New Energy Secretary Steven Chu Faces Tough Choices
from U.S. News and World Report
 Previewing the challenges awaiting him at the Department of Energy, Steven Chu recently said, "What the world does in the coming decade will have enormous consequences that will last for centuries. It's imperative that we begin without further delay." Quoting William Faulkner's 1950 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he added, "Man will not merely endure; he will prevail." Full Article
Obama's Science Agenda is Aggressive and Daunting
from Live Science
If John Holdren, President Obama's science advisor, asked former President Clinton's science advisor Neal Lane what he should do on his first days on the job, Lane, would give a daunting list of issues that face not only the science advisor, but the entire new team of officials that must confront everything from global warming and green energy to stem cell research and science education.
Full Article
Hopkins Lab to Study Lunar Poles
from The Baltimore Sun
The last time NASA sent people to the moon, they landed somewhere near the moon's equator. But as NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon in the coming decades, scientists and engineers are aiming for the moon's north and south poles. Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab will help the agency prepare for those missions. Full Article
Ultra-Small Computers Possible
from the Calgary Herald
Scientists at Edmonton's National Institute for Nanotechnology have made a major breakthrough that could help pave the way for smaller, more energy-efficient computers. The team has invented the world's smallest quantum dots, single-atom-sized devices capable of controlling electrons at a fraction of the power of current semiconductor-based technology. Full Article
Thermal Computing is Heating Up
from NewScientist
Waste heat from computers could be used to boost their processing power, say physicists working in an emerging field known as phononics. The latest advance is a design for a thermal memory device that stores data as heat, not magnetism or electricity like existing computing devices. Full Article
Teleportation Not a Myth
from Time
Physics and magic aren't often mistaken, but increasingly, physicists themselves seem to be trying to change that. Last year, a team at the University of California, Berkeley, announced that it had developed materials that could lead to an invisibility cloak. Full Article
Theory and Experiment Result in a New Form of Boron
from The New York Times
Boron is a simple atom: five protons, five or six neutrons, five electrons. It is not as ubiquitous as hydrogen. It does not, as helium does, make your voice sound like Donald Duck. It is not as famous as carbon, its neighbor to the right on the periodic table. Perhaps it is held back by its name — sounds like boring. Yet it remains an element of mystery. Full Article
Columbia University Physicist J. Lamar Worzel dies at 89
from Los Angeles Times
Columbia University Physicist J. Lamar Worzel used the emerging science of acoustics to explore the ocean floor, help American submarines evade their enemies and track Russian submarines during the Cold War. He died of a heart attack Dec. 26 at his home in Wilmington, N.C. He was 89. Full Article
Lacking Funds to Encourage Physics
from Eureka Magazine
Although the government says it places importance on improving engineering skills and advancing science and technology, it seems there are insufficient funds to find £16,000 to pay for future British student delegations to attend the International Physics Olympiad. However, that money is found to be within the budgets of some 90 countries that include: Slovakia, Indonesia, India, Rumania and Belarus. Full Article
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