No. 12 JUNE 2001 Edited by: ilvio Berlusconi's Government was voted The Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv S into office by Senate and Chamber of ITALY'S NEW GOVERNMENT pg1 Deputies on 20-21 June, after the Italian general ITALIAN ASTRONAUT IS FIRST EUROPEAN ON SPACE elections on 13 May 2001 gave his "House STATION pg1 of Liberties" alliance a clear majority in both FOCUS ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ITALY pg2 Houses of Parliament. The House of Liberties NEW ITALIAN INITIATIVE TO ASSIST THE POOREST is a centre-right coalition including Berlusconi's COUNTRIES pg3 Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and the Christian Democratic group NEW HI-TECH PIRELLI LABS IN MILAN pg4 CCD-CDU. Italy's new Government comprises GROWTH IN EUROPE: OECD MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN THE IMF 23 Ministers, including five non-political pg4 personalities, entrusted with Foreign Affairs, Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi SCIENTIFIC FLASH pg4 Education, Health, Infrastructure-Transport VINITALY pg5 and Technological Innovation. Deputy Prime For more information see: NEW ITALIAN SHIP IN SHARM EL SHEIK UNDER THE Minister is National Alliance's leader Gianfranco www.governo.it or www.palazzochigi.it. MULTINATIONAL FORCE FLAG pg6 Fini. There are 53 Undersecretaries. See at page 3 the list of Ministers. <> ITALIAN DEPUTY CHIEF OF DEFENSE STAFF VISITED pg7 ISRAEL pg6 EVENTS IN ISRAEL pg7 EVENTS IN ITALY pg7-8 ITALIAN ASTRONAUT IS FIRST Embassy of Italy 4, Weizman St. Tel Aviv Tel: 03-6964223 Fax: 03-6918428 EUROPEAN ON SPACE E-mail:[email protected] www.italian-embassy-israel.org The first European astronaut, Italian Umberto Guidoni, took off from Kennedy Space Center on the Space Shuttle Endeavour for The "Raffaello" is one of three MPLMs. Developed the International Space Station on April 19. The mission was the by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and built by Shuttle’s ninth visit to the Station. Alenia Aerospazio, it is the only module capable of delivering specially prepared racks of experiments uidoni returned to Earth supplies for the astronauts and to the Station. G on May 1, proud to have other equipment for future Each MPLM has been designed to perform 25 become the first European construction and maintenance missions over a ten-year life-span and will act astronaut to set foot on the work. as a kind of sophisticated 'removal van', delivering International Space Station. Guidoni was instrumental in the and returning crucial experimental payloads back Space Shuttle Endeavour made success of the mission taking and forth to Earth. a safe re-entry at Edwards Air control of all logistical operations With the delivery of some of the first experiments, Force Base after delivering the involved with the MPLM and the STS-100 mission opened a new chapter in European-developed "Raffaello" overseeing the unloading of all the story of the Space Station. "Most missions Multi-Purpose Pressurized the experiments and equipment have until now been exclusively involved in Logistics Module (MPLM) and onto the Station. construction. "Now the Station can at last begin attaching the Station's new 17 "It was a highly complicated and to be used for its intended research purposes," meter Canadian-designed robotic intensive task," said Guidoni, who said Guidoni. arm. spent nearly five years training for his trip to The International Space Station is being constructed The mission also delivered ten tons of equipment the Station. "I feel relieved that it all went so by the world's major space powers, including to the Station inside the MPLM, including six smoothly and very proud to have been the first Europe, represented by the European Space experiment racks and two storage racks for the astronaut to represent Europe on the Space Agency, the United States, Russia, Canada and US Destiny laboratory as well as a UHF antenna, Station". Japan.<> 1 Focus on Scientific Research in Italy THE ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS T he National Institute of Nuclear were the scene of important technological as well as strengthening its already remarkable Physics, set up in 1951, is the developments (in the construction of a international presence. superconducting cavity, in radiobiology and Some far-reaching programmes, started up in Italian body that promotes, co- in material science). recent years, dominate the 1999-2003 Plan: ordinates and carries out research the participation in the construction of detectors in the field of nuclear, elementary - Southern National Laboratories (Catania), for the LHC collider at CERN and the particles and fundamental interaction set up in 1975, specialise in nuclear physics construction of the VIRGO interferometer at physics as well as the technological with light and heavy ion beams. The