May 2006 Volume 15, No. 5 www.aps.org/apsnews Highlights Scientists Can Bring Truth APS NEWS to the Public Arena A Publication of the American Physical Society By Leo Kadanoff Page 4

Serene to Succeed McIlrath March Meeting Prize and Award Recipients As APS Treasurer

his fall Joseph Serene will of the physics department and as become the new APS dean of the Graduate School of TTreasurer, succeeding Arts and Sciences. He is current- Thomas McIlrath, who is retiring. ly the Interim Director of Music McIlrath has served as and Dance. APS Treasurer since September Serene earned his PhD in 30, 1996. Serene will take physics from Cornell University over the position on or about in 1974. He spent a year as a post- September 30, 2006. doctoral fellow at Stanford The APS Treasurer, one of the University, followed by a year as Society’s three operating officers, a NORDITA Guest Professor at is responsible for the Society’s fis- the Helsinki University of cal management and publications Technology. He has held faculty marketing activities. positions at Yale University and Serene is currently a professor the State University of New York of physics at Georgetown at Stony Brook. From 1984 to 1987 University. He has served as chair Serene to Succeed continued on page 7

Photo credit: Robert Stockfield APS Honors Its First President Front row (l to r): Robert Meyer (standing); Ludwik Leibler; James Chelikowski; Kenji Urayama; Mark Johnson; Alfred Redfield. Middle row (l to r): Noel Clark; Charles Su; Rainer Grobe; Frances Hellman; Hui Cao; Roberto Merlin. Back row (l to r): Charles Duke; Hongjie Dai; Alex Zettl; David Vanderbilt; Matthew Paoletti; Murray Batchelor (on behalf of Rodney Baxter).

March Meeting Physicists Drop In on Congress Over two days in March, some organizing the event. “The advan- Congressional offices from 31 110 physicists and physics stu- tageous location of this year’s states. The emphasis was prima- dents took time off from the APS meeting provided an exciting rily on encouraging Congress to March Meeting in Baltimore, opportunity to have attendees fully fund the Bush administra- Maryland, to discuss the impor- from as many districts and states tion’s FY07 budget request as Photo credit: Robert Stockfield tance of science research fund- as possible travel to Washington, outlined in the American As part of the APS historic sites initiative, at the March Meeting a plaque ing with their individual DC, to educate Congress on the Competitiveness Initiative. This was presented to Johns Hopkins University to commemorate the work of Henry Congressional representatives. importance of science funding.” includes an 8% increase for A. Rowland, Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins from 1875 to his death in “Carrying the message to indi- Following a briefing in NSF, a 14% increase for the DOE 1901, and inventor of the diffraction grating that bears his name. He was also vidual offices remains one of the Baltimore, participants were Office of Science and an 18% the founding president of the American Physical Society in 1899. Presenting the best means of influencing a bused to Capitol Hill. They met increase for NIST. Participants plaque on behalf of APS was past-President Marvin Cohen (left). The plaque Member of Congress,” says with staffers–and in some cases also urged Congressional was accepted by Adam Falk (center), the James B. Knapp Dean, Krieger School Kimberly Regan, science policy the members themselves–in 153 Congress continued on page 6 of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins. Watching at right is John Rigden of fellow with the APS Washington Washington University, St. Louis, the Chair of the APS Historic Sites Committee. Office, of the incentive behind New APS Education Award Graphene’s Unique Properties Offer Much Potential Calls for Nominations The APS Excellence in excellence in physics educa- A two-dimensional sheet of electronic properties, which is key unusual quantum effects. Education Award, approved by tion. Such a commitment may carbon, called graphene, has many to achieving sufficient control for “Nanotubes are simply Council in November 2003, has be evidenced by, but not restrict- of the same interesting properties device applications. It is also dif- graphene than has been rolled into achieved its fundraising goal of ed to, such accomplishments as: as one-dimensional carbon nan- ficult to integrate CNT into elec- a cylindrical shape,” says Georgia $100,000 and will be awarded –outreach programs otubes (CNTs), according to sev- tronic devices using processes Tech's Walt de Heer. “Using nar- for the first time next year. The –a specific program or proj- eral papers presented at the APS suitable for high-volume produc- row ribbons of graphene, we can selection process is underway, ect that has had a major ongo- March Meeting in Baltimore. tion. And there is high electrical get all the properties of nanotubes and a call for nominations has ing influence on physics educa- Electrons can move at high speeds resistance that produces heating because those properties are due been issued. The deadline for tion at the national level through the material–so fast that and energy loss at junctions to the graphene and the confine- nominations for the first award –outstanding teacher their behavior is governed by rel- between CNTs and the metal wires ment of the electrons, not the nan- is July 1, 2006. enhancement or teacher prepa- ativity rather than classical connecting them. otube structure.” The width of the The award, which consists of ration programs over a number physics. They also suffer little Their use in next-wave ribbon controls the material’s $5000 and a certificate citing of years energy loss, making graphene an microchips is among the most band-gap. Other structures, such the achievements of the recipi- –long-lasting professional ideal candidate for future elec- promising short-term applications as sensing molecules, could be ents, is distinctive in that it is service related to physics edu- tronics applications, especially at for graphene. When rolled into attached to the edges of the rib- intended to recognize groups, cation that has had a demon- the nanoscale. CNTs or formed into ribbons or bons, which are normally passivat- rather than individuals. Its defin- strated positive impact. To date, much attention has patterned planes, graphene is a ter- ed by hydrogen atoms. The ribbon ing characteristics are set forth Nominations should be sub- focused on CNTs as holding the rific platform for electronics. width confines the electrons in a in the language that was adopt- mitted to the chair of the selec- most promise for nanoelectronics Electrons move quickly and suffer quantum effect similar to that seen ed by Council: tion committee, Wolfgang because they conduct electricity very little energy dissipation even in CNTs. The Excellence in Physics Christian, at the following with virtually no resistance. But at room temperature. In fact, they According to de Heer, graphene Education Award will recognize address: there are some serious obstacles act almost like massless particles. will provide a more controllable and honor a team or group of PO Box 6926, Davidson to scaling up CNT-based devices Making smooth interconnections platform for integrated electron- individuals (such as a collabo- College, Davidson NC 28035- to high-throughput manufactur- between separated devices on a ics than is possible with CNTs ration), or exceptionally a sin- 6926 [email: wochristian@ ing. For example, scientists have chip might be easier with graphene, since graphene structures can be gle individual, who have exhib- davidson.edu]. yet to find a way to produce nan- and scientists hope to be able fabricated as large wafers using ited a sustained commitment to Nominations continued on page 7 otubes of consistent sizes and to further exploit the material’s Graphene continued on page 3 2 May 2006 APS NEWS

This Month in Physics History Members in the Media May, 1911: Rutherford and the discovery of the atomic nucleus

"At first, we were disbelieving. water, The Wall Street Journal, n 1909, Ernest Rutherford’s of the particles scattered. We repeated the experiment many March 10, 2006 student reported some unex- Rutherford, who didn’t want times to make sure we had a true Ipected results from an exper- to neglect any angle of an result and not an 'Ooops'!" “There are no bacteria known to iment Rutherford had assigned experiment, no matter how – Chris Deeney, Sandia be resistant to silver or silver oxide." him. Rutherford called this news unpromising, suggested National Lab, on achieving a –Dan Storey, Nexxion, on new the most incredible event of his Marsden look to see if any temperature of 2 billion kelvins in silver oxide coating for medical life. alpha particles actually scat- Sandia’s Z machine, Associated devices to prevent infections, In the now well-known exper- tered backwards. Press, March 9, 2006 Baltimore Sun, March 17, 2006 iment, alpha particles were Marsden was not expected observed to scatter backwards to find anything, but nonethe- "Several things about it are not "It shows that planet formation from a gold foil. Rutherford’s less he dutifully and carefully really understood – the durability, is really ubiquitous in the universe. explanation, which he published carried out the experiment. He for one thing, is really not known It's a very robust process and can in May 1911, was that the scat- later wrote that he felt it was a how to predict." happen in all sorts of unexpected tering was caused by a hard, sort of test of his experimental –Edward Garboczi, NIST, on environments." dense core at the center of the skills. The experiment involved concrete, Baltimore Sun, March –Deepto Chakrabarty, MIT, on atom–the nucleus. firing alpha particles from a 24, 2006 finding a dusty disk around a Ernest Rutherford was born in radioactive source at a thin gold New Zealand, in 1871, one of 12 foil. Any scattered particles dead star, Associated Press, Ernest Rutherford "It's been very hard to come to April 5, 2006 children. Growing up, he often would hit a screen coated with a consensus. But it looks like it helped out on the family farm, zinc sulfide, which scintillates around this central core, like could be years or decades or mil- "This was the most successful but he was a good student, and when hit with charged particles. planets around the sun, lennia before any serious degra- of the 42." received a scholarship to attend Marsden was to sit in the dark- Rutherford proposed. dation takes place." –Jay Pasachoff, Williams the University of New Zealand. ened room, wait for his eyes to Rutherford carried out a fair- –Raymond Jeanloz, UC Berkeley, on College, on the many eclipses After college he won a scholar- adjust to the darkness, and then ly simple calculation to find the the useful lifespan of plutonium for during which he has collected ship in 1894 to become a patiently stare at the screen, expect- size of the nucleus, and found it weapons, San Francisco Chronicle, data, The New York Times, research student at Cambridge. ing to see nothing at all. to be only about 1/100,000 the March 21, 2006 March 30, 2006 Upon receiving the news of this Instead, Marsden saw lots of size of the atom. The atom was scholarship, Rutherford is report- tiny, fleeting flashes of yellowish mostly empty space. "It never ceases to amaze me "It's still up in the air how read- ed to have said, “That’s the last light, on average more than