Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2016
Volume 61, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 14–18, 2016; Baltimore, Maryland
Session P47: Beyond the Lab: Bringing History and Physics to the PublicUndergraduate
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Sponsoring Units: FOEP Room: 312 |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
P47.00001: \textbf{Creating a Community to Strengthen the Broader Impacts of Condensed Matter Physics Research} Shireen Adenwalla, Jocelyn Bosley, Gregory Voth, Leigh Smith The Broader Impacts (BI) merit criteria set out by the National Science Foundation are essential for building the public support necessary for science to flourish. Condensed matter physicists (CMP) have made transformative impacts on our society, but these are often invisible to the public. Communicating the societal benefits of our research can be challenging, because CMP consists of many independent research groups for whom effective engagement in the public arena is not necessarily a forte. Other BI activities, such as engaging K-12 students and teachers to increase scientific literacy and strengthen the STEM workforce, may be very effective, but these are often isolated and short in duration. To increase the visibility of CMP and to make the implementation of BI activities more efficient, we have created a website with two sides: a public side to communicate to a broad audience exciting scientific discoveries in CMP and the technologies they enable, and a private side for condensed matter researchers to communicate with one another about effective broader impact activities. Here we discuss the content of the new website, and the best practices we have identified for communicating the excitement of CMP research to the broadest possible audience. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
P47.00002: Schr\"{o}dinger's Magnetic Ambitions: His Attempts in the 1940s to Understand Terrestrial Magnetism through a Unitary Field Theory. Paul Halpern In 1943, Schr\"{o}dinger presented several papers to the Royal Irish Academy outlining his efforts to unify electromagnetism, gravitation, and what is now known as the strong force in a Unitary Field Theory. To furnish experimental proof for his ideas, he suggested that variations in Earth's magnetic field might be understood through his theoretical notion that electromagnetism is attenuated by a kind of cosmological constant. We'll explore the nature and context of his proposal and examine reactions to his assertions. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
P47.00003: The Schrödinger Sessions: Science for Science Fiction Chad Orzel, Emily Edwards, Steven Rolston In July 2015, we held a workshop for 17 science fiction writers working in a variety of media at the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland, College Park. "The Schrödinger Sessions," funded by an outreach grant from APS, provided a three-day "crash course" on quantum physics and technology, including lectures from JQI scientists and tours of JQI labs. The goal was to better inform and inspire stories making use of quantum physics, as a means of outreach to inspire a broad audience of future scientists. We will report on the contents of the workshop, reactions from the attendees and presenters, and future plans. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:06PM - 3:18PM |
P47.00004: Layman friendly spectroscopy Stipo Sentic, Sharon Sessions Affordable consumer grade spectroscopes (e.g. SCiO, Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE) are becoming more available to the general public. We introduce the concepts of spectroscopy to the public and K12 students and motivate them to delve deeper into spectroscopy in a dramatic participatory presentation and play. We use diffraction gratings, lasers, and light sources of different spectral properties to provide a direct experience of spectroscopy techniques. Finally, we invite the audience to build their own spectroscope---utilizing the APS SpectraSnapp cell phone application---and study light sources surrounding them in everyday life. We recontextualize the stigma that science is hard (e.g. “Math, Science Popular Until Students Realize They’re Hard,” The Wall Street Journal) by presenting the material in such a way that it demonstrates the scientific method, and aiming to make failure an impersonal scientific tool---rather than a measure of one’s ability, which is often a reason for shying away from science. We will present lessons we have learned in doing our outreach to audiences of different ages. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:18PM - 3:30PM |
