SCOAP3 Expands

The push for having open-access peer-reviewed journal articles in high-energy physics now includes 3 more US National labs: SLAC, J-Lab, and Lawrence Berkeley.

Eventually, everyone will have access to those high-energy physics papers. So no one can claim any ignorance because he/she has been unable to access these peer-reviewed articles. :)

Zz.

Private Donor Gives Fermilab $5 Million

This is all over the Web already, but what the hey...

An anonymous donor gave $5 million to U. of Chicago to help with the financial debacle at Fermilab. This is reminiscent of the donation to RHIC a while ago to save it from being shut down temporarily due to similar budget constraints, although it wasn't from an anonymous donor.

The savings from the furlough allowed lab officials to keep the lab's particle smasher, the Tevatron Collider, running all out in its quest to spot the famed Higgs boson, the missing link in physicists' theory of the known fundamental bits of matter. Fermilab researchers hope to discover the Higgs before it's snagged by the more powerful Large Hadron Collider, which should turn on this summer at the European particle physics laboratory, CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland. The donation, which will be funneled through the University of Chicago, will enable the lab to stop the furlough after two of four planned rounds of leave. The lab was able to scrape up another $1 million, in part because about 50 employees have already jumped ship, Oddone says.

This is the second time in recent years that philanthropists have bailed out a beleaguered DOE lab. In 2006, Congress gave Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, too little money to run its Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, which is used to study a type of nuclear physics. James Simons, a theoretical physicist and billionaire hedge-fund guru then donated $13 million to Brookhaven to run the machine.

It paints a very sad picture of science funding in the US. $5 million is PUNY in the scale of funding sizes. Many corporations burn that much in just 1-day. And we haven't gotten into what minuscule percentage that is out of the military spending. Yet, it saved the lab from the debilitating furloughs that, from all anecdotal accounts, have crippled the Fermilab.

But still, this is only a temporary band-aid on a bigger disease.

Although the donation ends the furlough, it does not solve Fermilab's problems. "The grain of salt is that it really does nothing to change the uncertainty with regard to the future," says Brendan Casey, a Fermilab particle physicist. "So there's some relief, but the underlying tension is still there." A DOE advisory panel will meet tomorrow and Friday to discuss the future of the lab and particle physics in the United States.

Both the US public and the politicians need to decide if they wish to continue supporting particle physics in the US. Scientists would rather hear that they do not, rather than giving mixed, wishy-washy signal. At the very least, the former will allow many to simply pull up roots and move on, knowing that a political decision was made to abandon an important field of physics. Years from now, at least, we know who to blame for such a debacle and let history judge the foolish mistake these people made.

Zz.

Brookhaven's Summer Sundays

I have mentioned this whenever they have their yearly open Summer Sundays. If you are anywhere near Long Island, NY, you really shouldn't miss the opportunity to visit Brookhaven National Laboratory during one of their Summer Sundays. You get to visit not only the lab in general, but also get to tour the facility that's open for visitors for that day. Typically, the days highlighting the NSLS and RHIC are two of the more popular and tend to have the largest number of visitors, and understandably so.

This is one of the few opportunities one gets to tour a world class science facility and gets to ask questions to scientists working there.

Speaking of Brookhaven, it seems that people are still publishing erroneous rumors and accusation towards the lab that are amazingly wrong (and presumably getting away with it). The lab wisely decided to address the inaccuracies published in a book titled "SWelcome to Shirley: A Memoir from an Atomic Town", and included references to the affect of the lab on that two and the surrounding area on Long Island. It is amazing that someone would publish a book and yet, hardly do any homework on what they are writing on. Unfortunately, many of the book's readers would probably never see these counter points against the book and so, these inaccuracies (lies?) will be perpetuated. This is usually the "source" of information for the "public" and these accusations are taken as gospel by many.

Zz.

Shaken But Not Stirred

Although it isn't designed to detect earthquakes, many synchrotron facilities around the world, especially the latest generation facilities, can actually detect when an earthquake is occuring, some time halfway around the world. The recent earthquake in Southern Illinois that occured a couple of weeks ago was certainly felt in various parts of Chicago, and it was certainly detected by the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne.

The magnitude 5.2 earthquake that shook southern Illinois was “detected” by the beam position monitors that keep the electron beam on course in the APS particle accelerator (see the accompanying figure), but the machine continued to orbit electrons at nearly the speed of light with no noticeable adverse effects. Other monitors (x-ray beam position monitors) assured that x-ray beams illuminated experiment samples as small as molecules.

There are of course many steps in place to either make sure the beam continues to be stable, or in the worst scenario, that it gets dumped safely if it goes too far off course. The same thing is in place in many other facilities around the world, especially the LCLS being constructed at SLAC in the earthquake-prone California, which has an even more stringent beam operating parameters to produce its FEL.