one In March 1911, Rutherford that it is possible to tell what is ily H5N1 can become human-to- potato I’ll ever dig.” blip per second. announced his surprising going on in the first moment of human, but almost certainly there At Cambridge, the young He could hardly believe what he finding at a meeting of the the universe." will be another pandemic at some Rutherford worked in the saw. He tested and retested every Manchester Literary and –Charles Bennett, Johns point." Cavendish lab with J.J. aspect of the experiment, but when Philosophical Society, and in Hopkins University, on the latest –Timothy Germann, Los Alamos Thomson, discoverer of the elec- he couldn’t find anything wrong, May 1911, he published a results from WMAP, USA Today, National Laboratory, on how bird tron. Rutherford’s talent was he reported the results to paper on the results in the March 16, 2006 flu would spread, National quickly recognized, and in 1898 Rutherford. Philosophical Magazine. Geographic News, April 3, 2006 he took a professorship at McGill Rutherford too was astonished. Later Rutherford and Marsden "What works? Science works. University in Montreal. There, As he was fond of saying, “It was tried the experiment with other Geocentrism doesn't. End of story. "Many students have a fear of he identified alpha and beta radi- as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a elements as the target, and meas- I've learned over time that it's hard science, but if they come at it ation as two separate types of piece of tissue paper and it came ured their nuclei as well. to convince people who believe from a different angle, they radiation, and studied some of back and hit you." The solar system model was otherwise, independent of sometimes find out they're inter- their properties, though he did- About one in every few thou- not immediately accepted. One evidence." ested in the subject and take n’t know that alphas were heli- sand of the alpha particles fired at obvious problem was that –Lawrence Krauss, Case more classes." um nuclei. In 1901 Rutherford the gold target had scattered at an according to Maxwell’s equa- Western Reserve University, on –Michael Dennin, UC Irvine, and chemist Frederick Soddy angle greater than 90 degrees. This tions, electrons traveling in a cir- geocentrism, the Sun Herald (South on using comic book heroes to found that one radioactive ele- didn’t fit with the prevailing model cular orbit should radiate energy, Mississippi), March 28, 2006 teach physics, Los Angeles Times, ment can decay into another. The of the atom, the so-called plum and therefore slow down and fall March 25, 2006 discovery earned Rutherford the pudding model developed by J.J. into the nucleus. A solar system “Redefining science? Who 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Thomson. In this model electrons atom wouldn’t last long. are you? Where do you come “The drop rides along on the which irritated him somewhat were believed to be stuck through- Fortunately, Niels Bohr was from? The arrogance is just vapor like a boat on a river. The because he considered himself a out a blob of positively charged soon able to save the solar sys- unbelievable.” vapor is generated between the physicist, not a chemist. matter, like raisins in a pudding. tem model by applying new ideas –Hume Feldman, University droplet and the ratchet's surface in (Rutherford is widely quoted as But this sort of arrangement would from quantum mechanics. He of Kansas, on the Kansas State a narrow gap, about the width of a having said, “All science is either only cause small angle scattering, showed that the atom could stay Board of Education’s changes human hair." physics or stamp collecting”) nothing like what Marsden had intact if electrons were only to the definition of science in –Heiner Linke, University of In 1907 Rutherford returned observed. allowed to occupy certain dis- thepublic school science stan- Oregon, on a way of making water to England, to the University of After thinking about the prob- crete orbitals. dards, Lawrence Journal- droplets run uphill, FOX news.com, Manchester. In 1909, he and his lem for over a year, Rutherford Though Rutherford still did- World, March 17, 2006 March 30, 2006 colleague Hans Geiger were came up with an answer. The only n’t know what was in this nucle- looking for a research project explanation, Rutherford suggested us he had discovered (protons "It's amazing we are so uncer- "Most people don't report their for a student, Ernest Marsden. in 1911, was that the alpha parti- and neutrons would be identi- tain about the most abundant sightings. They're afraid of Rutherford had already been cles were being scattered by a large fied later), his insight in 1911, substance on Earth. I have a feel- ridicule, but in reality the world studying the scattering of alpha amount of positive charge concen- which overturned the prevailing ing that, with water, there will be is interested. It's ready." particles off a gold target, care- trated in a very small space at the plum pudding model of the more surprises." –Stanton Friedman, on flying fully measuring the small for- center of the gold atom. The elec- atom, had opened the way for –Anders Nilsson, Stanford saucers, KOAA TV news, ward angles through which most trons in the atom must be orbiting modern nuclear physics. University, on the structure of March 23, 2006

Series II, Vol. 15, No.5 Department, American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, Treasurer Physics and Society), J. H. Eberly (Laser Science), Leonard Feldman (Materials), Akif Balantekin (Nuclear), May 2006 College Park, MD 20740-3844, [email protected]. Thomas McIlrath*, University of Maryland (emeritus) Editor-in-Chief John Jaros* (Particles & Fields), Ronald Ruth (Physics APS NEWS ©2006 The American Physical Society For Nonmembers–Circulation and Fulfillment Division, Martin Blume*, Brookhaven National Laboratory of Beams), James Drake* (Plasma), Timothy Lodge American Institute of Physics, Suite 1NO1, 2 Huntington (emeritus) (Polymer Physics), Gianfranco Vidali, (New York Section), Coden: ANWSEN ISSN: 1058-8132 Quadrangle, Melville, NY 11747-4502. Allow at least 6 Past-President Paul Wolf (Ohio Section) Editor ...... Alan Chodos weeks advance notice. For address changes, please send both Marvin L. Cohen*, University of California, Berkeley Associate Editor ...... Jennifer Ouellette the old and new addresses, and, if possible, include a mail- General Councillors ADVISORS Staff Writer ...... Ernie Tretkoff ing label from a recent issue. Requests from subscribers for Christina Back, Janet Conrad, Wendell Hill, Evelyn Hu*, Representatives from Other Societies Special Publications Manager ...... Kerry G. Johnson missing issues will be honored without charge only if received Ann Orel, Arthur Ramirez, Richart Slusher, Laura Smoliar* Kenneth Heller, AAPT; Marc Brodsky, AIP Design and Production ...... Amera Jones within 6 months of the issue’s actual date of publication. International Councillor International Advisors Forefronts Editor ...... Craig Davis Periodical Postage Paid at College Park, MD and at addition- Albrecht Wagner María Esther Ortiz, Mexican Physical Society Proofreader ...... Edward Lee al mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to APS Chair, Nominating Committee Walter Davidson, Canadian Association of Physicists APS News (ISSN: 1058-8132) is published 11X the right to select and to edit for length or clarity. All corre- News, Membership Department, American Physical Society, Thomas Rosenbaum yearly, monthly, except the August/September issue, by spondence regarding APS News should be directed to: Editor, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844. Chair, Panel on Public Affairs Staff Representatives the American Physical Society, One Physics Ellipse, APS News, One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740- Ernest Moniz Alan Chodos, Associate Executive Officer; Amy Flatten College Park, MD 20740-3844, (301) 209-3200. It 3844, E-mail: [email protected]. APS COUNCIL 2006 Division, Forum and Section Councillors Director of International Affairs; Ted Hodapp, Director contains news of the Society and of its Divisions, President Charles Dermer (Astrophysics), Kate Kirby* (Atomic, of Education and Outreach; Michael Lubell, Director, Topical Groups, Sections and Forums; advance Subscriptions:APS News is an on-membership publication John J. Hopfield*, Princeton University Molecular & Optical Physics) Robert Eisenberg (Biological), Public Affairs; Stanley Brown, Editorial Director; Charles information on meetings of the Society; and reports to delivered by Periodical Mail. Members residing abroad may President-Elect Charles S. Parmenter (Chemical), Moses H. Chan Muller, Director, Journal Operations; Michael Stephens, the Society by its committees and task forces, as well receive airfreight delivery for a fee of $15. Nonmembers: Leo P. Kadanoff*, University of Chicago (Condensed Matter Physics), Richard M. Martin Controller and Assistant Treasurer as opinions. Subscription rates are available at http://librarians.aps.org/ Vice-President (Computational), Harry Swinney* (Fluid Dynamics), Peter institutional.html. Arthur Bienenstock*, Stanford University Zimmerman (Forum on Education), Roger Stuewer (Forum Administrator for Governing Committees Letters to the editor are welcomed from the member- Executive Officer on History of Physics), Patricia Mooney* (Forum on Ken Cole ship. Letters must be signed and should include an Subscription orders, renewals and address changes should Judy R. Franz*, University of Alabama, Huntsville Industrial and Applied Physics), David Ernst (Forum on * Members of the APS Executive Board address and daytime telephone number. The APS reserves be addressed as follows: For APS Members–Membership (on leave) International Physics), Philip “Bo” Hammer* (Forum on APS NEWS May 2006 3

