Inside A PublicatiON OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Meet The New APS President JANUARY 2012 • VOl. 21, No. 1 • WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLIcatiONS/APSNEWS/INDEX.CFM Page 3 APS April Meeting Celebrates Cosmic Rays and More Sorters Set New Records The 2012 APS April Meet- History of Physics, International ing will be held at the Hyatt Re- Physics, and Physics and Soci- gency Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia ety will be participating, along from March 31 through April 3. with the topical groups on En- This year’s theme is “100 Years ergy Research and Applications, of Cosmic Ray Physics,” com- Few-Body Systems, Gravitation, memorating the April day in 1912 Hadronic Physics, Plasma Astro- when Victor Franz Hess accom- physics, and Precision Measure- panied an electroscope into the ments & Fundamental Constants. sky in a balloon and discovered On Saturday, March 31, there a fourfold increase in ionizing ra- will be a keynote plenary session diation as the atmosphere thinned sponsored by the Kavli Founda- out. tion. It will feature Alan Watson The yearly meeting is expect- of the University of Leeds, Ellen ed to host about 1,200 attendees Zweibel from the University of and will feature 72 invited ses- Wisconsin, Madison and Sam- Victor Hess getting ready to measure sions, more than 120 contributed uel C. C. Ting of MIT, speaking cosmic rays, Austria, 1912. Photo by Michael Lucibella sessions, three plenary sessions, about the last century of research poster sessions and a public out- latest research from the APS di- into cosmic rays, plasma physics Sorters for abstracts submitted to the 2012 APS March Meeting in Boston visions of Particles and Fields, met at APS headquarters in College Park on December 3 and 4. The 158 reach event with the local science and cosmic rays, and the Interna- Astrophysics, Nuclear, Computa- sorters tackled a record 8,960 abstracts, for an astonishing A/S ratio of 56.7. center. In addition, the Sherwood tional Space Station’s alpha mag- tional, Plasma and Beam Physics. In the photo, Steve Hudson of NIST, Andrey Dobrynin of the University of Fusion Theory Conference will netic spectrometer respectively. Connecticut and Megan Robertson of the University of Houston debate a fine In addition, the forums on Edu- be co-located with the meeting. In addition, the second ple- point of the sorter's art. cation, Graduate Student Affairs, The meeting highlights the MEETING continued on page 7 APS Report Stimulates New BA Programs at Michigan Tech By Michael Lucibella 1 National Science Foundation. APS Members Advocate For ACTION ITEMS Michigan Technological Uni- “The motivation for offering Science on Capitol Hill versity is starting two new physics a B.A. in physics to provide stu- degree programs aimed at increas- dents with a strong foundation in Despite cuts to many other port federal funding of research. ing physics literacy and helping physics but fewer course require- agencies, scientific research Mosley said that emailed alerts train new physics teachers, based ments,” said Seel. “It’s basically seemed to be largely protected in are an effective way of engaging what I think APS said in its gen- the recently passed “minibus” bill the membership. Usually only a in part on recommendations from STRENGTHENING THE PHYSICS ENTERPRISE IN UNIVERSITIES AND NATIONAL LABORATORIES der equity report; to create flex- funding multiple federal agencies handful are sent out per year, but an APS report. MAY 6-8, 2007 Located in the northwest part ible tracks for physics majors… A in 2012. The National Institute of they often generate significant re- of the state, Michigan Tech is B.A. basically offers more flexible Standards and Technology, the sponse from the membership. In starting up a new Bachelor of pathways.” National Science Foundation and 2011, two alerts generated 7,685 Arts degree in physics as well as Seel added that the new pro- the science division of NASA messages to Congress. a B.A. in physics with a concen- grams weren’t watering down the all got significant boosts in their tration in secondary education. In science taught in them, but were budgets. Those who worked with one of the recommendation’s from the announcement, provost Max being offered to give students the lawmakers on the budget said that 2007’s Gender Equity report put Seel, a physicist and APS mem- opportunity to get a strong back- input from scientists and scientific out by APS in collaboration with ber, said that they were following ground in science, even if they organizations was instrumental in the Department of Energy and the PROGRAMS continued on page 4 getting members of Congress to continue to fund research. “Throughout the year, APS members played a role in