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In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop an early warning system that combines acoustic technology with AI to immediately classify earthquakes and determine potential tsunami risk. They propose using underwater microphones, called hydrophones, to measure the acoustic radiation produced by the earthquake, which carries information about the tectonic event and travels significantly faster than tsunami waves. The computational model triangulates the source of the earthquake and AI algorithms classify its slip type and magnitude. It then calculates important properties like effective length and width, uplift speed, and duration, which dictate the size of the tsunami.

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In APL Energy, researchers developed a proof of concept for a superconducting highway that could transport vehicles and electricity, cooling the necessary superconductors with a pipeline of liquid hydrogen. Most magnetic levitation designs feature the superconductor inside the vehicle, which is suspended above a magnetic track. The authors decided to flip that arrangement upside down, putting the superconductor on the ground and giving each vehicle a magnet. The result is a system with multiple uses, placing it within the realm of affordability.

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The AAAS's inaugural Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award honors recognizes Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden Jr., USMC (Ret), a former administrator of NASA; John Mather, senior project scientist of the JWST since 1995; and Bill Ochs, JWST project manager from 2011 through the telescope’s launch. The award selection committee seeks to acknowledge not only the winners’ individual contributions, but also the teams they inspired, whose collective work has given us all a completely different view of the universe.

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AIP has selected Richard Fitzgerald as the new editor-in-chief of Physics Today, the most influential and closely followed physics magazine in the world and a unifying influence for the diverse areas of physics and related sciences. Fitzgerald moves into this role after nearly 25 years of increasing leadership on the Physics Today team.

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ASA will hold its 184th meeting May 8-12 in Chicago, offering in-person and hybrid sessions throughout the week. The scientific conference brings together acousticians, researchers, musicians, and more from around the world, who will describe their work on topics that include measuring the calls of Puerto Rican coqui frogs, communicating with artificial intelligence, capturing the sounds of the stratosphere, simulating sounds on other planets, and ensuring linguistic justice by considering the unique aspects of African American English. Conference highlights can be found on social media by searching the #ASA184 hashtag and reporters are invited to attend in-person and hybrid sessions at no cost.

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The exact mechanism of cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis is unknown, but damage from mechanical stress with insufficient self-repair is believed to be the main culprit. The composition of synovial fluid, or joint lubricant, changes significantly: The concentration and molecular weight of hyaluronic acid tends to decrease. In Biointerphases, researchers explore the disease-driven breakdown of hyaluronan and the mechanistic implications of these changes on the lubrication and subsequent wear of joints.

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In Physics of Fluids, researchers develop a computational model of stormwater piping to study storm geysers. They used this model to understand why storm geysers form, what conditions tend to make them worse, and what city planners can do to prevent them from occurring.

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In Applied Physics Letters, researchers in the U.K. introduce a novel imaging method to detect gold nanoparticles in woodlice. Their method, known as four-wave mixing microscopy, flashes light that the gold nanoparticles absorb. The light flashes again and the subsequent scattering reveals the nanoparticles’ locations. With information about the quantity, location, and impact of gold nanoparticles within the organism, scientists can better understand the potential harm other metals may have on nature.

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The Journal of Chemical Physics is pleased to announce Bingqing Cheng and Katrin Erath-Dulitz as the 2022 winners of the JCP Best Paper by an Emerging Investigator Awards. Cheng was selected for research that exploits machine learning to understand and predict material properties and Erath-Dulitz was recognized for developing a method that controllably prepares chemical reactions to explore their quantum nature. Each winner will receive a $2,000 honorarium and is invited to write a perspective article for JCP.

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According to some estimates, up to 80% of patients who experience a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm will die before they reach the hospital or during surgery. But early intervention can prevent rupture and improve outcomes. In Physics of Fluids, researchers make a computational model of the cardiovascular system in order to predict early AAA rupture and monitor patients’ blood vessel conditions. They mimicked specific health conditions and investigated various hemodynamic parameters using image-based computational blood dynamics.

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In APL Bioengineering, researchers develop a 3D cell culture system to test how inhibiting fibroblast activities can help treat lung cancer. To simulate the tumor microenvironment and mimic real tissues, the team co-cultured lung cancer cells and fibroblasts in a 3D matrix. The researchers then tested the anti-cancer drug cisplatin with and without two anti-fibrotic drugs, nintedanib and pirfenidone. They found that combining the anti-fibrotic drug nintedanib with the anti-cancer drug cisplatin increased the efficacy of the latter.