GRAPHENE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Meeting Attendees Contact Congress existing lithographic techniques. the material contains particles less energy loss than previously Continuous graphene circuitry can known as massive chiral fermi- reported. be produced using standard micro- ons, and particle theory has pre- Geim compared his results to electronic processing techniques, viously maintained that any par- certain cosmologies in which mul- which gives scientists a road map ticle with chirality must have tiple universes can co-exist, each for high-volume graphene elec- mass. with its own set of physical con- tronics manufacturing. “There is This extraordinary property stants; in graphene, he said, where a huge advantage to making a sys- was explored further in November electrons move in a light-like way, tem out of one continuous mate- 2005 experiments making use of with a fast speed (yet still some- rial, compared to having differ- the quantum Hall effect (QHE), in what less than the speed of light ent materials with different inter- which electrons, confined to a in a vacuum), the parameter which faces–and large resistances to plane and subjected to high mag- sets the scale of the electromag- cause heating at the contacts,” he netic fields, execute only pre- netic force–that is, the fine struc- said. scribed quantum trajectories. The ture constant–has a higher value Single sheets of graphene were experiments were conducted by of 2.0 rather than the customary only isolated in 2004 by a group Geim’s group, and by a team at 1/137. of researchers led by Andre Geim Columbia University led by Philip The next step is to learn more of the University of Manchester, Kim. about the fundamental physics of sparking a wave of related inves- graphene, rather than focusing tigation into the material. De on potential applications. For Heer’s team starts with a wafer example, de Heer reported that a of silicon carbide, and then heats plot of resistance versus an Photo credit: Brian Mosley the wafer in a high vacuum to applied magnetic field had a frac- During the APS March meeting, over 1100 attendees were able to use drive silicon atoms from the sur- tal shape. He admitted that he terminals with special software to write to their members of Congress about face. What’s left is a thin contin- can’t yet explain this unusual key budget issues. Shown here are (bottom to top): Vinobalan uous later of graphene. Next, they finding. Durairaj,Gang Cao, Boyd Edwards,and John Colton. spin-coat onto the surface a photo- As for the applications, he said resist material and pattern the sur- that on an all-graphene chip, link- face using optical lithography or ing components with the usual Washington Dispatch electron-beam lithography, fol- metallic interconnects (which A bimonthly update from the APS Office of Public Affairs lowed by conventional etching tends to disrupt quantum rela- ISSUE: SCIENCE RESEARCH BUDGETS processes to remove unwanted tions) would not be necessary. So Congress is currently holding hearings to consider the President’s graphene. the wave nature of electrons could Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2007, which begins on October 1. De Heer’s team has managed to be more fully exploited for quan- As noted in the previous Dispatch, the president has proposed sig- create feature sizes as small as 80 tum-information purposes. Thus nificant increases for the National Science Foundation, the Department nm–well on the way towards their far de Heer’s group has attempt- of Energy Office of Science, and the NIST laboratories as part of goal of 10 nm–using electron ed to build circuitry in this way, his American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). The Appropriations beam lithography. Electrons move and has even made a few rudi- Committees has yet to mark up any of the spending bills, but the with very little scattering through mentary graphene structures, Budget Committees have moved ahead with their work on the Budget the resulting graphene circuitry. including a graphene planar field- Resolution. The Budget Committee’s actions influence overall fund- The researchers have also shown effect transistor. They have also Graphene holds lots of promise for ing levels for the federal budget and the individual spending bills, electronic coherence at near room built a working quantum inter- future nanoscale electronics. rather than the budget of specific line items. The Senate Budget temperature, as well as evidence ference device, which would be Committee, chaired by Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), signaled strong of quantum interference effects. The QHE studies also revealed useful in manipulating electron- support for ACI basic research budget requests in the Committee’s They expect to see ballistic trans- that when an electron completes ic waves. draft of the Budget Resolution. It included levels to fully fund the port when they make structures a full circular trajectory in the Meanwhile, research in CNTs President’s ACI basic research increases and also provided a reserve small enough. imposed magnetic field, the phase marches on. A March 23 paper in fund. On the House side, the Budget Committee, chaired by From a fundamental research of its wave function is shifted by Science by IBM researchers Representative Jim Nussle (R-IA), in its committee draft reduced the perspective, graphene is equally 180 degrees. This is a modifica- reported that they have succeed- ACI basic research components by more than $300 million. Reflecting rich in potential. For instance, it tion known as “Berry’s phase,” ed in fashioning an electronic cir- the difficulties that the House Republican Leadership is having in exhibits effects previously thought and it serves to reduce electron cuit around a single CNT mole- achieving a consensus on spending levels, the Budget Resolution failed to occur only in the plasmas sur- energy loss. In a new twist to the cule, obtaining switching frequen- to gain a majority in early April. Final spending levels may not be rounding very dense neutron stars. story, Geim reported that he’s cies of 52 MHz, roughly equiva- worked out until the appropriators mark up their bills. For details of Also, in graphene, electron observed a new version of QHE lent to Intel’s old 486 micro- the FY07 budget process, go to http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/. velocity is independent of energy, while studying the effect in processor chips. The approach To express your views to Congress on the President’s ACI so the electrons move as if they graphene bilayers, resulting in a could be used to simplify the man- requests, go to http://www.congressweb.com /cweb4/ were light waves–they act like doubled Berry’s phase of 360 ufacture of molecular electronic index.cfm?orgcode=apspa&hotissue=58. massless particles, even though degrees. This translates into even circuits. *** The bipartisan Senate competitiveness bills discussed in the pre- vious Dispatch continue to gain co-sponsors. Senate committees are currently holding hearings on the bills and are expected to hold INTERNATIONAL News votes soon. In the House, competitiveness bills addressing science have been stalled by lack of action by the House Leadership. House ...from the APS Office of International Affairs Democrats have submitted bills that mimic the bipartisan Senate coun- terparts. Although the House Republicans introduced a “competitive- International Efforts in Homeland Security R&D ness” bill in March, it did not address basic research. Penrose Albright time; the UK, Israel, Russia, lies primarily in the developed *** At the creation of the Australia all come to mind. The world, the needed talent (and ISSUE: RELIABLE REPLACEMENT WARHEAD (RRW) Department of Homeland threats they have tended to face, understanding of the threat) exists The Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) is participating informally Security (DHS), one of the key however, have not been as tech- in the broader international com- in the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons Complex Assessment rationales cited by the President nology-enabled and apocalypti- munity. Although the developed Committee (NWCAC). The committee, chaired by Bruce Tarter of and Congress was the need to cally driven as those we fear world is naturally concerned Lawrence Livermore National Lab, has 13 other members, of whom provide a focal point for enlisting today–for example, the IRA typ- about its status as a preferred tar- 8 are APS members and 5 are APS Fellows. The first act of the com- the national science and technol- ically called ahead of time to warn get, terrorism is a global phenom- mittee will be to review and comment on the proposed Reliable ogy enterprise. Science and tech- of a bombing. Furthermore, it is enon and so is the desire by gov- Replacement Warhead (RRW). nology were–and are–seen as clearly advantageous to the US if ernments to protect against it. The *** clear asymmetric advantages held sophisticated counter-terrorism market for technical capabilities ISSUE: GLOBAL NUCLEAR ENERGY PARTNERSHIP by the developed world in deal- technology that deters, dissuades, is worldwide, and the talents and (GNEP) ing with the threat of terrorism. and prevents attacks is deployed insights needed to combat it is The Department of Energy (DOE) recently proposed a plan for Moreover, it was clear from the across the developed world–the truly international in character. a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP: http://www.gnep. outset that the effort to counter usual target of terrorists. It should Perhaps the greatest issue sur- energy.gov). The plan contains some elements that were proposed this threat needed to be interna- be just as difficult for a terrorist rounding contemporary countert- by the POPA Nuclear Energy Study Group (NESG). Roger tional in scope. As a physicist, I to cross the border into the EU as errorism is the potential for truly Hagengruber of the University of New Mexico, chair of the study understood that international it is to cross into the US; it should catastrophic terrorism–biologi- group, plans to reconvene the committee to review and comment on cooperation in S&T must under- be just as difficult to attack the cal, nuclear, and chemical. GNEP. For information on the membership of the Nuclear Energy pin any US counter-terrorism public with a pathogen in London Terrorist organizations have made Study Group, please visit the website at http://www.aps.org/ strategy. as it is in Chicago. clear their desire to acquire such public_affairs/proliferation-resistance. Obviously, other nations had However, while the technical weapons, and with the possible Log on to the APS Public Affairs website been thinking about and dealing infrastructure for conducting exception of the nuclear threat, (http://www.aps.org/public_affairs) for more information. with the terrorist threat for a long R&D aimed at domestic security International News continued on page 6 4 May 2006 APS NEWS Letters Theory of Everything a Grand Illusion The anthropic principle and establish. This route to progress has Scientists Can Bring Truth to the Public Arena multiple universes continue to be been forgotten by those who seek a Leo Kadanoff of these difficulties. Why is this trotted out in the columns of The "theory of everything". The very ll over the world, this is a happening? New York Times, Nature, and physics search for everything explained in particularly difficult time Partly the problem is a confu- journals. There must be other physi- a grand closed whole seems unsci- Afor physics. In many sion about the role of science. We cists like me who regard these as entific. places, there is a sharp decline in need to articulate to ourselves and constituting bad philosophy and bad Among the initial conditions are funding for research and teaching to the general public the true mean- physics, but who have found their the constants that seem to character- in physics. Some nations have a ing and value of our scientific protesting letters simply ignored. ize our Universe such as the fine very serious shortage of home- work. Our work is particularly These ideas, supposedly cute and structure constant alpha whose grown students of physics. In oth- valuable not for the wealth or holding popular appeal, actually inverse is, approximately, 137. Either ers, the international exchange power it produces–in the present- demonstrate a failure to absorb the it is a given, or a more complete essential for the conduct of sci- day world there are quicker roads lessons of Newton and Copernicus. development will give a formula ence has been seriously curtailed. to wealth and power–but because Leo Kadanoff Almost as important as his laws of that yields the observed value. Some places show some support it is a method for generating and throughs” which in the end never motion and of gravity was Newton's Anthropic arguments that, except for very applied work, but little discerning true things. If we carry emphasis that we have laws of for a