advo- Mid-East Accelerator Getting Close to Completion cating for science budgets,” said Michael Lubell, APS Director of By Michael Lucibella SESAME is a UNESCO-spear- Amy Flatten, APS Director of In- Public Affairs. “It’s not just APS SESAME, the long-awaited headed project to build a 2.5 GeV ternational Affairs, who attended members; it’s cumulative when particle accelerator being built in synchrotron light source in Jordan. the council meeting. you look at science, engineer- the Middle East, seems poised to When completed, it would be the Until recently, the consortium ing and mathematics across the enter its final stages of construc- first such particle accelerator in had been facing a $35 million defi- board.” tion. At SESAME’s recent council the Middle East. The multinational cit in the budget needed to com- Brian Mosley, APS grassroots meeting in Turkey, two countries coalition to build and run the facil- plete the project. However, at this manager, said that reaching out “These are the emails that we have fully signed on to help fill in ity is modeled after the governance meeting, firm commitments from to Congress is important for sci- send out to APS members when its budget gap, and two more are of CERN and features nations that several nations came through, entists if they want congressional very important legislation comes expected to contribute soon as have historically been rivals, such along with pledges from others support of scientific research to up on the Hill,” Mosley said. He well. In addition, the organization as Israel and Iran, collaborating on that will make up the majority of continue. He warned that if scien- highlighted the alert sent out in reports that construction on the ac- the project. Much of the buildings, the needed funds. Israel pledged tists remain disengaged from the February after House Resolution celerator has been moving forward tunnels and radiation shielding has that it would contribute $1 mil- political process, it’s easy for the 1 called for major cuts to sci- according to plan, and, provided been completed, and the first parts lion per year for five years if four needs of scientific research to get ence funding. “We sent that out to the necessary funding comes of the accelerator have just been other members contributed funds overlooked by lawmakers. members and asked them to voice through, it is on track to start up installed. The accelerator itself as well. “Elected officials won’t go out their concerns about it.” in 2015. is in part made up of Germany’s “As of the beginning of this on a limb on issues that won’t af- Similarly, APS operates “Con- “I’d say the outcome was very decommissioned BESSY1 light meeting, Israel has been joined fect a large number of their con- tact Congress” booths at its four good technical progress and en- source. by Jordan and Iran,” said Herman stituents,” Mosley said. “We’re biggest meetings. Members at- couraging news about funding, “SESAME is on track and the Winick, a research professor at not the only ones who have to ex- tending the meetings can sign a but nothing final,” said Sir Chris project is very close to reaching an SLAC and a member of the Ex- plain why we need to get funding prepared letter in support of sci- Llewellyn-Smith of Oxford Uni- agreement between five countries ecutive Committee of the APS Fo- every year.” ence research and address it to versity, who is president of the for 25 of the 35 million needed rum on International Physics. He Every year, APS works to mo- their members of Congress. Af- for completing construction,” said SESAME Council. MID-EAST continued on page 5 bilize its members to act and sup- CAPITOL HILL continued on page 4 2 • January 2012 Members This Month in Physics History in the Media “I’m thankful that the world Elaine Gorham, The New York January 19, 1894: James Dewar produces solid air gives us puzzles we can solve, Times, December 7, 2011. Scientists have long been fascinated by the dif- help create high vacuums, in large part because but not too easily.” ferent phases of matter, particularly the various charcoal was so effective at absorbing gases, par- Frank Wilczek, MIT, on being “Much of the progress in ac- temperatures and pressures at which one phase ticularly at very low temperatures, resulted in a bet- asked what about physics he’s celerators comes out of this kind changes into another. Some of the most ground- ter vacuum. most thankful for, PBS.org, No- of basic research.” breaking work in turning gases into liquids and sol- Dewar came up with the idea of using one glass vember 22, 2011. Drew Baden, University of ids was done in the late 19th century by a Scottish vessel inside another, the double walls separated Maryland, talking about technol- chemist and physicist named Sir James Dewar.