laboratories Cascina near Pisa, for the detection and study are equipped with a Tandem accelerator and of gravitational waves, in co-operation with research necessary for such sectors. a modern superconducting cyclotron, entirely the French CNRS. There is also a new project, designed and constructed by the INFN and inspired by the most recent advances in the Organisation and Activity able to accelerate heavy ions to energy levels physics of neutrinos: the construction of a high of 100 MeV/nucleon. This has been operational energy neutrino beam, generated at CERN for The activities of the INFN are carried out by since 1994. observation at Gran Sasso, 700 km away (Long nineteen sections, set up in the departments of Baseline Neutrino Experiment). physics at a number of As regards the Laboratories of Frascati, Legnaro Italian universities, four and the South, the Plan envisages the intensive national laboratories, one exploitation of the recently completed machines, national centre in the context of widespread international co- (CNAF),eight groups operation, with a major international character. associated with sections At the same time, highly demanding R&D or laboratories, the central work has been undertaken in order to participate administration and the in programmes at present in preparation, and offices of the presidency. which will follow those set out in the present The research activity is plan, at both a European and a world level. carried out at the sections The following special projects are involved: and national laboratories "Techniques for electron acceleration" at LNF, where major equipment "SPES" at LNL, "EXCYT" at LNS. and infrastructures are located. The INFN Headquarters are in Rome - Frascati National at the following address: Laboratories (Rome), set Gran Sasso Laboratory GALLEX up in 1959, specialise in elementary particle - Gran Sasso National Laboratories (L’Aquila) Piazza dei Caprettari,70 00186 Rome physics, which is mainly studied with electron have been in operation since 1988. Their large tel. 0039-06-6840.031 - positron collision rings. ADA, the first machine size and excellent rock cover make them the in the world of this type, and later ADONE, most important laboratory in the world for fax 0039-06-6830.7924 were designed and developed at Frascati. For research into the stability of matter, neutrinos www.infn.it <> some time ADONE was the only source of from the sun and other astrophysical synchrotron light in Italy. ADONE was closed sources, magnetic monopoles, cosmic in 1993 but in 1997 it was succeeded by the radiation as well as interdisciplinary very high luminosity storage ring, DAFNE. forms of research. In less than ten years Through the decay of the K mesons, produced Gran Sasso National Laboratories have in large numbers by DAFNE, it will be possible become the third largest European in the coming years to study important phenomena laboratory for particle physics (after regarding the violation of the matter - antimatter CERN and DESY), in terms of the symmetry. presence of researchers from the United States. The GALLEX experiment in - Legnaro National Laboratories (Padua), set 1992 was of great scientific importance: up in 1968 for the study of dynamics and the the first observation of neutrinos structure of atomic nuclei. The laboratories are originating in the hydrogen fusion equipped with a Tandem accelerator and, as reaction in the sun. from 1994, a linear accelerator, ALPI, based upon superconducting technology. From 1996 The 1999-2003 Plan the detector EUROBALL, an advanced instrument for the study of high-resolution In the past decade INFN has carried gamma-ray spectroscopy, used in a wide European out a far-reaching development collaborative context has been located there. programme for research structures In the course of the last decade, the laboratories located throughout the national territory, A prototype of BOREXINO 2 Silvio Berlusconi's Cabinet Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Leader of the House of Liberties Coalition and of Forza Italia Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini Leader of National Alliance (AN) Home Affairs Claudio Scajola Forza Italia Foreign Affairs Renato Ruggiero Independent, former Italian Diplomat and former Director General of the World Trade Organisation Economy (incorporating Treasury, Finance and Budget) Giulio Tremonti Forza Italia Education Letizia Moratti Independent Defense Antonio Martino Forza Italia Productive Activities (Industry and Trade) Antonio Marzano Forza Italia Environment Altero Matteoli National Alliance (AN) Justice Roberto Castelli Northern League Public Administration Franco Frattini Forza Italia Infrastructure and Transport Pietro Lunardi Independent Agricultural Policies Giovanni Alemanno National Alliance (AN) Labour and Social Welfare Roberto Maroni Northern