narrow band of values, the quite work out, or the promulga- interest in the basics. Some govern- out our professional responsibili- tion of exaggerated statements physics and we have initial condi- Universe would look very different ments and groups are actively hos- ties correctly and carefully, we tions. When contemporaries scoffed and be incapable of housing sen- about the economic or military tile to the patterns and traditions of might have the opportunity to say value of our work. In asserting the that he had not accounted for the tient beings to ask these questions, independent intellectual activity things about nature that are and planets' particular orbits or their cut off prematurely any future quest value of our profession each of us which surrounds good scientific will remain true: a certain pollutant has the responsibility to see that all lying in the same plane, his response to "derive" the number, while also work. Others would reject the best will diffuse at a certain rate through was that it was sufficient for him to failing on their own premise to the work that we do is honestly scientific knowledge in such mat- a given medium, in the ordinary carried out, and reported accurate- have accounted for what he had, "explain" the value. It is unimpres- ters as the construction of school course of things information never rightly leaving these specifics as sive that their band lies around the ly and fully, without undue puffery. curricula, or the development of moves faster than the speed of light, In doing this we may have to resist due to initial conditions. observed value because, however health policies, or in the imple- photons tend to clump in the same A later, more embracing theory narrow, even just between 137 and pressures from our employers, mentation of environmental poli- state, etc. These true statements journals, and even from the appar- may explain them. Indeed, conden- 137.1, an infinity of real numbers lie cy. In some places, government can provide the hard facts upon sation of a swirling gaseous cloud in any band. ent needs of our own careers. labs are pressed into being mouth- which others may build the reliable Insofar as we do meet high stan- leads to planets in one plane, but The question still remains of why pieces of partisan policy or politics. instruments of our polity, or our that picture will have its own initial the particular one to many decimal dards, and mostly we do that rea- Everywhere, industrial labs doing economy, or our view of the world. sonably well, we serve our socie- conditions. Newton's genius that set figures that our experiments meas- physics have mostly faded away, or More important, by using good the course for the development of ure. The same is true of the cosmo- ty. We serve it in the classroom by work on problems with a very short judgment, we serve as examples teaching methods for finding and our subject lay in narrowing the logical constant Lambda, no matter time-horizon. Unfortunately, in the showing how others might per- focus on what we set out to Letters continued on page 7 reporting facts about nature. We United States we see elements of all form their own roles. That is our serve it in the laboratory by find- true value to the community–sci- ing new things and reporting them entists can produce objectivity and with a reliable accuracy. In both lab … And the Physicists Sang Along a good approximation to some- and class we develop and maintain thing true. absolutely overwhelmed,” said standards of logic and evidence To meet this purpose, we have Smith. “My hands were shak- that should be applied in many to keep our work up to the highest ing as I looked through the old other walks of life, particularly in standards of morality and correct- pages, revealing delights that public life. We further serve the ness. Thus, the data fabrication might otherwise have been lost society in the public arena by help- scandals at Bell Labs and Lawrence forever.” ing to bring our government and Berkeley have proven destructive, The find inspired him to leaders into better contact with the particularly so because of the cen- organize the Baltimore singa- limitations and possibilities of trality of these labs to our world of long. “I felt we needed more physical reality. And most of all we physics. Almost equally destructive socializing activities,” he serve our society by providing a are media circuses about “break- Viewpoint continued on page 7 explained. “After all, one of the most important purposes of any conference is to spark new collaborations, which often grow from social encoun- ters.” Smith himself penned most Fabricate! of the songs featured at Wednesday's singalong, includ- These song lyrics concern the But when we heard of young Photo credit: Ernie Tretkoff ing "The Love Song of the fate of Jan Hendrik Schön, who Schön’s evil deeds? Laura Greene and Walter Smith wow the crowd with a duet performance was considered a rising star in She was the happiest Prof, you’d of "Fabricate!" Electric Field" (sung to the tune of "Loch Lomond"), and physics until it emerged that he had ever seen Richard Feynman would have substituting the meeting of the opening number, “L, Me fabricated much of his data. The fol- Put down the flanges, the scopes been there in a heartbeat. So would two young lovers with a Say L” (to the “Banana Boat lowing should be sung to the tune and the probes of Cabaret! James Clerk Maxwell and J.J. rumination on the physics of Song”). “I thought it would Don’t make the journals wait th Thomson. They were certainly collisions. By the early 20 cen- take awhile to cajole folks into Come and just Fabricate, young What good is working alone in present in spirit at the first ever tury, Cambridge University's actually singing along,” he Schön your lab APS Singalong, held in conjunc- Cavendish Laboratory had made said. “But they started singing Come and just Fabricate Don’t leave results to fate tion with the March Meeting in singalongs a tradition of their win- right away.” They were accom- Come and just Fabricate, young Baltimore, where over 50 atten- ter holiday parties, with partici- Come fudge the lines panied by guitarist Jamie Schön Draw points by hand dees sang physics-centric lyrics pants like J.J. Thomson standing Diorio, a UMD grad student Come and just Fabricate to familiar tunes while being on chairs and singing parodies at in mechanical engineering, and Get Nature pubs, start celebrating accompanied by a guitar and a the top of their lungs. UMD physics professor Victor No use permitting truth dictate Right this way, your Nobel’s bongo. There’s even a US precedent Yakovenko, who provided the your doom waiting Singing songs about physics is for physics singalongs. Before he percussive beat with bongos Or wipe all your fame away Come and just Fabricate, young a long, time-honored tradition that achieved national fame for his and maracas. And as for me, and as for me, Schön originated in England, according satirical ditties, Tom Lehrer was James Riordon, head of the I made my mind up, with Science Come and just Fabricate. to singalong organizer Walter a physics grad student at Harvard, Society’s Media Relations, and Nature Smith. Smith is a physics profes- where he penned an entire musi- obliged with an original tune To publish there, does not raise sor at Haverford College who runs cal show called The Physical about evolution. Physics pro- I knew a Prof with honesty and stature what he describes as the premiere Revue. fessor Laura Greene of the stature Start by admitting inventing the online collection of physics songs Thanks to his six-year involve- University of Illinois per- Worked day and night but never points in the world. [See http://www. ment in collecting physics songs, formed a song she wrote called got in Nature Isn’t worth accolades haverford.edu/physics- last year Smith inherited some "Fabricate" (see Zero Gravity, She wasn’t what you’d call a CV You lose when you Fabricate, astro/songs.] valuable historical documents: a at right), sung to the tune of power young Schön You lose when you Fabricate, James Clerk Maxwell may bundle of ancient mimeographs "Cabaret." It satirizes former With no Science pubs, her salary young Schön have been the first physics song- of some of the songs sung at Bell Labs physicist Jan soon went sour. When she lost her grants the And we all lose, when you writer. Maxwell composed alter- the Cavendish Laboratory in Hendrik Schoen, who was Fabricate! nate lyrics to the then-familiar folk the early 1900s, carefully pre- found to have engaged in sci- big-shots came to snicker song "Comin' Through the Rye," served by Arthur Quinton. “I was entific misconduct. “Well, compared to Schön, the Lyrics by Laura Greene. Printed NSF won’t pick her” with the author’s permission. APS NEWS May 2006 5

Nanopores Have a Zillion Uses, Researchers Say The Ides of March Nanopores, the tiny holes a voltage is applied across the cell nanopore, Kasianowicz said. formed by proteins, could be used membrane, ions can flow through While some scientists are using for a variety of applications, the pore. Anthrax also secretes other natural nanopores for these and including sequencing DNA and proteins, called “lethal factor” and other applications, other researchers detecting anthrax. Researchers “edema factor,” which can bind to at the meeting reported on devel- reported the latest developments the nanopore and prevent the flow oping artificial nanopores as impor- on natural and artificial nanopores of ions through the channel. tant tools for biophysical studies. and their applications at the Kasianowicz can detect the pres- For instance, Cees Dekker of Delft March Meeting in a number of ence of these toxic proteins in a University of Technology described sessions devoted to the topic. sample of blood by measuring cur- advances in solid state nanopores, Nanopores are nanometer rent flow through the nanopores. He made from silicon oxide. Artificial scale holes formed naturally by has been able to measure these pro- nanopores are flexible, stable and proteins or cells, for instance to teins in blood from guinea pigs, adjustable, and can be used for a allow ions to pass between nerve even at very low concentrations. variety of studies, said Dekker. For cells. Single nanopores form the Previous methods of detecting instance, longer DNA strands take Ken Cole Photo credit: basis for nerve activity. Similarly active anthrax proteins relied on longer to travel through the pore, so sized holes can also be made injecting live animals or cell cul- one can use nanopores to measure artificially. tures with samples for analysis, and the length of the strand. Sean Ling of Brown required several days to work. This In addition, DNA can go through University is one of many new method can reliably detect a pore in either a folded or stretched researchers working on DNA these anthrax proteins in about an state, making nanopores a potential sequencing using nanopores. The hour. tool for studying DNA or RNA basic idea was first proposed 10 In addition, the method could folding and unfolding, or DNA- years ago as an alternative to the be used for screening potential ther- protein binding. Many other uses standard method of DNA apeutic agents which would work for nanopores are also being devel- sequencing, which requires mak- by interfering with the binding of oped, said Dekker. “There’s like a ing many copies of a strand of lethal factor and edema factor to the zillion ways you can use it.”

