"We Are Now at a Perilous Moment in the History of Funding for Science in the United States"

That is the ominous statement made by Ray Orbach, Dept. of Energy Under Secretary. It was a remark made yesterday to the Universities Research Association.

It appears from the excerpt that he is very optimistic about the President's FY2009 budget. However, and this is a caution that everyone should heed, this is no guarantee that the legislator will pass the President's budget proposal. No one should be counting their chickens yet, and everyone must convey to the public and members of Congress why investment in basic research is crucial.

Zz.

UK Postgraduate Students Snub Science

Things are not looking too well in the UK. While the number of Ph.D's being awarded has increased, the percentage getting Physics and Engineering Ph.Ds have not.

Physics, chemistry, engineering and technology subjects have not benefited from the overall growth in doctoral degrees, but the report found soaring numbers of postgraduates taking psychology, biology and sports science.

The number of doctorates awarded psychology doctorates has grown 342%, biology 54.4% and sport science by 76.5% since it started being counted separately in 2002.

The number of postgraduates in engineering and technology rose 2.4% and in chemistry by 2.9% over the same period, while physics postgraduates fell by 3.1%.

It looks like the UK has to dig themselves out of a deeper hole than originally thought. This recent budget cuts can't possibly help and could scare away even more potential postgraduate students.

Zz.

Entering The Higgs Habitat

This is an article from Symmetry on the physics of the Higgs boson, and the search for it. It is nicely done at a very elementary level that most people without a physics background can possibly understand.

So if you know of someone who is curious on what's the big deal with the Higgs, the Tevatron, the LHC, etc., then this might be the article you want to him to him/her.

Zz.

Thesis - Students` Depictions of Quantum Mechanics

This is a rather "entertaining" thesis (when was the last time you could say that about a thesis?) by someone going for a degree in the Philosophy of Science. It studies the teaching and learning process of students in the subject of quantum mechanics.

Not sure if this person would find a tracking link back to this blog entry. But if he does, I would certainly welcome any additional comments that he would have.

Zz.

As Federal Research Funds Decrease, More Scientists Leave U.S. to Work Overseas

Here is another article on the depressing state of science funding in the US. This article presents how things are slowly shifting away from the US to Europe and East Asia.

Increased competition and diminished federal funding have made it tougher for scientists to rely on the grants that once generously supported labs, research and training of future scientists. The shortage comes at a time when corporate research facilities, such as Bell Labs, have largely disappeared. The stagnant, and in some cases, dwindling money pool has forced many scientists to bid the profession goodbye. Growing numbers are joining the flight overseas to more “research-friendly” countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore, and India.

The article seems to be based more on anecdotal evidence than solid statistics (see,for example, the Science and Engineering Indicators 2008). Still, for many people in this field, there is a slow trend here that have been observed that is consistent with the report.

While there is a glimmer of hope based on the President's State of the Union address (and the enthusiastic support shown by Congress), we all know not to trust such rhetoric until we actually get the money. We have been burnt way too many times to actually put a lot of credibility in politicians' promises. So my skepticism continues. To those in power, I only have one thing to say: "Show Me The Money".

Zz.

HERA's Legacy

On June 30th, 2007, HERA was finally shut down after 16 years of magnificent operations. Still, the legacy of HERA will continue well into the next decade as the data analysis continues.

There are two articles paying tribute to HERA in this month's issue of CERN Courier. The first covers the construction of HERA, the world's only electron (or positron)-proton collider. The second offers a review of results from HERA that have now become textbook knowledge.

This accelerator/collider that could will not be forgotten.

Zz.

From BCS to the LHC

READ THIS ARTICLE!

Now, was that clear enough? :)

This is the text of the speech given by Steven Weinberg at the recent celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the BCS Theory of superconductivity. Yup! You read it right. A reductionist, elementary particle physicists speaking at a condensed matter, anti-reductionism event! :)

In it, he mentioned everything that I had mentioned earlier regarding emergent behavior and the fundamental importance of condensed matter physics that transcends into other areas of physics, especially high energy/elementary particles.

Just go read that article, why don't you? :)

Zz.

Prof Shows Students That Physics Can Be Fun

Of course it can!

This college professor goes around to several high schools to show how physics can be fun and educational at the same time.

Parents of Franklin County students got to see just how “cool and fun” physics can be when Doncheski presented his program during Science Night on Thursday in Hooverville Elementary School.

Good for him. As I've said before, I admire people who go out of their way to make physics beyond just something you learn off the pages of a book. There are many teachers and educators who make the extra effort to raise interest in the subject matter.