I was told by someone working at the APS that they even detected the huge earthquake in the Indian Ocean from a few years ago that caused the massive and deadly tsunami. So this is one very sensitive machine with very precise diagnostics ability.

Zz.

Argonne Tests Find Near-Zero Emissions for BMW Hydrogen 7

A while back, I mentioned about the Argonne Green Transportation event. It displayed several hybrid and hydrogen vehicles that supposedly have better millage and/or very little polluting emission. The star of that event were a number of BMW vehicles that ran on hydrogen.

These cars have been tested at Argonne, and it appears that it is the only public facility that can test vehicles with that low amount of emission. The testing project has now been summarized on video that's available on YouTube.



Zz.

The Squeeze at Argonne And Fermilab

.. and this "squeeze" comes both in terms of funding and science.

Three months into the disastrous Omnibus bill, this article looks at the impact on the two national laboratories in the Chicago area - Fermi National Accelerator and Argonne National Laboratory.

To say that the mood and the morale are low is to put it mildly. One good thing about this article is that it highlights each of the facility that has been affected, and what kind of science and impact it has.

As far as I can tell, the outlook for the immediate future isn't rosy either. Even though the president's FY09 proposal calls for immediate increase in all affected areas, everyone here is almost certain that Congress is not going to pass this budget any time soon and will wait instead until after the general election. This means that we will be saddled with a continuing resolution, and will adopt the disastrous FY08 budget for the remainder of the year and into next year.

Things are not looking good for science in the US, despite all the lip service that has been given about its importance.

Zz.

Public Impatience With Science

Argonne's Director Robert Rosner spoke to the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, a not-for-profit organization is committed to promoting science and technology in the greater Chicago area. Some of the things he said bears repeating here, especially on the part where it takes decades for a basic scientific breakthrough to make it to the consumer.

Computers were around for 30 years before they became useful to business, and solid-state electronics consumer products didn't catch on until a generation after the transistor was discovered, said Rosner, director of Argonne National Laboratory.

"When a basic discovery is made, no one has any idea what it will lead to," said Rosner. And this disconnect is behind the financial crisis now afflicting Argonne and its sister institution, Fermilab.

"People believe that basic science can wait," said Rosner, "but the truth is that if you don't do the basic research today, you won't reap the fruits in 20 to 30 years. We have to invest now to benefit our children and grandchildren. But to a culture that expects instant results, such patience is a hard sell.

I think most people do forget that. Even within the sciences themselves, many forget that some of the advancement in biochemistry, for example, were brought about because of something that was developed in physics years before. Synchrotron light sources came out of research in high energy physics, and it took many decades before the field of biochemistry, medicine, and pharmacy realized that such facilities can be valuable to their work. This is just one example of something that came out of basic research that appeared to have no direct application at that time.

Just how do we convey that to the public and, especially, those politicians?

Zz.

MSU Trustees Vote For $11M In Cyclotron Enhancements

The Board of Trustees at Michigan State University voted unanimously for the $11 million enhancement of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory on its campus.

The proposed addition to the Cyclotron is a building with a 20-foot ceiling that would accommodate an experimental reaccelerator system, which is currently under construction.

This could position MSU even stronger in its effort to land the proposed rare isotope accelerator that I've mentioned before.

The university’s next proposal to the National Science Foundation would be aided by the completion of a reaccelerator and also would place MSU at the forefront for future projects, Wilcox said.

One such project, a next generation rare isotope beam facility, is a plan the government wants to pursue in the future, Glasmacher said.

“(MSU is) competing for that against everyone else in the nation,” Glasmacher said.

Well, not everyone. I would think its stiffest competitor right now is Argonne.

Zz.

Daresbury Laboratory Facing Possible Shutdown

The budget plight is not only being faced by the US National Laboratory. Across the pond, the UK labs are also experiencing the same pain. The UK members of parliament have been told that the Daresbury Lab might be shut down due to the budget cutbacks.

It has only been almost a month since the US budget debacle, and a couple of months for the UK. Still, so far, there has been no hint of any relief in sight.

Zz.

Fermi Director Encouraged By Outpouring Of Support

Can't go a few days without issues surrounding the budget cuts, can we? :)

This is a good news article containing an interview with Pier Oddone, the Director of Fermilab, and his view on the budget cuts and the state of Fermilab. It isn't easy being the Lab Director of any of the US Nat'l Lab right now, but it is extra difficult for both Fermilab and SLAC.

And things may not get any better either, depending on the initial look at the President's FY09 budget. If it is similar to the Omnibus budget, then science in the US will collapse.

Zz.

Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory Were Damaged In The Budget Fight Between President Bush And Congress

We are nothing more than pawns, and these people simply do not care on the consequences of their actions.