DNA, chopping it up into small Charles Clark Photo credit: pieces for sequencing and then States with Unmatched Spins On the 2049th anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar reconstructing the genome. This in Rome, APS hosted a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington. method is slow and expensive, Lead to Novel Superfluids The event, which attracted physicists, members of the administra- costing about $10 million to tion, Congressional staffers, and members of Congress, was titled sequence the 109 bases in the A strange new form of superflu- controllable, clear way,” said Randy "Physics Today for a Brighter Tomorrow". The goal was to inform entire human genome. Ling hopes id with unequal numbers of spin up Hulet of Rice in a press conference attendees about the ways in which fundamental physics research nanopore sequencing could and spin down atoms has been cre- at the March Meeting. positively impacts their daily lives and how it can help them face reduce that to about $1,000 per ated in a lab by two independent Above a critical mismatch of tomorrow's challenges. To this end, attendees could, for example, genome, and allow genomes to research groups. Though theorists spin up and spin down atoms, Hulet witness cryogenic demonstrations by Nobel laureate Bill Phillips, be sequenced in days. have speculated for years about observed a phase separation, in hear about the physics of superheroes from Jim Kakalios, and find out about superconductivity from Paul Chu. Nanopore sequencing would what would happen in states with which the excess unpaired atoms In the top picture, APS Fellow and member of Congress Rush work by looking at changes in unmatched spins, this is the first were expelled from the superfluid experimental observation of such a gas in the center and collected at the Holt (D-NJ) addresses the crowd while APS Fellow and member ion flow as a single strand of of Congress Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) looks on, together with event DNA in a solution flows through state. At the APS March Meeting, edges of the traps, while the gas in two research groups described their the center remained paired. organizers Charles Clark of NIST and Susan Coppersmith of the a nanopore. Each nucleotide rd observations of cold gases of lithi- Below the critical mismatch, the University of Wisconsin. In the lower picture, Ehlers (3 from left) would affect the current in a char- chats with Sidney Nagel of the University of Chicago, former APS acteristic way. One problem with um atoms with unequal numbers of system behaved in an unexpected spin up and spin down atoms. way–it incorporated the extra President Myriam Sarachik of CCNY, and current APS President- this approach is that bases in a elect Leo Kadanoff of the University of Chicago. strand of DNA are too close Normally in a superconductor, unmatched spins as if there were no together and move too quickly each spin up electron pairs with a mismatch. There was no phase sep- through the nanopore, making it spin down electron, and the pairs aration. Although his group did not Meeting Attendee Has Identity Stolen difficult to identify individual can flow with no resistance. directly measure superfluidity, When Greg Grason, a postdoc ing him to repay the $20. Grason nucleotides. Ling gets around this Similarly, in a superfluid, atoms based on previous experiments, at UCLA, arrived at the Baltimore responded to these emails explain- problem by attaching known pair up and can flow with zero vis- Hulet believes the gas was a super- Convention Center first thing on ing that he had not, in fact, been probes, six or eight bases long, to cosity. fluid. This behavior suggests some the Monday morning of the March the person asking for money. single stranded strings of DNA, States with unequal numbers of new form of exotic pairing is going Meeting, he made his way to the Another email came from a physi- making it possible to read the spin up and down atoms do not fit on, said Hulet. “This is complete- registration booth, and asked to cist who had given money to the strand in chunks of six or eight let- the conventional model of superflu- ly unexpected.” pick up his badge. But the badge impostor, but now realized it was- ters instead of one letter at a time. idity. There have been attempts to Martin Zwierlein, a graduate had already been checked out. n’t Grason, and simply wanted to Also, by attaching a magnetic par- observe such phases, but until student in Wolfgang Ketterle’s Assuming it had been some alert him to the scam. One corre- ticle to one end of the DNA recently nothing definitive had been group at MIT, described his group’s minor mix-up, registration staff spondent told Grason he had tried strand, he can slow down the rate seen. The two experimental groups, experiments on a gas of lithium-6 made him another badge, and to report the incident to the police, at which the DNA traverses the one from Harvard and one from atoms with unequal numbers of Grason was not concerned at the but after waiting for hours at the pore, allowing for better resolu- Rice, have now measured the spin up and spin down atoms. By time. police station without receiving tion. In addition to the work with effects of unmatched spins. rotating the condensate, they Not until Thursday did he dis- much attention, he gave up. single nanopores, Ling also Both groups chill a cloud of observed the formation of vortices cover that he’d been the victim of Grason believes that the perpe- reported on developments of lithium-6 atoms, which are fermi- that only occur in rotating superflu- a sort of identity theft–someone trator may have met dozens, or addressable nanopore arrays. ons, in a laser trap to within bil- ids, and found that in these exper- had posed as Grason, gotten a even hundreds, of meeting atten- There are still some problems lionths of a degree of absolute zero. iments, some superfluidity persists badge with Grason’s name on it, dees, Grason’s current and poten- with nanopore DNA sequencing, The spin up atoms form pairs with even up to a 70 percent mismatch and used it to scam meeting atten- tial future colleagues. Grason said Ling, but as silicon nanopore spin down atoms. The researchers in some cases. The critical mis- dees out of money. therefore wants to make sure it is technology becomes more reli- have been able to tune the pair inter- match depends on the pair interac- On Thursday night, several of known that this individual wear- able and affordable, fast DNA action strength by adjusting a mag- tion strength. Grason’s colleagues told him they ing his badge and asking for sequencing using nanopores will netic field. At one extreme, the Theorist Eugene Demler of had seen a man on the street wear- money wasn’t him. become a reality. There are chal- atoms pair up into tightly bound Harvard commented that these ing a badge with Grason’s name Nothing like this has happened lenges, but no show stoppers, molecules and condense into a experiments are intriguing, and on it, introducing himself as at an APS meeting before, says Ling said. molecular BEC. At the other even though we don’t fully under- Grason, and asking to borrow Donna Baudrau, APS Director of Meanwhile, John Kasianowicz extreme, the atoms form loosely stand what’s going on in these money for a taxi. Meetings. of NIST, who was one of the first coupled Cooper pairs, as in a BCS strange new states, we are in a new He thought this was odd, and It seems that the impostor went to suggest that nanopores could be superconductor. This BEC-BCS era of cold atom research. reported it to meeting registra- to the registration desk, claimed used for rapid DNA sequencing, crossover region has been explored Scientists believe these studies tion staff on Friday morning. The to be Greg Grason, and was given is also working on other applica- by a number of research groups in could provide insights into the meetings staff took note of the the badge. It isn’t clear why this tions of nanopores. At the March the past several years. extremely dense quark matter in problem, but at that point there individual chose to impersonate Meeting, he described his recent Those studies involved gases the cores of neutron stars, where wasn’t anything they could do Grason, or how he knew that work on a method for using with an equal number of spin up and there may be unpaired quarks. The about the matter. Grason was pre-registered for the nanopores for quickly detecting down atoms. More recently, cold atom studies could also help Shortly after the end of the meeting, Baudrau said. Possibly anthrax infections. researchers have found they can explain the peculiar heavy-fermi- meeting, Grason received sever- the impostor looked at the meet- The anthrax bacterium secretes use radio waves to control the num- on materials that exhibit both mag- al emails from other meeting ing program, picked Grason at a protein, called “protective anti- ber of spin up and spin down atoms. netism and superconductivity. attendees who had met the impos- random, approached the registra- gen,” that naturally forms into “The beauty of these experi- In addition, they could shed tor. Two had lent money to the tion desk, asked for Grason’s nanopores, which then penetrate ments is that the essential light on high temperature super- person, believing him to be badge, and was simply lucky that cell walls, creating a hole. When physics can be revealed in a very conductivity. Grason, and were now request- Meeting Scam continued on page 7 6 May 2006 APS NEWS

CONGRESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Committee on Minorities Meets members to increase NASA’s science budget by at lease 3%, Nevada APS Members Visit in line with the current rate of inflation for research. Their Congresswoman Another focus of the visits was to encourage Congressional mem- bers to sign “Dear Colleague” let- ters circulating in the House and Senate, calling for support of NSF and DOE. There were 164 signa- tories on the House NSF letter, and, at press time, 136 on the House DOE letter, and 66 signa- tories on the Senate DOE letter. Many were first-time signers, which Regan credits to the efforts of APS members during the Photo credit: Ernie Tretkoff visits. The APS Committee on Minorities met at APS headquarters in The visits coincided not only Six APS members from Nevada visited with Congresswoman Shelley College Park, MD on April 7. In the photo are (left to right): Juana with the APS March Meeting, but Berkley (D-NV) during the Congressional visits organized by APS. Rudati, Eric Lin, Lawrence Norris (National Society of Black Physicists From left to right are Philippe Weck, Zachary Quine, Eunja Kim, liaison), Calvin Howell (COM Chair), Edward Thomas (bottom), Jay also the start of Congressional considerations of the appropria- Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, Michael Pravica, Edward Romano, Dickerson (top), APS Director of Education Ted Hodapp, APS Outreach and Brian Yulga. Programs Administrator Arlene Modeste Knowles, and Pete Markowitz. tions for the next fiscal year. However, the event also had more important to me.” While describing the outcome long-term objectives, namely Cris Ugolini of Kansas State as “a terrific start” to the appro- Intel Science Talent Search demonstrating to APS members University visited five priations process, Regan empha- Selects 2006 Winners the importance of informing their Congressional offices. He partic- sized, “We view these