Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2006 Four Corners Section of the APS Fall Meeting
Friday–Saturday, October 6–7, 2006; Logan, Utah
Session A1: Physics in the Four Corners Region I |
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Chair: Bruce Doak, Arizona State University Room: Eccles Conference Center Room 216 |
Friday, October 6, 2006 8:15AM - 8:51AM |
A1.00001: Observations and Modeling of Space Weather Impacts on the Earth Invited Speaker: ``Space weather'' refers to conditions in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere, that influence space-borne and ground-based technological systems and can endanger human space exploration. These effects are caused by variations in solar photon and particle radiation due to flares and coronal mass ejections, and changes in the solar/interplanetary magnetic field, that impact the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Space weather can initiate satellite failures, interfere with radio communications, cause navigation errors, disrupt electrical power distribution systems, and expose astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation. Mitigation requires both a better understanding of the space environment, and developing the ability to forecast conditions in space. The development of first-principles numerical models of the solar-terrestrial system gives us insight into the causes and nature of these phenomena, and holds the promise of ultimately being able to acquire a short-term predictive capability for some of them. This presentation will describe what we do and don't understand about the basic physics behind space weather, discuss some of its aspects and effects, and describe the latest observational and modeling efforts [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 6, 2006 8:51AM - 9:27AM |
A1.00002: Nanotechnology Integration Invited Speaker: Interest in nanoscience -- and derivative nanotechnologies -- has grown explosively because of the perceived potential to beneficially impact almost every aspect of our lives. The remarkable scientific discoveries obtained by working at the molecular length scale will disappoint humankind if they cannot be exploited by integration into technologies providing unprecedented functionality and performance. To bridge the gap between nanoscience discovery and technology, we must tackle the intrinsic science challenges of integration. This talk examines three such challenges: the fundamental limits and principles for the use and integration of nanoscale structures to detect, transfer, and harvest energy with extreme efficiency or sensitivity; the principles of transduction events in natural systems and how these may be incorporated into artificial systems to convert single molecular events into large scale responses; and the collective properties of composite nanoscale systems that cannot be predicted in terms of the individual constituents. Success in solving such nanoscience integration challenges will change not only what is expected of future technologies, but also the way in which they accomplish ever more complicated tasks. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 6, 2006 9:27AM - 10:03AM |
A1.00003: The Sustainable Hydrogen Economy: Addressing the Challenges Ahead Invited Speaker: It is rapidly becoming apparent that energy is one of the most important issues facing our world today; in fact, in today's society energy is as important as food and water. Humankind finds itself faced the challenge of how to continue to power society, particularly in the face of the rapidly growing economies of emerging nations like India and China, and yet answer questions of sustainability, energy security, geopolitics and global environment. One of the major issues facing America and most other countries in the world is how to supply a transportation fuel, an energy carrier to replace gasoline. Hydrogen as an energy carrier, primarily derived from water, can address issues of sustainability, environmental emissions and energy security. The ``Hydrogen Economy'' then is the production of hydrogen, its distribution and utilization as an energy carrier. While the vision of a hydrogen economy has been around for over 130 years, the most recent push to use hydrogen as an energy carrier came as part of a US Presidential Initiative, announced in the 2003 State of the Union Address. It is important that we consider hydrogen in tandem with other technologies as an alternative to the once-abundant hydrocarbon resources on which our society depends. This talk will introduce sustainable energy systems, including fuel cell technology and discuss the vision, the barriers and possible pathways for the production and implementation of hydrogen into the energy infrastructure. [Preview Abstract] |
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