no surprise way advocates met in Intel’s Wash- C. Byrd (D-WV), the new chairmen –that bipartisanship was going to ington offices for an off-the-record of the House and Senate Appropria- remain little more than rhetoric. As discussion with a senior White tions Committees, out of frustration the newly elected members of the House official. We were out to gath- with the impossible task of crafting 110th Congress filed in to take their er some intel on the President’s FY spending bills for all of the federal oaths of office, more evidence rolled 2008 budget request, which was still government in a matter of a few in. First a little background. several weeks away. The Adminis- weeks after the 110th Congress Several years ago the Union of tration, our source assured us, was convened, pledged that they would Concerned Scientists (UCS) issued going to follow through on the next put all departments and agencies on a report slamming the Bush Admin- installment of the American Com- a year-long Continuing Resolution istration for scientific malfeasance. petitiveness Initiative (ACI), which (CR). The essence of the charge was that promises to double the aggregate “If Obey and Byrd followed the White House cherry picked budgets of the DOE Office of Sci- through,” I told the White House of- scientific facts to suit its political ence, the NIST laboratories and the ficial, “all the wind would be taken agenda, imposed partisan and ideo- National Science Foundation over out of science’s sail, generally, and logical litmus tests for appointees ten years. the ACI, specifically.” With Demo- to federal advisory committees and That was comforting news, but crats and Republicans both having generally relegated science policy our anxiety and depression about endorsed an agenda for discovery to the Potomac River swamps. the FY 2007 budget badly needed and innovation, I suggested that the The UCS report was just a trifle a dose of Prozac. First, before the White House might want to issue a hyperbolic and tinged with partisan- November election, the Republi- statement of “bipartisan” criticism ship. With Republicans firmly in can controlled Senate had held all of the budget process to date. control of both houses of Congress, spending bills hostage, other than “No chance of that. It’s up to the it was guaranteed to land with a dull Defense and Homeland Security. Democrats to fix the problem,” he thud on Capitol Hill, which it did. Cartoon by Paul Dlugokencky, concept by Zachary H. Levine Then, after the election, a group of said. “They won the election. It’s BELTWAY continued on page 7  • March 2007 APS NEWS

New Report Reviews Primary Economic Driving Factors in US The Council on Competitiveness emerging economies. Brazil, China, has released a report, Competitive- Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia The Lighter Side of Science ness Index: Where America Stands, and Singapore account for a com- reviewing the primary factors driv- bined share of 9.7 percent of all for- Water in Zero Gravity ing America’s economic success eign R&D spending by US foreign By Sabine Hossenfelder during the last two decades, and affiliates in 2003. and looking ahead to the nation’s • Sixteen of the world’s top 25 In my apartment the heating begins to boil, the vapor bubbles available at http://science.nasa. competitiveness prospects in the most innovative companies are is in the ceiling. This is not a don’t rise, but join each other gov/headlines/images/boiling/ next twenty years. “The context for American companies. Seventeen joke. I’ve wondered where the due to surface tension. Eventu- bubble0g.mpg. You can also US competitiveness has changed of the top 20 universities ranked by guy grew up who had this inge- ally, one large bubble forms that watch a water balloon burst in dramatically over the past two de- research performance are US insti- nious idea. Had he never heard clings to the heater. Cool, eh? I outer space here: http://www. cades,” the report states, providing tutions. that hot air rises? But NASA has mean, hot. It looks like this. space-video.info/misc/ balloon. both opportunities and risk for the • While the US now leads the provided me with html.) US in the future. world in PhD production with 1.3 a hint regarding Now I’m con- The Council, now twenty years million researchers, the European this question. vinced the guy who old, focuses its attention on tech- Union could produce twice as many nological innovation, workforce This morning, constructed my science and engineering doctorates development, and the comparison I was staring at heating came some- as the US by 2010. Also, China of the US economy to that of other the tea water, where from outer could also produce more doctorates nations. Members include corpo- waiting for it to space. That’s just than the United States by 2010. rate chief executives, university • “Fewer engineers from emerg- boil. Did it ever how things are up presidents, and labor leaders. The Boiling in space–small bubbles merge into one large bubble. ing market countries are ready to occur to you that there, why bother. Council is affiliated with nonprofit the rising heated All I have to do is work because of language, mobil- research organizations, professional ity, educational quality, and cultural water is necessary to get the sleep on the ceiling. societies and trade associations. issues. temperature homogeneously Sabine Hossenfelder is A significant portion of the 108- • Corporate R&D investment in distributed? But what if the a theoretical physicist