visits as elected officials about what physi- ipated in the event because he part of our members developing In March, Intel Corporation high schools in 44 states entered the cists do, and encouraging them to believes strongly that there is a a relationship with an office rather awarded a $100,000 scholarship to competition this year, from which become more active in this great need for increased scientif- than a one-time event.” The hope Utah high school science student 300 semifinalists were chosen. The regard. ic funding. “We as scientists often is that members will follow up in Shannon Babb for her six-month- top 40 finalists were judged accord- Marie Mapes of the University discuss amongst ourselves the the future, make visits to home long study to identify water quali- ing to research ability, scientific of Wisconsin met with staffers need for more funding to perform offices, and perhaps even invite ty problems in the Spanish Fork originality and creative thinking. from five offices of members of basic research,” he said. “But we staff members of Congressional River. “The talent represented at Intel Congress from her state, and rarely act out to inform our representatives to visit their lab- Yi Sun of San Jose, California, STS is a dramatic illustration that emphasized that the US is lag- respective government officials oratories. In turn, Congressional received second place honors (a investing in science and math edu- ging behind other areas of the of the desired funding.” offices might find APS members $75,000 scholarship) for discover- cation will pay great dividends for world in terms of both R&D fund- He attributes this in part to the to be a valuable resource on sci- ing new geometric properties of the future of American innovation,” ing and producing science PhDs. fact that “many feel their voice ence and technology policy issues. random walks, while Yuan Zhang said Intel Chairman Craig Barrett–a Mapes decided to participate in cannot make a significant The Washington office of Rockville, Maryland, placed long-time advocate–in a prepared the Congressional visits “because change.” One of the senators also set up a “Contact Congress” third (a $50,000 scholarship) with statement at the black-tie awards I wanted to let my representa- whose office he visited signed booth at the Baltimore Convention a study of the molecular genetic gala in Washington, DC. “The seed tives know how best to represent the DOE "Dear Colleague" letter Center, encouraging more than mechanisms behind heart disease. of the next big scientific discovery me,” she said. “Now that I know the very next day, which con- 1100 attendees to sign letters to Rounding out the top ten were proj- could very well be planted in this it is relatively easy to access our vinced Ugolini that “our govern- their representatives on the Hill. ects on the quantum tunneling room tonight.” members of Congress, I’m much ment officials listen to their con- Those letters were hand-delivered effect, a computational study on Sponsored by Intel since 1998, more likely to approach them stituents, and the voice of one to Congressional offices later in new krypton- and argon-bonded the STS is the country’s oldest and again about issues that are person can still have an impact.” the week (see picture on page 3). molecules, and the effects of age on most prestigious high school sci- near-IR spectral features of brown ence competition. Past winners dwarf stars, among others. have included six Nobel Laureates, INTERNATIONAL NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 The remaining 30 finalists three winners of the National Medal received $5000 scholarships and of Science, ten MacArthur the technological infrastructure and then, for those areas of com- with a cadre of specialists trained an Intel Centrino notebook comput- Foundation Fellows, and two Fields and expertise needed for their monality, a strategic approach to to service the equipment. er. Some 1558 students from 486 Medalists. production is not a significant the S&T requirements. The civil community, on the barrier. Another potential impediment other hand, cannot support that Furthermore, the critical abil- to international S&T cooperation same infrastructure or a dedicat- Coloring Book Features ity to produce fissile material is is that organizationally, no other ed trained workforce. Likewise, Famous Physicists no longer in the hands of a few country has anything like a many of the protection require- countries–it is spreading. A large- “Department of Homeland ments for military technology are The APS Public Outreach scale biological attack, or the Security.” Most nations provide predicated on its use by and for department has produced Color explosion of a nuclear weapon equivalent scope through offices soldiers of a certain age, degree Me Physics, a coloring book that on domestic soil would be at the Prime Ministerial level, of health, and acceptance of highlights ten famous physicists. epochal in its effect. The attacks equivalent in most ways to the personal risk. The civilian pop- Each page features a drawing of of September 11th killed an order old Office of Homeland Security ulation that must be protected the physicist, suitable for color- of magnitude more people than in the White House that preced- includes people of all age groups, ing, together with a verse giving the previous largest terrorist ed creation of the Department of in varying degrees of health, who a brief description of what the attack, and its perpetrators had Homeland Security in the US. In also enjoy a strong legal physicist did. For example, the the intention to kill far more. The particular, most nations deal with framework to minimize risk to verse about Galileo reads: subsequent anthrax attacks the more apocalyptic threats of the individual. For sensors, as an reminded policymakers that use biological, nuclear, and chemi- example, the detection, false Galileo was no dope of that agent in an aerosolized cal terrorism through their mili- alarm, and throughput require- Looking through his telescope. Illustration by: Kerry G. Johnson release, as opposed to mailing it tary establishments, with public ments that must be met in a civil He would have to be much The inside front cover gives in letters, could kill 10 to 100 health and environmental agen- setting are profoundly different stupider additional biographical infor- times more people beyond that. cies playing a supporting role. from those associated with Not to see the moons of Jupiter. mation on each physicist. The scale of this threat and the This military nexus can military deployments. The book will be distributed softness of the targets require new impede collaboration on home- Penrose Albright, now with and the verse about Marie Curie to teachers and others who can ways of thinking. land security technology develop- the Civitas Group, served in the is: use it as a fun way to give Nevertheless, international ment for both technical and pro- White House Office of Homeland younger children a first Men said women can't do cooperation can be impeded by grammatic reasons. Although the Security as Senior Director for impression of physics and science differences between the US and S&T base generated by military Research and Development and physicists. It is also online, in Marie Curie showed defiance. foreign governments with regard programs is invaluable, defense headed the Transition Planning a format suitable for download- She was not afraidy 'um to perceptions of the threat. For technology cannot easily be trans- Office that designed the future ing, at www.physicscentral. She discovered radium. example, most nations regard the ferred to the civilian community. Department of Homeland com/coloringbook. The website nuclear threat as much less of a For example, militaries must train Security's Science and In addition to these, the book contains additional source concern than does the US. and equip themselves for Technology Directorate. When contains pages devoted to material on the featured Therefore, prerequisites for suc- deployed and episodic operations, that Directorate was established, Copernicus, Newton, Franklin, physicists. Further information cessful international S&T coop- and hence assume an extensive he became its first Assistant Bouchet, Einstein, Fermi, can be obtained by emailing eration include a coordinated risk and constant supply chain, depot Secretary for Science and Goeppert-Mayer, and Feynman. [email protected] . assessment between governments and spares infrastructure, along Technology. APS NEWS May 2006 7

Scientists Explore Intricacies of Evolution Now Appearing in RMP: M. Hildred Blewett Though the theory of evolu- resistance. But at longer time “Cells have powerful informa- Recently Posted Reviews Scholarship for tion is well established, there are scales, we don’t know the details tion-processing networks,” said and Colloquia Women Physicists aspects scientists don’t fully of what can evolve, said Fisher. He Shapiro. Cells control hundreds You will find the following understand. Biologists and physi- described his quantitative model of millions of biochemical and in the online edition of This scholarship has been cists are trying to fill in some of of how fast populations can evolve biomechanical events per cell Reviews of Modern Physics at established to enable women to return http://rmp.aps.org to physics research careers after the gaps in our knowledge, by under various conditions. cycle. When replicating its DNA, having had to interrupt those careers for creating more quantitative mod- We could also benefit from a E.coli copies 1000 nucleotides per Onsager and the theory of family reasons. The scholarship els and approaching evolution second, with very few mistakes. new view of DNA and genomics, hydrodynamic turbulence consists of an award of up to $45,000. “Biological systems are unbeliev- from new perspectives. In a well- said biologist Jim Shapiro of the Gregory L. Eyink and The applicant must currently be a attended session at the APS March University of Chicago. Viewing ably efficient,” he said. “If we Katepalli R. Sreenivasan legal resident or resident alien of Meeting, several scientists dis- the cell as a sort of computer pro- could mimic that, we’d be on to Besides Osager's well-known the US or Canada. She must be cussed various aspects of the foun- vides a useful perspective, said something.” contributions to physics and currently in Canada or the US and dations of evolution. Shapiro, who discussed what he Juan Keymer of Princeton chemistry, he had a lifelong must have an affiliation with a Michael Deem of Rice called a “21st century view of University described how he has interest and made ground-break- research-active educational institution University talked about how “life genomes and evolution.” constructed a sort of cellular ing discoveries in the subject of or national lab. She must have has evolved to evolve.” That is, Life has evolved sophisticated automaton based on how bacteria hydrodynamic turbulence. His completed work toward a PhD. evolvability itself is a selectable information processing tools that adapt to conditions in different tiny 1949 paper stimulated consider- Applications are due June 1, 2006. trait, especially when the envi- we can learn a lot from, he said. microhabitats. He used microfab- able later work, but it is in his pri- Announcement of the award is ronment changes rapidly. The Genomes function in complicated rication