One interesting thing that I found in this news article was this:

Doncheski, who earned a bachelor's degree in physics and doctoral degree in theoretical particle physics, both from Penn State, did post-doctoral research at the University of Wisconsin in Madison for three years and Carleton University in Ottowa, Ontario, Canada, for three more.

He remembers a faculty member at Wisconsin who did a (physics) program during recruitment weekend. “He did three shows a day, Saturday and Sunday, to a packed house.”

The professor's show was very elaborate, Doncheski said.

“He wore a tuxedo and had much fancier props than I do.”

I think he may be referring to Prof. Clint Sprott at UW and his "Wonders of Physics" show. I have mentioned about this earlier. This terrific physics demo show has gotten elaborate and more popular over the years. If it makes it to your neck of the woods, I strongly suggest you don't miss it.

Zz.

Controversy Surrounding Debye Continues

I mentioned earlier of a report that appears to exonerate Dutch physicist and Nobel Laureate Peter Debye of being a sympathizer of the Nazi during World War II. Unfortunately, that did not satisfactorily end the controversy. In the 25 January 2008 issue of Science, two different universities in the Netherlands took opposite views to the report. Utrecht University restored Debye's name to the Debye Institute for NanoMaterials Science. However, Maastricht University in Debye's hometown rejected the conclusion of the report and removed Debye's name from a scientific award permanently.

The whole debacle here could probably summed up with this:

To Mark Walker, a historian at Union College in Schenectady, New York, who specializes in science in the Nazi era, that is an unsatisfactory ending. "I think the whole affair is unfair to Debye's memory," he says. "He acted according to his standards. They weren't the standards of a hero, but they weren't that bad."

Zz.

Science Research An Interdisciplinary Venture

So, is interdisciplinary science research the future for US science? Yale and Columbia University seem to think so.

The shift toward interdisciplinary research marks a rising need for scientists to rely on integrative tactics to solve modern scientific problems that can no longer be tackled with expertise in a single discipline, several experts said. At least for colleges that can afford to do so, adjusting to this idea is the first step toward remaining afloat in the rapidly evolving world of scientific research and education especially because, according to reports issued by National Science Board, the United States is “slipping” in its global dominance in scientific research and education.

So let's see if I can figure out how to use a stem-cell in a particle accelerator.

:)

Zz.

Analysis of the Science and Engineering Indicators 2008

I mentioned earlier of the newly-released Science and Engineering Indicators 2008. It certainly is a very daunting document to read and it takes time to extract the important points from it. That is why this analysis of the report is rather useful. It points out the salient points, especially in terms of the pace of R&D in the US when compared with other parts of the world. While the picture isn't as bad, the trend should be worrying. I also wonder what impact this current budget debacle will have, considering that the pace of science is being slowed down considerably right now.

Zz.

More and More Bastardization of Physics

It never ends, does it?

Here's a place where you'll never guess that quantum mechanics can play a direct role - human intimacy!

Unlike traditional therapists, whose work is founded upon centuries old theories of a static, non participatory universe, Schwartz's pioneering and provocative approach to relationships and transformation is based on the emerging sciences and a new world view he calls "Emergent Thinking." His work - informed by quantum physics and chaos theory - says the world, and our relationships, are in a state of constant change, with everything and everyone interacting and intertwining with everything and everyone else.

Oy vey!

Of course, quantum entanglement is bastardized by almost everyone and their grandmothers. Somehow, the fact that quantum entanglement is such a difficult phenomenon to observe and maintain is something that is often neglected. When you blow your nose, did you just cause someone to sneeeze in Africa? Really now!

I often wish that these people who want to make use of QM principle really go see a physics lab that tries to study these things and observe just to what extent we have to set things up just to be able to detect them. These people are clueless! All they see are what they read off the pages of some pop-science articles and think that it is that obvious and simple.

Zz.

January 2008 Issue of Forum on Physics And Society

The January 2008 issue of the newsletter on Forum on Physics and Society is now available online. There's a good group of articles here, so don't miss it.

Zz.

Physics Teacher Shortage Perpetuates Negative Cycle

This is an important news article, but not for the same reason that was described. It reports that fact that roughly 2/3 of high school physics teachers in the US did not major in physics.

Two-thirds of high school physics teachers didn’t major in the subject, a lack of qualifications that often leads to unenthusiastic students who never enter the worker-deprived science fields, researchers lamented Tuesday in Baltimore.

Now of course, it doesn't mean that all of these physics teachers without a physics degree are not doing a good job. However, there's a very high likelihood that a teacher with a physics degree would have a deeper understanding of basic physics and also the enthusiasm for it, or else, why would someone major in it?