P47.00005: Value of Fundamental Science Alexey Burov Fundamental science is a hard, long-term human adventure that has required high devotion and social support, especially significant in our epoch of Mega-science. The measure of this devotion and this support expresses the real value of the fundamental science in public opinion. Why does fundamental science have value? What determines its strength and what endangers it? The dominant answer is that the value of science arises out of curiosity and is supported by the technological progress. Is this really a good, astute answer? When trying to attract public support, we talk about the “mystery of the universe". Why do these words sound so attractive? What is implied by and what is incompatible with them? More than two centuries ago, Immanuel Kant asserted an inseparable entanglement between ethics and metaphysics. Thus, we may ask: which metaphysics supports the value of scientific cognition, and which does not? Should we continue to neglect the dependence of value of pure science on metaphysics? If not, how can this issue be addressed in the public outreach? Is the public alienated by one or another message coming from the face of science? What does it mean to be politically correct in this sort of discussion? [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:30PM - 3:42PM |
P47.00006: Putting Research in the Classroom: A Partnership for Curriculum Building Nathan Tompkins, Anique Olivier-Mason Many science classes today are taught in a historical context as if scientific discovery was something that only happened in the past with textbooks focused on presenting facts and equations without conveying that the process of science is to ask and answer questions. To address these deficiencies we have developed a science outreach course to unite high school science educators with young researchers for a series of workshops to develop teaching modules. The modules connect specific textbook concepts and state standards to current materials science research in hands-on learning experiences for high school students. The idea is to make math, science, technology, and engineering concepts more exciting, accessible, and relevant to high school students through interactions with diverse researchers and instruction from curriculum based on cutting-edge materials science research. The goal is to demonstrate that science is a living, active process of inquiry and questioning; not simply a litany of facts, figures, and historical anecdotes. The ultimate aim is for the teaching modules prepared in this course to be packaged and prepared for dissemination to schools outside the immediate vicinity in order to expand the reach to communities underrepresented in the sciences. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:42PM - 3:54PM |
P47.00007: Discover Science Initiative, outreach and professional development at the University of California, Irvine Jill Pestana, James Earthman Discover Science Initiative (DSI) is an unprecedented success in the Southern Californian community by reaching out to over 5,000 participants through eight hands-on workshops on topics from fungi to the physics of light, and two large events in the past year. The DSI vision is to provide an avenue for University of California, Irvine (UCI) students and faculty from all departments to engage with the local community through workshops and presentations on interdisciplinary, state-of-the-art STEM research unique to UCI. DSI provides professional development opportunities for diverse students at UCI, while providing outreach at one of the most popular educational centers in Southern California, the Discovery Cube, which hosts over 400,000 guests each year. In DSI, students engage in peer-to-peer mentoring with guidance from the UCI School of Education in designing workshops, leading meetings, and managing teams. Also, students practice science communication, coached by certified communications trainers. Students involved in DSI learn important skills to complement their academic degrees, and stay motivated to pursue their career goals. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 3:54PM - 4:06PM |
P47.00008: Texas A\&M Physics Festival: bringing together the community, faculty, and students Tatiana Erukhimova Texas A\&M Physics Festival started in 2003 with a dozen of hands-on exhibits and an inaugural lecture by Stephen Hawking. Over the years it evolved into one of the largest STEM outreach events in the area. The Festival attracts over 4000 visitors annually from all over Texas and other states. It features over 100 interactive exhibits displayed by faculty and students, public lectures by world-renowned scientists and astronauts, professional bubble shows, and many other activities. I will report on the structure of the Festival as well as strategies for involving undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in public outreach. I will further discuss the results of an independent evaluation of the 2015 Festival by the NSF-funded EvalFest program. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:06PM - 4:18PM |