at page report is devoted to a series basic research declined or remained hotter water with smaller the Perimeter Institute. She of one-page exhibits that highlight constant as a percentage of GDP, density does not rise because writes the Backreaction blog US dominance in many drivers of shifting to an emphasis on new there’s no gravity? Well, it the American economy, but which (http://backreaction.blogspot. product development. stays where it is. also identify areas of concern. Of com) with her husband, Ste- • Nearly all the recent increases Here’s how boiling looks in particular note is a section entitled fen Scherer. A full article on in the federal budget are in the zero gravity: The heated wa- “Foundations of U.S. Competitive- boiling water in zero gravity life sciences. The compound an- ter stays close to the heater. ness and Sources of Future Prosper- Boiling on Earth can be found at http://science. nual growth rate for life sciences Regions further away from the ity.” Among the notable findings Photos by NASA/Glenn Research Center nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ is 5.9% in the period 1986 to 2005, heater stay cooler, so the actual were the following: ast07sep_2.htm. while that of the physical sciences heated part boils earlier. Once it (NASA has the full video • The US leads in the 2002-2003 shares of global output in domestic is 0.6%. • Foreign students account for SCHOOL BOARDS continued from page 1 R&D investment, new US patents, scientific publications, scientific most of the growth in Ph.D.s in sci- • Have you ever attended a involvement goes beyond intel- to serve on school boards. He researchers, bachelor’s degrees in ence and engineering. meeting of your local or state ligent design, said Brown. “It’s did so while employed full time sciences and engineering, and new • The US invests significantly school board, or worked with much larger than a specific is- at Sandia National Laboratories. doctorates in science and engineer- more in education, yet test scores your school board? sue.” Serving on the state school board ing. But each of these shares has are low compared to other nations. • Have you ever served on a One physicist who success- did take a significant amount of declined, in some cases quite dra- • Intellectual Property–arguably school board or run for election fully ran for school board is Mar- time, he said, and he did deal matically, when compared to the the foundation of all innovation–is to a school board? shall Berman, who served on the with many issues other than sci- mid-1980 figures. at risk in the US. American busi- • Given the need for better State Board of Education in New ence curriculum. He says it’s im- • Total US industrial and govern- nesses lose billions of dollars an- K-12 science education, would Mexico. He decided to run for portant for those who want to run ment R&D spending of $286.4 bil- nually due to intellectual property you consider running for school election after the State Board of for office to be familiar with all lion was the highest of all nations. violations. board if you could count on some Education, influenced by a cre- the issues that are important to But other nations had a higher per- A full copy of the report can organizational help? ationist board member, removed the community, and not to try to centage growth rate in their R&D be found at the Council on Com- In addition, room was provid- all references to evolution from run a single-issue campaign on investment. China increased its petitiveness website at: http://www. ed for an optional comment. the state science standards in science education. R&D investment at an annualized compete.org/ The survey was sent to 1500 1996. Berman formed an organi- Most school boards don’t have rate of 19.3% in the last decade. Courtesy of FYI, the American APS members, of whom 380 had zation of scientists and other in- to deal with intelligent design or • US companies perform most Institute of Physics Bulletin of Sci- responded by press time. About terested citizens in New Mexico other serious threats to science overseas R&D in developed coun- ence Policy News (http://aip.org/ 26% of respondents said they have called the Coalition for Excel- education, but scientists can still tries, but are increasingly turning to fyi). attended a school board meeting lence in Science and Math Edu- be useful, say some physicists or worked with a member of their cation (www.cesame-nm.org), who have served on their local expertise was valuable and ap- how science is taught, and being school board, and 12 respondents dedicated to improving science school boards. preciated. Overall, Welsh said he on the board puts him in a good (3.2%) have actually run for and/ education. After he and the orga- Bob Welsh, a physicist at the found serving on the school board position to deal with any prob- or served on their school board. nization tried lobbying and let- College of William and Mary, worthwhile, though it turned out lems that might come up, said The poll also indicated that 94 ter-writing with no success, Ber- served on a school board in Wil- to be a bigger time commitment Hammer. Advising the school more would consider running if man decided to run for election liamsburg, Virginia, from 1995- than he had expected. board in a public forum can have they could count on some orga- to the State Board of Education. 