The Chicago Tribune has a long article on how the budget fight between the US Congress and President Bush has harmed and even damaged not only Argonne and Fermilab, but also US science and its competitive edge. It's political warefare, and science becomes the victim. This view is consistent with the e-mail sent out by the APS about a week ago:

Dear APS Members:

Although several thousand APS members responded to the last alert on federal science funding, the communications failed to affect positively what ultimately became a highly partisan appropriations process. To attempt to rectify the damage caused by the Fiscal Year 2008 (FY08) Omnibus Appropriations Bill, APS President Arthur Bienenstock will soon be asking you to e-mail your Members of Congress urging that they take emergency action early in the next session. But first, a summary of what is known and documented:

Two weeks ago, almost three months into the new fiscal year, Congress finally passed an FY08 budget - unfortunately, it is devastating to significant programs in the physical sciences. It represents a dramatic turnabout in a time of unprecedented outspoken support for science across party lines, legislative chambers and branches of government.

Science funding in FY08 was originally set to increase substantially. Consistent with the America COMPETES Act, President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) and the Democratic Innovation Agenda, the National Science Foundation would have received a 10 percent increase; the National Institute of Standards and Technology Core Programs, a 17 percent increase; and the Department of Energy's Office of Science, an 18 percent increase. The increases represented the beginning of a 10-year plan to double federal investment in physical science and engineering research.

Early in the summer, the House passed all 12 appropriations bills that cover discretionary spending, totaling $955 billion. By early October, the Senate Appropriations Committee had acted on many of them, but the Senate leadership did not bring any of them to the floor for a vote. President Bush had already warned that he would veto appropriations bills if, in the aggregate, they exceeded his $933 billion ceiling. Two weeks ago, responding to the President's veto threat, Congress, having already passed the Defense appropriations bill, rewrote and passed the remaining FY08 budget bills as an omnibus spending package.

The Omnibus Bill is a disaster for the very sciences that our political leaders have repeatedly proclaimed essential for our national security, economic vitality and environmental stewardship. Several reports have suggested a picture less bleak, but they do not take into account the effects of either earmarks or inflation. In fact, numerous programs will have to be trimmed or canceled.

Hundreds of layoffs, furloughs and project shutdowns at Fermilab, SLAC, LBNL and other national laboratories and research universities seem unavoidable. U.S. funding for the International Linear Collider project will be curtailed for the balance of the fiscal year, placing extraordinary stress on the high-energy physics program. FY08 funding for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) will be zeroed out, abrogating our agreement with our European and Asian partners. User facilities will see reductions in operating time and staff, and university research will contract. The list is long and the damage significant.

How could this happen, given the strong bipartisan support for science research and education? There is much speculation that with negotiations having broken down and the President adamant on the total spending, Democratic leaders made the following assessment: First, that there were insufficient votes to override a presidential veto of their spending plans. Second, since the Senate had failed to act on the appropriations in a timely fashion, Democrats would be blamed for any government shutdown that might result from a spending stalemate. Their strategy was to accede to the President's $933 billion bottom line, but, to get there, "by whacking GOP priorities" as the Associated Press reported on December 10. So, with ACI carrying a presidential label, much of the increases for NSF, DOE Science and the NIST labs were erased to meet the budget restrictions. Since ITER was seen as one of the top Administration's priorities, its entire funding was zeroed with strong language to prevent reprogramming of funds to save the project. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) suggested that the $9.7 billion in earmarks be removed to allow funding for other priorities, but his colleagues refused to go along.

Added to this calculus is a well-known fact: Science has rarely, if ever, been a factor in determining the outcome of an election. Even for scientists, funding for research and education most often is not a major determinant in whom they support -- unlike members of other interest groups, such as the National Rifle Association or the American Medical Association, who frequently vote based on their "special" interests. Given such a history and the hard-ball politics that played out this month, letters from scientists to their Members of Congress, unfortunately, did not rule the day.

When Congress returns later this month, Members may be more receptive to listening to their science constituents. We will be sending you another alert next week, after we have determined that the landscape is more favorable. Please respond when we contact you. Your voice may well make the difference at that time.

Sincerely,

Michael S. Lubell
Director of Public Affairs
The American Physical Society

I have posted earlier of the letter-writing campaign. If you are a US resident and are concerned about what is going on here, I urge you to follow the link and let your representatives hear about it.

Note that if you think that only high energy physics and nuclear physics are the ones affected, think again. ALL the US DOE National Laboratories have a 1% reduction. And means that various facilities such as synchrotron light sources where many different types of research is done, even by various private companies, will have reduction in operational days. Previous research plans will now either have to be changed or scrapped. So the collateral damage is extensive.

Zz.

Illinois Governor Writes To Pres. Bush To Restore Science Spending

Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to restore the intended budget for Argonne and Fermilab, both national laboratories in his state. This is just after Bush visited an elementary school in Chicago.

