May 2012 • Vol. 21, No. 5 Fang Lizhi Remembered A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY see page 6 WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS/INDEX April Meeting Prize and Award Recipients APS Unveils Five-year Strategic Plan After a year of work by its and rolled out to the leaders of outlines goals to make the phys- leadership, the APS strategic plan APS units at the unit convocation ics community thrive. First and for 2013 through 2017 has been in April. “The overall goals are foremost, the Society aims to completed and is being circulated to better serve the members, the keep its journals and meetings to the membership. The plan sets physics community and society,” as prime sources of cutting-edge forth a series of goals for the So- Kirby said. physics research. In addition, the ciety over the next half-decade. Finding ways to better serve Society will continue to advocate “The value of a strategic plan the members includes improv- for physics to policy makers, and is that it articulates a common vi- ing communication between the continue to promote physics edu- sion for the Society,” said APS Society and its members, involv- cation at all levels. Executive Officer Kate Kirby. ing more international members In order to serve society as a “The process itself involves step- in the Society’s leadership, and whole, APS aims to be the lead- ping back, looking at what we are making the membership itself ing source of information about doing, and identifying possible more diverse and inclusive. physics, and to build support for challenges and new opportunities “It’s important that the physics science amongst the public. This in the future.” community and the APS reflects includes disseminating informa- The planning process, involv- better the nationwide demograph- tion about physics, continuing its Photo by Ross DeLoach ing extensive Executive Board ics,” Kirby said, adding that being outreach efforts aimed at building At the April Meeting ceremonial session, attendees heard the retiring Presi- and APS staff discussions, was more inclusive means involving public appreciation, and improv- dent's address from Barry Barish, and then watched as current APS President started in 2011 by the Operat- more underrepresented minority ing the quality of STEM educa- Bob Byer presented 15 APS prizes and awards to a total of 19 individuals. In addition, an AIP award was presented by CEO Fred Dylla. Seated in the photo ing Officers and the Presidential physicists and more women, as tion generally. are, left to right: APS past President Barry Barish; William B. Atwood; Lillian Line, as a way to develop a road- well as reaching out to physicists While the plan outlines strate- Hoddeson; Arian Pregenzer; Silvia Torres-Peimbert; APS President Bob Byer; map for the Society over the next who are in careers that have been gic goals and objectives, imple- Jean Trân Thanh Vân (AIP); and Törbjorn Sjöstrand. Standing, left to right, five years. The final version of the underserved by APS, such as in- mentation ideas will be developed are: Andre Lessa; Emanuele Mereghetti; Ramon Lopez; David Ernst; Phillip plan was adopted by the APS Ex- dustrial physics. through discussions between the Barbeau; John Madey; Witold Nazarewicz; Siegfried Hecker; Manuel Peimbert; Guido Altarelli; Daniel Jafferis; Gordon Kane; Djordje Radicevic; and Bryan ecutive Board in February, pre- To better serve the physics Executive Board and APS staff Webber. sented to Council in late March, community as a whole, the plan PLAN continued on page 4 APS Action Helps Save Physics Program at Northern Iowa Physics Methods Aid Cancer Research By Michael Lucibella structuring.” administration to provide a high By Calla Cofield cancer cells. The National Cancer Institute Helped by a concerted grass- Before the final vote by the quality physics program for Iowa Physicists are assisting in the has already invested in bringing roots effort, professors and stu- Board of Regents, APS Executive and the surrounding region.” fight against cancer in a variety of physicists together with cancer dents at the University of North- Officer Kate Kirby sent an open Provost Gloria Gibson said that ways, as illustrated by two exam- researchers. In 2009 the NCI es- ern Iowa (UNI) have succeeded letter to the school’s president and the administration was swayed by ples that were presented at the APS tablished 12 Physical Sciences in saving the Physics Bachelor of provost, asking them to reconsid- the outpouring of support behind March Meeting. Krastan Blagoev, Oncology Centers at major in- Science from elimination. Several er the decision to close down the the BS, and the amount of external director of the Physics of Living stitutions throughout the US (as other physics and physical sci- physics program. funding the