1998. Williamsburg is a college Another physicist who has an impact, but since a lot of the nizational support. Some survey Though he had no prior experi- town with an educated population served on a school board is board’s work is done in com- respondents commented that they ence in politics, he and a group that is supportive of science and Philip W. “Bo” Hammer, vice mittees, actually serving on the wanted to improve education but of volunteers learned about the education, and the public schools president of the Franklin Center board gives an individual much did not have time to run for or political process, and he was there are good, said Welsh. Dur- of the Franklin Institute in Phila- more influence, Hammer said. serve on a school board. Others able to win election, defeating a ing his term, the school board delphia. He is now in his second Hammer had no difficulty said they were not interested in 20-year incumbent. He took of- did not have to deal with intel- term on the school board in Had- running for and being elected to doing so because they do not have fice in 1999. ligent design or any other issue don Heights, NJ, a small school the school board–in fact, he ran school age children, and several Eventually the other members related to science education, but district in a suburb of Philadel- unopposed both times. Serving wrote that they thought serving of the board began to trust him he thinks that it would have been phia, with roughly 1380 students on the board required attending on a school board was unneces- on scientific issues, and they ad- useful to have a scientific per- in the district. Hammer is cur- the monthly meetings as well sary because their local schools opted a set of high-quality sci- spective on the school board if rently the board vice president, as some committee meetings, a are already good. A few said they ence standards that included the such an issue had come up. He and serves on the curriculum time commitment he did not find were involved in education in their teaching of evolution. suggested that in rural areas sci- committee. too burdensome. communities in other ways. Berman achieved that, he said, entists could be even more valu- Hammer decided to run for Hammer said he would en- In some cases, scientist input by becoming an insider. “You able on school boards. “A scien- school board because he has a courage others scientists to get is needed on school boards to have to build trust, in any kind tist in a small town might find son in the school system and he involved with their local school counter threats to science teach- of organization. It doesn’t matter serving on a school board to be wanted to be involved in ensur- boards. “I think there’s a lot of ing, such as efforts to insert in- what your credentials are,” said far more significant,” he said. ing a good education for stu- hesitation among scientist to get telligent design into the science Berman. He believes he could Scientists can also help school dents in the district. He said the involved in the political process, curriculum. “We need people not have accomplished what he districts by volunteering to re- schools in Haddon Heights, and but in actuality it’s a very reward- involved in the education pro- did without actually serving on view textbooks, suggests Welsh. the science teachers there, are ing experience. I think of all the cess to stand up and say this is the State Board of Education. He volunteered to do so before very good. He believes it’s im- elected offices, being on a school not a scientific theory,” said Berman said he would abso- he served on the school board, portant to have a scientist on the board is one where an individual Brown. But the need for scientist lutely encourage other scientists and he believes his scientific school board to keep an eye on can make a lot of difference.” APS NEWS March 2007 •  PRL Launches New Feature Now Appearing in RMP: to Improve Accessibility Don’t Miss the American Physical Recently Posted Reviews and Colloquia In January Physical Review paper itself and referees’ comments. Society’s Job Fairs! Letters launched a new feature de- Then a group of PRL editors from You will find the following in the signed to enhance accessibility and different areas of physics looks at all online edition of Looking for the perfect job? Reviews of Modern Physics at encourage readers to look at papers the nominations and decides which Looking for the ideal job candidate? http://rmp.aps.org outside their own specialty. Each papers to designate as Editor’s Sug- week, the PRL editors are selecting gestions for the week. Roughly five Critical phenomena in microgravity: Past, present, several papers to designate as “Edi- Letters per week are selected. These Let an APS Job Fair do the work for you! and future tors’ Suggestions.” These “Sugges- papers are marked with a version of APS Annual March Meeting Job Fair M. Barmatz, I. Hahn, J. A. Lipa, tions” are intended to be papers that a printer’s mark that appeared on the and R. V. Duncan are well-written and of interest to a covers of all sections of the Physical March 5-7, 2007 wide range of physicists. Review until about a decade ago. Denver Convention Center Exhibit Hall Microgravity experi- “The main goal is to enhance the PRL Editors’ Suggestions was Denver, CO ments aim to precisely deter- unity of physics by getting people to launched in the first week Janu- read beyond their main areas of re- ary. Several weeks after its launch, mine the detailed behavior search,” said Robert Garisto, a PRL Garisto said the program seemed to APS April Meeting Job Fair of fluids near second order editor and Chair of the committee be working well. “The preliminary