techniques to build a land- vate letters and unpublished expected to be made by August 1, 2006. findings have implications for ways, and genomics cannot be scape of habitat patches, each about notes that some of the most orig- Details and online application can drug resistance, and could be used viewed as a simple one gene-one 100 micrometers on a side, linked inal ideas appeared. In at least be found at http://www.aps.org/educ/ to help hospitals develop strate- trait system, he pointed out. DNA by microchannels through which four cases, the theories were cswp/blewett/index.cfm gies to get the most use out of a acts as a data storage medium, the bacteria can move. In each of developed and published only Contact: Sue Otwell in the APS office at [email protected] collection of antibiotics before and is always in communication the tiny square pens, colonies of decades later by others. bacteria become resistant to all with the rest of the cell. DNA E. coli grow and reproduce. of them. doesn’t do things by itself, he Keymer can control the con- Daniel Fisher of Harvard dis- emphasized. ditions in each microhabitat, for Call for Nominations: cussed what is known and what is Furthermore, mutations are not instance by altering the amount not well understood about evolu- always just undirected random of food available to organisms in Lilienfeld Prize Honors Both tion, and described a quantitative changes. Cells are filled with that pen, or by shining ultraviolet model he has developed to help mechanisms for formatting, light on it. He then studies how the Research and Communication answer some of the open ques- restructuring and repairing DNA. bacteria move from one microen- tions. For instance, it is well The immune system is one exam- vironment to the next, and devel- Most APS The deadline for receipt of nom- known that mutation leads to her- ple. As another example, Shapiro op mutations to adapt to local prizes are for inations is July 1, 2006. The Prize, itable variation and selection, but described how the DNA of E. coli conditions. Because the bacteria research in a which is awarded annually, con- we don’t have a good grasp of is formatted so that it can execute reproduce and mutate in a pre- specific area, sists of $10,000, a certificate cit- what can evolve on what time an algorithm to discriminate dictable manner, they could form but a few cut ing the contributions made by the scales, he said. At short time between lactose and glucose and a living cellular automaton, with across all dis- recipient, plus expenses for three scales, we can watch evolution decide how to process them, 0s and 1s represented by the ciplines. One lectures by the recipient given at happen in the lab, such as depending on whether one or both presence or absence of bacteria of the most an APS meeting, a research uni- when bacteria evolve antibiotic are present in the cell. in each cell. prestigious versity, and a predominantly Lilienfeld of these is undergraduate institution. Division of Biological Physics Workshop Presents the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, Nominations are active for which recognizes both outstand- three Prize cycles. Further infor- Research Opportunities ing research and the ability to com- mation about the Prize, and a list municate to a broader audience. of past recipients, can be obtained Physicists can make a substan- who might not otherwise have workshop was generally quite pos- Nominations are currently on the web at http://www.aps.org/ tial contribution to many rapidly attended the biological physics itive, said Claire Yu, one the work- being sought for the 2007 prize. praw/lilienfe/index.cfm. advancing areas of biology, workshop. shop organizers. Attendees said according to information present- Some of the approximately 200 they enjoyed the talks, though ed at a workshop held Sunday people who attended the work- many commented that they would SERENE TO SUCCEED CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 before the March Meeting in shop already work in biophysics have appreciated more time for he was a Program Director and condensed matter physics, espe- Baltimore. or closely related fields, while networking, and/or the inclusion Section Head of the Division of cially theories of strongly correlat- The workshop was aimed at others work in other areas of of some informal or panel discus- Materials Research of the National ed Fermi systems and unconven- physicists, especially graduate stu- physics but were interested in the sion in the program. DBP will try Science Foundation. Before join- tional superfluids and supercon- dents and postdocs, who were topics. The attendees were a mix to incorporate those suggestions in ing the faculty at Georgetown ductors. curious about how a background of graduate students, postdocs, next year’s workshop, which will University in 1993, Serene spent Serene is an APS Fellow and in physics can provide a unique and more senior physicists. be held with the 2007 March six years as a research scientist at currently serves as Secretary- perspective on biological systems. Participant response to the Meeting. the Naval Research Laboratory. Treasurer of the Division of The program consisted of eight His research has been in Condensed Matter Physics. talks, which focused on the excit- LETTERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 ing research at the interface NOMINATIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 between physics and biology, and how it is jazzed up with umpteen meaningless as physics so long as how physicists can work in those negative powers of ten and accom- they have no influence on our own. The fundraising effort was contributions of over $1000, and areas. Speakers covered a range of panying dazzling words of "fine Physics is an experimental subject topped off by a gift from the 85 contributions up to $1000 in biophysics topics, including phys- tuning" or that "our existence plays aimed at understanding the (empha- Richard Lounsbery Foundation. support of the Award. Further ical tools for biology research, an important role." sis on this word) world around us. Other major donors included information may be obtained molecular motors, computation in As a number, there is nothing It is hubris for the physicists of our Vernier Software, WebAssign, on the APS web site at biophysics, and physics and brain special about any value, including day, no matter how eminent, to and Physics Academic Software. http://www.aps.org/units/fed/ research. zero, and these constants have to think that in their lifespan of a hun- In addition, there were 19 award.cfm. The speakers were William have some value. It is a false mys- dred years on one planet of an MEETING SCAM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Bialek (Princeton), Robijn ticism to attribute special signifi- insignificant star, the quest for phys- Bruinsma (UCLA), Hans cance to zero. "Being at rest" was ical understanding will end. Grason was pre-registered and attendees would be impractical, Frauenfelder (Los Alamos), Klaus given special status before them, but They should reflect on the les- had not already picked up his though he hopes someone will try Lehnertz (Bonn), Yale Goldman Galileo and Newton made us appre- son of the Copernican Principle, badge. to come up with a way to avoid (Penn), Charles Stevens (Salk ciate that in physics it is on a par that they have no special status. Baudrau also wonders why this sort of problem in the future, Institute), Zuzanna Siwy (Irvine), with any other constant velocity. A. R. P. Rau anyone would give money to a while keeping meeting registra- and Sunney Xie (Harvard). Multiple universes are also Baton Rouge, LA stranger on the street, even some- tion efficient and convenient. The workshop was inspired by one who appeared to be a fellow Grason says he still finds the physicist. incident strange, and while he can two previous standalone confer- VIEWPOINT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 ences on opportunities in biology Meeting registration staff think of several ways that it could for physicists that were sponsored much needed example of the of the broad issues relevant to us. members do not ask registrants have happened, it all seems a bit by the APS. The first was held in possibility of creating value by The APS then brings this view to for identification, since asking implausible. He figures the scam Boston, in September 2002, and disseminating truth. By doing the attention of people, industry, 7000 participants for ID would artist could have been a physicist the second in San Diego in this we can further enhance the and government. slow the already long lines. Since who was familiar with the meet- January 2004. This year the public’s great respect for scientists. Leo Kadanoff is the John D. there have been no previous inci- ing and registration procedures, or Division of Biological Physics The APS can play an important and Catherine T. MacArthur dents, there seems to be no rea- someone who hangs out around decided to hold the workshop with role in all of this. The Physical Distinguished Service Professor of son to change the procedure, says the Baltimore convention center the March Meeting, to draw on Society is one of the primary mech- Physics and Mathematics at the Baudrau. and runs this sort of scam at other the large pool of March Meeting anisms for us to formulate and University of Chicago, and the Grason also acknowledges meetings as well. “Every scenario attendees, attracting physicists express our view of ourselves and President-elect of the APS. that checking IDs of all meeting seems a bit silly,” Grason says. 8 May 2006 APS NEWS The Back Page Welcome to the Blogosphere By Sean Carroll

know what you’re thinking. more than long strings of noisy descriptions of recent research by (www.inkycircus.com). And APS You’ve heard of these things insults, while others are thoughtful professional scientists and even ask News’s own Jennifer Ouellette at Icalled “blogs,” some sort of web and nuanced conversations between questions of the researchers direct- Cocktail Party Physics (twisted- journals feverishly updated by paja- parties who might not normally ly, would be impossible without physics.typepad.com) spins inter- ma-wearing authors convinced that have the opportunity to interact. blogs. Science blogging will not twined tales of science and pop the world is in desperate need of But another kind of interactivi- replace science journalism, but it culture, with the occasional drink access to their innermost thoughts. ty really separates blogs from tra- lowers the barrier between general recipe for good measure. The low Who has time to pay attention to ditional forms of publishing: hyper- readers and professional researchers. barrier to starting a blog helps to such frivolities? Fortunately, as seri- links. Blogs are the realization of the Our science posts are usually diminish the role of gatekeepers ous physicists we need not worry long-discussed prospect of the not ripped from the headlines. We in the scientific discourse; every- that our lives will be affected by unique power of interconnected web have provided pedagogical articles one with something to say is wel- this latest example of overhyped publishing. I can include in my blog on topics such as symmetry break- come and able to contribute, cyber-enthusiasm. Just like our lives post a set of links to any relevant ing, Lorentz invariance, string the- regardless