program brought into Systems program for the National reported in the March 2010 APS ence degrees, however, are being “The American Physical Soci- the university, reportedly about $4 Science Foundation, is applying News). According to the PSOC phased out because of a tightening ety hopes that you will reconsider million in the last six years. theoretical physics knowledge website, “by merging the physical budget. this action in light of the signifi- The action at UNI came in the to the analysis of clinical cancer sciences with cancer biology and UNI announced in late Febru- cant role played by UNI in educat- wake of similar closings of several data, and is working on a program oncology, NCI aims to accelerate ary that it would be closing down ing high school physics teachers, physics programs at universities in to bring these two groups together. the pace toward a cure.” several of its physics programs as providing physics education to all Texas, as reported in the Decem- Lydia Sohn, at the University of At a press conference at the part of a broader restructuring ef- of the science and mathematics ber, 2011 APS News. California, Berkeley, is develop- APS March Meeting, Sohn fort. This sparked a backlash from majors at UNI, and in providing a The other physics programs at ing new techniques for cancer de- showed reporters images that the academic community, includ- robust undergraduate physics pro- UNI that are getting the axe in- tection and imaging, while study- ing APS, to protest the cuts. When gram,” the letter reads. “We rec- clude the applied physics Profes- ing the fundamental mechanics of METHODS continued on page 7 the school’s Board of Regents ap- ognize that budgetary challenges sional Science Masters, Bachelors proved the closure of 58 programs facing UNI and other universities of Arts in physics and the Bachelor on March 21st, the physics BS was force difficult choices. We wel- of Science in applied physics. In The Wild, Wild South spared, although subject to “re- come the opportunity to work with addition, both the geology BA and the UNI Physics Department and ACTION continued on page 3 New Device Tells Bombs from Harmless Trash Cleaning up a region after a dangers. Team members presented the ground. The apparatus looks a bloody conflict can often take their results at the March Meet- bit like a giant lawnmower about years or decades. One of the big- ing. The device uses what they the size of a ping-pong table. Elec- gest long-term challenges to call time domain electromagnetic tric pulses are sent through the make an area safe are unexploded (TDEM) induction methods to coils, which generate magnetic bombs, landmines and munitions. find dangerous buried munitions, fields. These magnetic fields in- These often get buried and stay and importantly, to differentiate duce a slight current in any bur- hidden for years until unearthed them from benign buried garbage. ied piece of metal the device rolls by a plow or other means. “Detection is not the biggest over. The buried object likewise “There are tens of millions of problem. The main problem is dis- emits its own signature magnetic acres that have been polluted with crimination,” Lavely said. “It be- field which can be picked up by Photo by Sarah Davis bombs that haven’t been explod- comes economically unfeasible to detector coils. It’s the same prin- On March 28, APS hosted a reception for Fellows in the Atlanta area. The more than 40 attendees enjoyed refreshments and heard brief remarks from ed,” said Eugene Lavely of BAE dig up every detection.” ciple that a beach comber’s metal APS President Bob Byer, Executive Officer Kate Kirby, Treasurer/Publisher systems. Lavely’s device is essentially detector uses. Joe Serene, Editor in Chief Gene Sprouse, and Director of Education and He is part of a team develop- made up of 25 coils on a square “Think of these as fancy Diversity Ted Hodapp. In the photo, Bob Byer shares a light moment with Georgia Tech professor Rick Trebino (center) and Linda Trebino. ing a device to find these hidden platform that can be pushed across DEVICE continued on page 5 2 • May 2012 Members This Month in Physics History in the Media May 29, 1948: Results of first experiment on the Casimir effect One wouldn’t immediately suspect a connec- trigued by the possibility of measuring the van der “I am innocent… I will not be Unless we’re missing some- tion between how gecko’s feet adhere to surfaces Waals force between two parallel metallic plates. convicted. It is just that the Argen- thing in the existing data, a fail- and the friction that so often plagues tiny nanoma- Two years later, he and a student, Dirk Polder, con- tinean justice system is very slow. ure to find the Higgs boson would chines. The first involves an unusual feature of mo- ceived of an experiment to do just that.