April 15 -16, 2007 phase transitions where the selecting the Suggestions. data seem to indicate that sugges- asymptotic region is sensi- PRL has been growing for a tions are downloaded several times Hyatt Regency Hotel tive to the effect of gravity. long time, and because of the large more than the average,” he said. So Jacksonville, FL This review provides a sum- number of papers published and the far, the editors have received “some mary of space experiments increasing specialization of those positive feedback and no really that have been conducted papers, it has become harder and negative feedback” about the Sug- Register today at: http://www.physicstoday.org/jobs/ to date, ground preparations harder for people to venture beyond gestions, he added. for future measurements, their own fields. The journal edi- In addition to encouraging peo- jobfairs.html tors have been considering ways to ple to read outside their field, the and the theoretical context make the journal more accessible, editors also hope that the Sugges- For more information contact Alix Brice at 301-209- for their interpretation. and they recently hit upon the idea tions will encourage people to write 3187 or at [email protected]. of the Suggestions. better papers, said Garisto. Editors’ Suggestions are based The journal Physical Review Let- on potential interest in the results ters started in 1958 as an experiment from “general interest” to “broad SPROUSE continued from page 1 presented and on the success of the by Physical Review Editor Sam interest.” Today papers published in ing on in the publication busi- Review Special Topics–Physics paper in communicating its mes- Goudsmit. It took the short articles PRL are still expected to be impor- ness. I’ve been teaching at Stony Education Research. sage, especially to readers from oth- that would have been published tant in their own and related sub- Brook for 36 years, and I’m Another challenge Sprouse er fields. They are not intended to be as “letters to the editor” in Physi- fields, but they have become more ready to try something new,” he will have to deal with is the taken as the most important papers cal Review, and collected them in specialized and less accessible to says. He began attending meet- growing number of submis- in a particular issue. “Many papers a separate journal. The goal of the readers outside the subfield. ings and visiting with staff last sions and ever-increasing size that are equally or more important new journal was to cover all areas of The editors hope the Sugges- fall and then worked full time of the journals. “People want to are not designated as Suggestions,” research and make important results tions will make a small step to- with outgoing EIC Blume for submit papers to us, and that’s said Garisto. available quickly. wards restoring the ability of PRL several weeks before officially great,” says Sprouse, “But it Arriving at the Suggestions each Over time, the journal grew sub- to give readers a broad view of cur- taking over the position. will require more editors and week is a two step process. Each stantially, and the number of sub- rent research. The announcement Overall, Sprouse believes the more staff to maintain the jour- PRL editor can nominate potential fields represented increased. This of this new feature can be found at APS journals are in good shape nals.” Suggestions, taking into account the led to a shift in acceptance criteria http://prl.aps.org. right now. “I think they are real- Sprouse says plans are under- ly the top physics journals in the way for a number of enhance- BELTWAY continued from page 5 world. They’re generally very ments to the journals, some To be fair, Congress did not sin- pledged that he wanted to work pushed DOE, NIST and NSF up healthy right now, and we have of which have already begun. gle out science in its callous disre- with them to tackle the weighty on the priority list, enabling them, to protect that,” he says. “Another experiment that has gard of its Constitutional oversight issues facing the nation. House along with vets and highways, to Nonetheless, there are major recently been started is the Edi- responsibilities. Foreign affairs, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and qualify for special treatment in the challenges facing the journals, tors’ Suggestions in PRL. defense policy, intelligence, envi- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid CR. As a result, they received much says Sprouse. The primary one Editors are picking papers ronmental regulation, Katrina and (D-NV) may have harbored a few of the money contained in the FY 07 is dealing with more open access of more general interest, and homeland security all fell victim to skeptical thoughts, but they kept presidential request for ACI–an ex- to the journal content. “The APS highlighting those that we think a withering of congressional will them to themselves and proclaimed traordinarily heavy lift, given Obey has been a leader in the move are especially helpful and en- in the face of expanding executive their support for bipartisanship. and Byrd’s opening gambit. But in to electronic access and now all couraging for readers venturing privilege and public fear of radical For science, the hugs and kisses its FY 08 budget briefing, the White of the journals back to 1893 are outside of their main areas of Islamic terrorism. didn’t last long. The House Science House lambasted the Democrats for available electronically. In addi- study. This seems to be going The landscape changed dra- and