of their formal creden- were unaffected by the advent of external web pages, including other ory, modified gravity, and the prom- tials. In a seminar or classroom email and electronic preprints. blogs. More interestingly, through ise of future particle accelerators. this could be disastrous; but on the When I’m asked what blogs are the device of “trackbacks” I can Sean Carroll Beyond pedagogy, we have hosted internet it’s easy enough to ignore all about, I start by saying they are leave a link on the other blogs to researchers and the outside world. lively discussions about the kind of most of the noise, and the partici- like magazines–collections of seri- which I am referring, so that read- During the World Year of Physics issues that physicists talk about all pation of new voices is an unam- ally presented articles (called ers of those other blogs know that in 2005, a project called Quantum the time, but don’t always make it biguously good thing for physics. “posts” in the blog context), pub- the conversation is being contin- Diaries (interactions.org/ into published papers: the relative Blogging, I predict, will ultimate- lished on the internet instead of in ued over at mine. The ease and quantumdiaries) recruited a diverse merits of different approaches to ly play a much greater role in get- bound paper editions. Blogs are a rapidity with which these connec- collection of particle physicists to quantum gravity, the status of the ting the public excited about sci- technology for conveying tions are established creates a blog about whatever struck their anthropic principle as science or ence than TV shows like Carl information. Like magazines, blogs uniquely interactive medium, in fancy, from the progress of their otherwise, naturalness in particle Sagan’s Cosmos and books like can be about anything. The purpos- which interlocked discussions pro- experiments to life on the confer- physics, differences in data analy- Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History es to which we choose to put this ceed simultaneously in different ence circuit. The explicit purpose of sis techniques between different of Time ever did. technology are nearly infinitely locations among different audi- this project was to put a human face subfields of physics. Awide variety How in the world does anyone flexible. ences. And it helps newcomers jump on a field that can appear intimidat- of topics at the intersection of sci- have time to do this? The answer Two major differences distin- into the fray; the very first day I ing and abstract to non-experts. ence and society provide food for depends on who is writing and guish blogs from magazines: acces- started a blog, it received over a A similar spirit motivates blogging: funding priorities, women what their purpose might be. For sibility and interactivity. By “acces- hundred visitors, even though I had- Cosmic Variance (cosmicvariance. and minorities in science, the rela- me, blogging is a pleasant sibility” I mean not the ease of n’t told anyone of its existence. com), the group blog I started with tionship between science and reli- sidelight, consuming an average access to the reader, although there Other bloggers had noticed that I collaborators JoAnne Hewett, gion, the portrayal of scientists on of maybe half an hour per day. But is that–almost all blogs are absolute- linked to them, and threw traffic Clifford Johnson, Mark Trodden, movies and television, and advice a key factor in a blog’s popularity ly free and available instantly to my way. and Risa Wechsler last year. Our on how to get into graduate school. is how often its authors actually anyone with a web browser. Rather, As scientists, should we care goal has been to explain and com- We have had contests to determine post something. Biologist PZ the first miracle of blogs is their about this burgeoning new medium, ment on science and its place in the the greatest physics paper of all Myers at Pharyngula(science- accessibility to authors. It’s not easy or is it mostly a plaything of polit- wider world, aiming at the hypothet- time, celebrated successful thesis blogs.com/pharyngula), by a wide to get published in a magazine, but ical junkies, gossip columnists, and ical interested person on the street. defenses and the weddings of col- margin the most popular science anyone can start their own blog in self-professed technology geeks? Along the way, we are happy to leagues, and mourned friends who blogger on the web, combines good a matter of minutes, without Despite the pioneering role played blog about anything that might have passed away. The blog has humor and a fierce devotion to knowing anything about web pub- by physicists in setting up the Web move us at the moment, from arts provided a public space in which standing up for science with a lishing, and without spending itself and popularizing electronic and politics to gadgets and garden- people with common interests, seemingly inexhaustible energy any money. Sites like Blogspot preprint distribution with arxiv.org, ing. The resulting undisciplined widely separated in space and com- that leads to several thoughtful (www.blogger.com) provide not they have been relatively slow to sprawl is a feature, not a bug; it ing from dramatically different posts every day. Most of us can’t only free blogging software, but take up blogging, especially in com- reflects the reality of our complicat- backgrounds, can share thoughts hope to match that kind of output, free web hosting as well. My first parison with their colleagues in law ed interests as human beings as well and impressions on an equal basis. which is why ambitious but over- blog, Preposterous Universe and the social sciences. as scientists. With about three thou- Cosmic Variance is less than a committed bloggers often assem- (www.preposterousuniverse. One of the first physics blogs, sand visits a day (and steadily year old, and we are still feeling ble into collectives. One of the blogspot.com), was literally set up dating back to 2002, was Jacques growing), someone is evidently our way toward the best way to benefits of a group blog is that in a couple of hours on a Sunday Distler’s Musings (golem. interested. realize the potential of our blog. individual contributors can disap- afternoon, with almost all of that ph.utexas.edu/~distler/blog). Distler One of the most successful things Meanwhile, physics bloggers of pear for periods of time without time devoted to tweaking the look has been exploring the possibility we’ve been able to do is to provide widely disparate backgrounds and dissipating the blog’s momentum and feel to satisfy my stylistic of blogging as a research tool, insight on breaking science stories, perspectives are venturing forth in entirely. Even intermittently- predilections. allowing physicists to engage in frequently with direct input from their own directions. Just to pick updated blogs can gain wide recog- Ease of access is both a blessing informal technical discussions about the scientists involved themselves. out a small sample, Chad Orzel at nition, if the author is able to pro- and a curse. Recent estimates put the recent papers and speculative A typical example concerned a Uncertain Principles (scienceblogs. vide a unique source of informa- total number of blogs at over thir- ideas–thoughts that might be insuf- study by Bradley Schaefer of LSU, com/principles) mixes stories of tion, a compelling perspective on ty million, the bulk of which prove ficiently developed to warrant a full using gamma-ray bursts to measure experimental atomic physics with events, or simply a compelling and Sturgeon’s Revelation (“Ninety per- paper of their own, but are worth properties of the acceleration of the informed commentary on NCAA original style. cent of everything is crap”) to be sharing with an extended audience. universe, including the surprising basketball. Phil Plait at Bad Blogs are not a fad destined to wildly optimistic. But at the top In fact, arxiv.org has recently insti- suggestion that the density of dark Astronomy (www.badastronomy. quickly fade away. On the con- end, blogs are beginning to be tuted trackback capability, allow- energy might be increasing with com/bablog) is kept busy debunk- trary, we are witnessing the very important players in the public dis- ing bloggers to leave hyperlinks at time. After the story appeared in a ing misuses of astronomy wherev- early stages of the phenomenon, in course: large political blogs get hun- the abstracts associated with indi- number of newspapers, we wrote a er they may appear, but still finds which the number of blogs and dreds of thousands of visits per day, vidual research articles; this enables post about it that included links to time to keep his readers updated on bloggers is growing explosively. comparable to the circulation of a a distributed conversation (unob- more technical details. Alively dis- all the good astronomy that is going A type of communication that did- major metropolitan newspaper. And trusive to those who are not inter- cussion ensued, in which Schaefer on at NASA and elsewhere. n’t exist a few years ago will soon the blogosphere is as yet sufficient- ested) about the implications of each himself participated, clarifying some Biocurious (biocurious.com) is a be as ubiquitous as the Internet ly young and exuberant that hierar- paper. And the Kavli Institute for questions raised by the newspaper blog by Andre Brown and Philip itself. It’s a great opportunity for chies have not become completely Theoretical Physics at UC Santa articles. This pattern has repeated Johnson, graduate students in physicists to exchange ideas more entrenched; a talented new voice Barbara has been experimenting itself with other newsworthy find- physics who are making a move readily with each other, and to let with something interesting to say with blogs attached to individual ings, from quantum non-demoli- into biology. the rest of the world share the thrill can rapidly become recognized. Institute programs (blog. tion experiments to cosmic Some of the best science blog- of the process by which science Interactivity, meanwhile, helps kitp.ucsb.edu). We could be seeing microwave background observa- ging is being done by interested truly progresses. Whether as blog- define the character of blogs as a the beginnings of a dramatic new tions; in each case scientists who non-scientists. Anna Gosline, Katie gers, commenters, or simply as publishing medium. On most blogs, mode of scientific communication. were directly involved with the Law, and Anne Casselman are jour- readers, it’s a big blogosphere out each post is accompanied by a com- To date, however, the majority of research chimed in as part of a mul- nalists living in London who are there, and all are welcome. ment section to which anyone can physics-oriented blogs have con- tiway discussion. starting a new print-based science Sean Carroll is Assistant Professor contribute. These comment threads centrated less on communication This kind of forum, in which magazine, meanwhile providing at the University of Chicago/Enrico vary wildly in spirit and usefulness among different researchers and interested laypeople (not to mention links and commentary on science Fermi Institute, and co-founder of from blog to blog; some are little more on communication between students) can read informal stories at their blog inkycircus the group blog Cosmic Variance.

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