However, the reason why one needs a teacher like that may not necessarily be the reason given in that article. We should not teach physics simply with the aim of getting the students to "... enter the worker-deprived science fields..." Students need to learn and understand physics because of the analytical skills that they acquire in learning this subject. They need to understand how science arrives at deciding what is valid and what isn't. The ability of a physics teacher to understand the subject and having the enthusiasm for it could influence on whether a student likes or hates physics. These could be the student that later on in life, make a decision on issues involving science, and physics in particular {looks at the current occupant of the White House}.

So the teaching of physics should not be with the purpose of getting students into science/technological fields. It should be to educate and make the students appreciate its importance and how it works, no matter what line of occupation they end up in.

Zz.

UK Woes Could Impact Euro Physics

The budget crisis in the UK could have an impact in physics activities in the rest of Europe. A case in point is the necessary upgrade of the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF).

Britain is a major partner; but with its physics funds under pressure, it is unclear how much the UK can contribute.

Strangely enough, this is the one area in which the US has followed up on the necessity to invest in light source upgrades. The LCLS has sufficient funds to proceed, and the NSLS II facility is proceeding along as expected. But then again, these are in the Basic Energy Science (BES) division of the Dept. of Energy, which was not devastated by the recent budget cuts, unlike the HEP and Nuclear Physics divisions.

Zz.

Higgs Hiding in Plain Sight?

Could the Higgs already have been discovered and no one knew it?

Not likely, but with a headline like that, who can resist reading it? A Science news article reports on a paper that proposes that a very light "Higgs" may already be in the data as far back as the LEP at CERN, and could be hiding in the data from the Tevatron.

But experimenters may have already overlooked a Higgs particle, argues theorist Chien-Peng Yuan of Michigan State University in East Lansing and his colleagues. They considered the simplest possible supersymmetric theory. Ordinarily, theorists assume that the lightest of theory's five Higgses is the one that drags on the W and Z. Those interactions then feed back on Higgs and push its mass above 121 times the mass of the proton, the highest mass searched for at CERN's Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider, which ran from 1989 to 2000. But it's possible that the lightest Higgs weighs as little as 65 times the mass of a proton and has been missed, Yuan and colleagues argue in a paper to be published in Physical Review Letters.

Unfortunately, this may not be the Higgs that everyone is looking for. It seems that this Higgs does not endow any mass to the W and Z, since it doesn't couple to them.

However, this lightweight Higgs is not exactly the Higgs everyone is looking for, says Marcela Carena, a theorist at Fermilab. "The Higgs they are talking about is not the one responsible for giving mass to the W and Z," she says. It can't be because it hardly interacts with those particles, Carena says. Indeed, in Yuan's model, the role of mass-giver falls to one of the heavier Higgses, which is still heavier than the LEP limit, she notes.

Oy!

Zz.

Where Do They Stand On Science?

I mentioned earlier that in an issue of Science, a summary of the candidates for the US Presidency stand on science matters was published. Physics Today has a similar summary of the candidates stand based on various interviews and public statements made by the candidates themselves. So if you are voting, and you care about how they view science and science policy/funding, you might want to read it.

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.

Krauss Lecture: Science Fact or Fiction?

OK, first of all, I did not realize that there is such a thing as a "Liberal Arts College for Men". But apparently, this Wabash College is one such thing.

Secondly, how did they managed to snag a big fish like this? Lawrence Krauss will be giving a public seminar at this college this coming Monday. And it's a doozy, folks! I'd pay money to hear this!

Wabash College will host Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, Lawrence Krauss, who will give a talk on "Science, Non-Science, and Nonsense: From Aliens to Creationism" at 8 p.m. Monday, January 28, in Room 101 (Lovell Lecture Room) in Baxter Hall.

But wait, there's more! He's also giving another talk the next day!

In addition to his Monday evening talk, Krauss will give a noon time talk on Tuesday, January 29, on "Einstein’s Biggest Blunder?: A Cosmic Mystery Story." The talk will take place in Baxter Hall, room 101.

So if you're anywhere near Crawfordsville, Indiana early next week, you might want to consider attending either or both of these. I don't know how conservative the community of Crawfordsville, IN is, but this lecture can easily stir up a lot of dust! :)

Zz.

UK Physics Has "Brighter Future"?

It is not all doom-and-gloom, says Keith Mason, the chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council claims the likely fallout from its spending settlement has been exaggerated.
.
.
"We have had to constrain some investments (particularly in the particle physics and astronomy programme), we've had to restructure our in-house research effort and we've had to withdraw from some lower-priority activities - but our programme remains extremely competitive," he told reporters.

I can't imagine that that many physicists (and students) would make such a big deal if this is nothing more than fanciful exaggeration. So we shall see...

Zz.