Technology Committee, under short changing science in the FY 07 tion, the APS copyright agree- well,” he says. matically last November when the chairmanship of Bart Gordon, CR. No mention of the failings of ment is exemplary in that authors “We also have a project called Democrats regained control of both a moderate Democrat from Tennes- the 109th Congress, which the Re- can post the published version of the journal innovations initia- houses. Since then they predictably see, signaled that it took seriously publicans controlled. their article on their own web tive. We’re looking at different have been flexing their investiga- the UCS allegations of the Bush Bart Gordon quickly fired back site.” However, many proponents ways to enhance the web version tive muscles. That has come as no Administration’s misuse of science with his assessment of the President of open access insist that all of of the journal,” says Sprouse. surprise to the White House, which, when it formed a new Oversight proposed FY 08 budget. The head- the journal content should be The potential improvements in- apart from a political blind spot on Subcommittee under the leadership line of his February 5 press release freely available to anyone who clude an advanced search func- Iraq, has proved itself extraordi- of Brad Miller (D-NC). screamed, “Gordon on President’s wants to read it without paying tion and various ways to present narily adept at reading the Potomac At the other end of Pennsylvania FY 08 Budget: Lacks Priorities, for a subscription. This presents information about which articles currents. Avenue, love fell victim to politics, Consistency to Ensure U.S. Com- a problem of how to fund the im- are being downloaded heavily The last ballots were barely as well. Intense lobbying by science petitiveness.” Oh, incidentally, the portant peer review process and and which papers are referring counted when President Bush in- advocates and key science partisans White House and Congress didn’t cover the other costs of making a to which other papers. “We’ve vited the new leaders of Congress in both the House and Senate in Jan- send each other Valentine’s Day journal available. also had some discussions about to the White House and publicly uary and February had successfully chocolates either. “We have a start on open enhancements to content, such access with the ‘Free to Read’ as podcasts,” says Sprouse. In January, volunteers gathered at initiative,” Sprouse notes. “Free Sprouse also believes APS Getting Down to Business APS headquarters to sort the al- to Read,” which has been avail- should do more to recognize ref- most 1000 abstracts submitted to able since September, allows erees, whose work is essential the April Meeting, which will take anyone to pay a fee to desig- to the success of the journals. place in Jacksonville, April 14-17. nate any APS journal article “The APS recognizes outstand- Nick Hadley of the University of “Free to Read.” Those articles ing contributions to physics by Maryland decided that he needed are then freely available online, elevating a percentage of its some extra room to spread things without a subscription. So far, members to fellowship. I think around, so he ended up on the nearly 100 articles have been there’s an analogous contribu- floor. By the end of the day, how- designated “Free to Read,” says tion made by referees. I’d like Sprouse. “It’s there for anyone to initiate a way that we could ever, all the abstracts had been who wants to use it.” APS also recognize referees. They are sorted, and not long thereafter has two online journals that are crucial to the journals,” he says. the meeting program was posted entirely open access: Physical The details of any such recogni- on the web at http://www.aps.org/ Review Special Topics–Acceler- tion program would still have to meetings/april/index.cfm . Photo by Ken Cole ators and Beams, and Physical be worked out, says Sprouse.  • March 2007 APS NEWS The Back Page hen they’re not praising the embargo accurate, but accuracy is more than the tech- system–under which science journals nical accuracy of figures and scientific terms. Wprovide journalists with advance copies Taken as a whole, science reporting should of newsworthy articles, but set strict timelines on The Embargo Should Go provide an accurate picture of scientific and when that information can be shared–science and medical research, particularly in areas of per- medical journalists often bitterly complain that sonal importance to members of the public, they are its prisoners. For example, Natalie Angier such as health issues. The embargo arrange- of The New York Times claims that the embargo By Vincent Kiernan ment encourages pack reporting of research system gives journal editors “a stranglehold on from a few selected journals regardless of journalistic initiative.” whether the research is truly important or de- Embargoes do exert great influence over what finitive. gets covered and how, but the embargo system is In the short run, the Internet has prob- hardly a tyranny of journals over journalists. Journalists are ably bolstered the embargo system, particularly because the enthusiastic participants in the embargo system and act to World Wide Web and electronic mail have provided new keep it functioning. In short, if journalists are in a strangle- tools for distributing embargoed articles to journalists. Eu- hold, it is a self-inflicted stranglehold–and one that does rekAlert! in particular has been a resounding success story not serve the public interest. It