P47.00009: Movie Physics: pirates, spies and other worlds. Beatriz Gonzalez del Rio, V. Gonzalez-Fernandez, J.L. Martin, L. Sanchez-Tejerina, G. Perez, L. Ares, E. Vasallo, P. Martin, V. Villa, S. Garcia, M. Vara, S. Martin, P. Alvarez, C. Gonzalez, P. Lopez, M.A. Burgos, V.M. Gonzalez, J. Carbajo, C. Velasco-Merino, F. Hevia, F. Martinez, J.F. Martinez, D. Gonzalez-Herrero, A.H. Gloriani, D. Mateos Taking advantage of many popular films, the basics of many physical principles can be shown in a really attractive and stunning way. Five shows/workshops form this project attending the necessities of the target public: kids become pirates, high-school students are pushed to the limit and visit other fantasy worlds, and the general public discover the powers of physics and some terrifying secrets. By November 2015 we have obtained more than 2900 viewers. The activities have been presented in different national and international conferences, on an international science fair and have been published by several Spanish media. During 2015 the Physics League Association has received three international awards due to some activities from this project. \\ Additional Authors: B. G. del Rio [1,2], V. González-Fernández [1,2], J. L. Martín [1], L. Sánchez-Tejerina [1,2], G. Pérez [1], L. Ares [1], E. Vasallo [1], P. Martín [1], V. Villa [1], S. García [1], M. Vara [1], S. Martín [1], P. Álvarez [1], C. González [1], P. López [1], M.A. Burgos [1,2], V. M. González [1], J. Carbajo [1], C. Velasco-Merino [1,2], F. Hevia [1,2], D. Gutiez [1], F. Martínez [1], J. F. Martínez [1], L. E. Vazquez [1], M. Bueno [1], M. Escribano [1], P. Guillem [1], R. García [1], D. González [1], D. González-Herrero [1,2], A. H. Gloriani [1,2], J. Cítores [1], J. Hernández [1], A. Álvarez [1], M. Álvarez [1], D. Mateos [1,2] \\$[1]$ Physics League Association, SPAIN \\$[2]$ Universidad de Valladolid, SPAIN [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:18PM - 4:30PM |
P47.00010: Title: SCOAP$^{3}$: Explanation and Current Status Matthew Marsteller The Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP$^{3}$) is a successful global partnership of libraries, funding agencies and research centers. SCOAP$^{3}$ has negotiated with journal publishers on behalf of libraries and institutions from around the world to produce open access literature in particle physics journals that were previously published in a traditional subscription-based model. This presentation will provide an overview of the process, an update of its status and some intriguing research metrics that have emerged. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:30PM - 4:42PM |
P47.00011: First Megascience Experiment at Fermilab: Through Hardship to Protons Vitaly Pronskikh, Valerie Higgins The E-36 experiment on the small angle proton-proton scattering that officially started in 1970, making use of the Main Ring beams and giving rise to a chain of similar experiments that continued after 1972, was the first experiment at the newly built NAL. It was also the first US/USSR collaboration in particle physics as well as the first experiment that can be confidently characterized as megascience. The experimental data were interpreted as an indication of the pomeron, a quasiparticle that had been named after the Soviet theorist I. Pomeranchuk. The idea of the experiment can be traced back to the Rochester conference held in 1970 in Kiev where two American and Soviet physicists met to develop it and later acquainted NAL director Robert Wilson with it. Wilson enthusiastically set the stage for the experiment at NAL. Involving a gas-jet target built at the Dubna machine shop of Joint Institute for Nuclear Research and brought to Batavia, Illinois, the experiment established cooperation between the US and the Soviets in the spirit of their contemporary Apollo-Soyuz space program, thus breaking the ice of the Cold War from within high-energy physics. In this talk based on the Fermilab Archives and interviews, we discuss the financial and administrative obstacles raised by Soviet officials that the Russian collaborators had to overcome, interinstitutional tensions among the Soviets that accompanied the collaboration, NAL culture as well as the roles of scientists in megascience as ambassadors of peace. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:42PM - 4:54PM |
P47.00012: ABSTRACT WITHDRAWN |
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 4:54PM - 5:06PM |
P47.00013: The Japanese aerial attack on Hanford Engineer Works Charles W. Clark The day before the Pearl Harbor attack, December 6, 1941, the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory was given four goals: design a plutonium (Pu) bomb; produce Pu by irradiation of uranium (U); extract Pu from the irradiated U; complete this in time to be militarily significant.\footnote{{\em Management of the Hanford Engineer Works in World War II}, H. Thayer (ASCE Press 1996)} A year later the first controlled nuclear chain reaction was attained in Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1). In January 1943, Hanford, WA was chosen as the site of the Pu factory.\footnote{{\em Made in Hanford: The Bomb that Changed the World}, H. Williams (Washington State U. Press 2011)} Neutron irradiation of $^{238}$U was to be used to make $^{239}$Pu. This was done by a larger version of CP-1, Hanford Reactor B, which went critical in September 1944. By July 1945 it had made enough Pu for two bombs: one used at the Trinity test in July; the other at Nagasaki, Japan in August. I focus on an ironic sidelight to this story: disruption of hydroelectric power to Reactor B by a Japanese fire balloon attack on March 10, 1945. This activated the costly coal-fired emergency backup plant to keep the reactor coolant water flowing, thwarting disaster and vindicating the conservative design of Hanford Engineer Works. [Preview Abstract] |
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