Yesterday, as you visited Chicago, you toured Greeley Elementary School and saw first hand the success we’ve had in promoting math and science based education. Ironically, because of major funding reductions to some of the nation's leading research facilities within the Department of Energy’s budget, the students you saw today may have a hard time starting a technical or scientific career in Illinois.

The omnibus spending bill that you recently signed could cause dramatic funding cuts at Argonne National Laboratory, one of the nation’s largest and most important research centers. In addition to these cuts, the bill includes significant cuts to Illinois’ other federal research facility, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. These two institutions put Illinois and the United States at the forefront of scientific research. Without adequate federal funding, hundreds of people will lose their jobs while the United States will risk falling behind in science and technology leadership.

When politicians starts wondering why we seldom believe in what they say, point them to this debacle. Not even 6 months after they all agreed that more funding should be given to science via that joke America COMPETES Act, what did they do? They cut science spending, and cut it with impunity. Essentially, THEY LIED! They plainly lied in front of our faces, and knew that they'll get away with it too!

Of course, you could say "What else is new?" Maybe this is their standard operating procedure. I can only hope that one day, one of these lies would really come back and haunt them.

Zz.

Big Trouble For Big Science

Alan Boyle at MSNBC has essentially given a summary of all the major research areas affected severely by the recent Omnibus budget. It covers essentially what I have highlighted separately here.

The cuts came in the omnibus spending bill patched together by Congress and signed by President Bush just before Christmas. Among the institutions hit hardest were Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois; and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, or SLAC, in California.

It is INSANE!

Zz.

SLAC Facing Budget Cuts and Layoffs

I reported last Friday of the impending consequences of the recent budget cuts at SLAC. They had their all-hands meeting today, and the anticipated scenario has become true.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) staff learned in an "all-hands" meeting today that its budget is being cut by Congress and the center will have to reduce its workforce by 15 percent, or the equivalent of 225 full-time positions.

High energy physics in the US is dying.

Zz.

SLAC Cuts May Be Near

I've already highlighted the debacle with the budget cuts at Fermilab and Argonne. Next comes the news report about the possible cuts at SLAC. A all-hands meeting is scheduled for this coming Monday, and most are expecting rather gloomy news similar to that received at Fermilab.

Y'know, at some point, someone will wake up and realize what is going on. Still, I wouldn't hold my breath on that happening.

Zz.

Budget Cuts to Hit Argonne

The devastating budget cuts will impact almost every single US National Lab. We have see how this will almost cripple Fermilab with its planned layoffs of 200 people. It may even hasten its demise.

This Chicago Tribune article focuses on the other lab in the Chicago area besides Fermilab - Argonne National Laboratory. The premature shut down of the IPNS and the reduced operations at the APS are just the beginning of the awful mess created by this thoughtless omnibus bill.

Zz.

Woman to Lead SLAC

It's sad that in 2007, we still have headlines when a woman is appointed for a top position. Still, this is a noteworthy accomplishment. Persis Drell has been appointed as the new director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator laboratory. This comes at such an important turning point in SLAC's history as it morphed itself from a high-energy particle collider into a light source.

It is a bit amusing that the San Jose Mercury News that this news report came from is still calling SLAC as an "atom smasher". It's transformation into the LCLS smashers nothing at all. :)

Zz.

The Black Hole

Remember a while back that I mentioned that I "accidentally" appeared on the Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"? Well guess what? That video is now online at Comedy Central! :)



Zz.

The Future of Fermilab

This MSNBC Reporter got a closer look at Fermilab and its future as the LHC is about to go online. That report on Project X was covered in one of my previous blog entry here.

In the worst case scenario, the Tevatron will be shut down by the end of 2009, but Fermilab itself will continue as a research lab in many other areas.

Oddone also points to Fermilab's role in a plethora of experiments probing the mysteries of the neutrino, dark matter and dark energy, on Earth and perhaps in space. Elsewhere on the astrophysics front, Fermilab is a collaborator in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as well as the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory.

Still, it is a particle collider laboratory and I don't think anyone would be happy if it doesn't reclaim that role after the Tevatron.

Zz.

Fermilab Employees Think Green

Good for them! Even when they funding agency that owns Fermilab is unable to provide any kind of financial support, several Fermilab employees, under their own initiatives, started their own not-for-profit organization to restore the open prairie area on Fermilab grounds.

For its first endeavor, FNA hopes to secure a $25,000 matching grant to improve a 35-acre savannah inside the lab's Tevatron ring. Savannahs are ordinarily open, forested areas, but this one is being choked by raspberry patches and dogwood trees and needs to be completely reworked.

"We would get all of that brush and stuff out of there, whether by cutting, or herbicide, or burning," he said, "and then we would extensively reseed it with plants, grass and trees."

Check at the end of the article on how you can make monetary contribution.

Zz.