need not be this way. “Any for embargo proponents, so much so that it has spawned im- decent journalist knows what’s in Nature next week,” says itators such as Nature’s press Web site and AlphaGalileo. David Whitehouse, science editor for the BBC’s Web site. But in the long run, online communications will prob- From the beginnings of modern science and medical re- ably undermine embargoes on news about science and porting in the 1930s and 1940s, journalists were eager to medicine. One reason is the ease with which the Internet prove their bona fides to scientists and medical research- can connect journal publishers with a worldwide cadre of ers so that those researchers would cooperate with the journalists. More and more science and medical journalists, journalists. Journalists emphasized that they sought to be around the globe, are participating in embargoes sponsored accurate (as the researchers defined accuracy), and asked by journals in the United States and Britain. Many of these abstracts,” says Robert Lee Hotz, a science reporter at the the researchers to provide advance copies of their papers to journalists may not be as heavily invested in the embargo Los Angeles Times. facilitate these efforts. Eventually researchers and officials system and therefore are more likely to jump the gun when “The goal of all of us ought to be to try to get around saw the advantages of controlling the flow of news about an important paper comes along. embargoes and packaged science journalism by finding new science and medicine; together, journalists and the research The Internet will also weaken the embargo because it is ways to get our collective noses under the tent,” according establishment forged the social construction that is now transforming the process of scientific communication itself. to Cristine Russell, former science and medical reporter for known as the embargo system. Most traditional journals now offer online access to their ar- The Washington Star and The Washington Post. “I think that Undoubtedly, the scientific establishment benefits hand- ticles, with the articles often posted long before the printed we should not have such herd journalism. People should get somely from the unending torrent of news coverage about journal arrives in a scholar’s mailbox. Some journals have out and cover science.” research being published in scientific and medical journals. gone a step further, by publishing some or all of their ar- The embargo system also creates a torrent of news that The pattern of news coverage signals to readers and view- ticles online before they are published in print. Science and draws excessive public attention to most research. Put sim- ers–not to mention lawmakers, business leaders, and oth- Nature have begun to post selected journal articles online, ply, journalists should ignore most of the journal articles ers–that science and medicine are important. Whether the after they have completed peer review and editing but be- that they now cover so energetically. Most journal articles research being reported is “good news” (for example, drug fore they appear in print. are but single dots in the pointillist enterprise that is the X is an effective treatment for disease Y) or “bad news” Scientists are also using the Web to archive and distrib- scientific method–but the breathless coverage catalyzed by (Z causes cancer), the scientific and medical establishments ute preprints of their papers. With the advent of the Web, the embargo system often gives the impression that each are always cast in a positive light, as the font of the new scholarly societies and even individual scholars have creat- week’s paper is a major breakthrough. Journalists pay much finding. ed databases on which authors can deposit electronic copies less attention to later studies that play down the findings. But media coverage of research journals often amounts of their papers. Few journalists use the Web sites to plumb The trump card for embargo supporters is accuracy: to little more than highbrow infotainment: What’s the lat- for news. News about science and medicine is so difficult to research est theory about the extinction of the dinosaurs? What’s the One who does is Tom Siegfried, former science editor and write, goes this argument, that journalists need time newest thing found to cause cancer? Look at the cool pho- of The Dallas Morning News. “There’s plenty of stuff to to do the job correctly–or the public could be harmed by tographs from the Hubble Space Telescope! These are the report out there before they appear in journals,” he says. inaccurate reporting. Susan Turner-Lowe, former director types of subjects that dominate embargo-controlled news Every night, he says, he checks physics preprint servers, of public affairs at the National Academy of Sciences, de- reporting about science and medicine. because the latest research is usually reported there first. “In scribes it this way: “Journalists have traded accuracy for Journalists and their media organizations also benefit physics nowadays the journals have become increasingly scoops.” Being critical of embargoes therefore is tanta- from the embargo. The embargo supplies news on a de- irrelevant,” he contends, with their role largely limited to mount to supporting erroneous reporting. pendable schedule keyed to the production constraints of serving as the archival copies of important papers and for But the fact is that many other journalists work effec- news organizations: if it’s Thursday, it’s time for a newspa- proving records for tenure. tively without embargoes. Consider the complexity and per article about some paper published in The New England The embargo system should be replaced with full and implications of other stories covered by journalists who do Journal of Medicine. The news peg provided by the embar- open disclosure of research results as soon as they are ready not specialize in science and medicine: the latest Supreme go (“In a paper published today in Science...”) also makes it for public consumption, which generally would mean as Court decision, a tax bill passed by Congress, a massive easier for journalists to convince their editors to run certain soon as peer review is complete. Once a scholarly paper airplane accident, and others. Each of these stories rivals research stories. The embargo system capitalizes on the fact has been accepted by a journal, scientists and their institu- many science and medical stories in technical complexity, that journalists and their editors rely heavily on timeliness tions should be free to tell the world about it, and journal- the difficulty that journalists may have in reaching expert as a criterion in defining what is news and what is not. ists should be free to report on it if they deem it newswor- sources for comment, and the impact on readers or listeners This is a long-standing problem. “To write a story saying thy. The journal in question could make the accepted paper if inaccurate information is reported. Yet reporters uncom- that ‘X’ was discovered today is a fiction,” Howard Simons, available to its subscribers online, so that the subscribers plainingly cover these and a myriad of other stories without then a science writer for The Washington Post, said almost could consult the full text of the paper for themselves. Jour- the helping hand of an embargo. 40 years ago. “The today lead is something most of us do nalists would be freed of the perceived tyranny of the em- Even Nature’s Peter Wrobel concedes that the embargo because we are still trapped in traditional ideas of newspa- bargo, and they would have new-found time to visit scien- is not essential for good coverage of science and medicine. pering. At a scientific meeting there may be hundreds of tists in laboratories and troll for investigative stories rather “It doesn’t require five or six days, or even three, to write papers delivered, all of them important. There is no reason than leafing through press releases and password-protected most stories,” he says. Alexandra Witze, a former science why we shouldn’t pick up one of those papers three weeks Web sites in search of what the competition is probably go- reporter for The Dallas Morning News and Nature’s chief later and do a story about it. But the traditional light bulb ing to report. US correspondent, says that the accuracy rationale for jour- flashes on in our minds and says it’s old if it’s nothung This is emphatically not to suggest that science and med- nal embargoes is “insulting” to science journalists. “It as- up like a coat on a news peg.” The embargo perpetuates ical journalists should break embargoes. To the contrary, sumes that we are incapable of doing our job, as journalists the problem by giving journalists and their media organiza- journalists have both an ethical and a legal duty to abide in any other field are.” tions an unending stream of such pegs, so many that a lazy by agreements with their sources, including embargo agree- However, the majority of science and medical journal- journalist could write only about journal articles if he or ments. But journalists are not ethically required to continue ists tend to agree with journal publishers that embargoed she chose. to agree to embargoes. advance access to scholarly journals promotes accurate, or- The embargo works against the public interest in many It is time for science and medical journalists to break out derly journalism about science and medicine. This is not ways. One is in how the embargo steers journalists away of their dependence on journals as a source of science news, necessarily the case. Journalists who operate by a learned from covering science and medicine as institutions with and it is time for scholarly societies to stop trying to shape set of professional norms and practices are likely to make messy problems, such as fraud, mistreatment of human sub- the flow of news in a way that suits their own political ends. the same mistakes in a story whether they have a day or a jects, failed research, and misplaced priorities. Journalists The embargo should go. week to prepare it. Moreover, an individual reporter may who are chasing after the latest embargoed journal article Vincent Kiernan is an instructor of journalism at Clarion not use all the additional time that the embargo provides. do not have time to investigate the workings of science and University of Pennsylvania. This essay is adapted from his With an embargo of several days, the reporter may work medicine in this way. “To survive, reporters become depen- book, Embargoed Science, Copyright 2006 by Vincent Kier- on the embargoed story in bits and pieces, fitting that story dent on the daily cascade of embargoed research papers, e- nan. Used by permission of the author and the University of around other stories that the reporter is covering. mailed press releases, university tip sheets, and conference Illinois Press (see http://www.press.uillinois.edu/.) Journalists do have an ethical obligation to society to be

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