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In Biophysics Reviews, researchers identify the most promising advancements and greatest challenges of artificial mitochondria and chloroplasts. The team describes the components required to construct synthetic mitochondria and chloroplasts and identifies proteins as the most important aspects for molecular rotary machinery, proton transport, and ATP production. The authors believe it is important to create artificial cells with biologically realistic energy-generation methods that mimic natural processes; replicating the entire cell could lead to future biomaterials.

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In Chaos, a team of scientists from Spain and Argentina present an original oscillating short-term memory model to study the dynamics of landing events at 10 major European airports. The model can estimate how landing volumes will influence those in consecutive hours – a critical ability given airport capacity constraints and external events that cause landing delays. Altogether, the model demonstrates that statistical analyses of hourly plane landing volumes can yield valuable insights into airport operations.

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AIP is pleased to announce physicist Valerie Browning as the newest member of the Institute’s Board of Directors. Her appointment is effective March 24. Browning is the Vice President for Research and Technology in the Corporate Technology Office at Lockheed Martin, where she leads transformational research and design projects that bring together industry, academia, and government organizations.

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AIP has selected Mahouton Norbert Hounkonnou as the winner of the 2023 John Torrence Tate Medal for International Leadership in Physics. The award committee selected Hounkonnou “for leadership in building and maintaining an enduring transnational African mathematical physics research and education community, in particular the COPROMAPH conferences and schools and Academy level international networks.” The award includes a certificate of recognition, bronze medal, and $10,000 prize and Hounkonnou will be presented with the medal during an upcoming physical sciences community event.

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Scientists in China have developed a modeling technique to study urban traffic flows and show that their model can be used to find previously unknown bottlenecks. The model uses a modified form of percolation theory, and the investigators considered the existing road network and population distribution in Shanghai.

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Additive manufacturing of food involves designing, pre-processing, manufacturing, and post-processing, and each step is an opportunity to create innovative foods. In Physics of Fluids, researchers identify factors that affect the print quality and shape complexity of the food created. For example, changing the printing patterns and ingredients of the initial mix or paste can affect the food’s matrix and microstructures and therefore its texture. Accounting for these features can increase food quality, improve control, and speed up printing.

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In JASA, researchers explore how anatomical variations in a speaker’s vocal tract affect speech production. Using MRI, the team recorded the shape of the vocal tract for 41 speakers as the subjects produced a series of representative speech sounds. They averaged these shapes to establish a sound-independent model of the vocal tract. Then they used statistical analysis to extract the main variations between speakers. A handful of factors explained nearly 90% of the differences between speakers.

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Practical carbon capture technologies are still in the early stages of development, with the most promising involving a class of compounds called amines that can chemically bind with carbon dioxide. In AVS Quantum Science, researchers deploy an algorithm to study amine reactions through quantum computing. An existing quantum computer cab run the algorithm to find useful amine compounds for carbon capture more quickly, analyzing larger molecules and more complex reactions than a traditional computer can.

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In a world experiencing growing inequality and intolerance, tools borrowed from science and mathematics could be the key to understanding and preventing prejudice. In Chaos, Luis A. Martinez-Vaquero applies evolutionary game theory, which combines techniques from economics and biology, and complex system analysis to investigate the relationship between inequality and intolerance. He found that inequality boosts intolerance and that redistribution of wealth can prevent its infectious spread.

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In APL Bioengineering, researchers create a biomimetic model to study wound healing in burn and laceration wounds. The team designed an in vitro model system made of fibroblasts embedded in a collagen hydrogel. Wounds were created in this microtissue using a microdissection knife to mimic laceration or a high-energy laser to simulate a burn. They discovered that fibroblasts clear away damaged tissue before depositing new material. This part of the healing process is slower in burn wounds.

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Milutin Milankovitch hypothesized that the timing of glacial transitions has been controlled by the orbital parameters of the Earth, which suggests that there may be some predictability in the climate, a notoriously complex system. In Chaos, Stefano Pierini proposes a new paradigm to simplify the verification of the Milankovitch hypothesis. Pierini’s “deterministic excitation paradigm” combines the physics concepts of relaxation oscillation and excitability to link Earth’s orbital parameters and the glacial cycles in a more generic way.

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AIP is seeking applications for the 2023 Robert H.G. Helleman Memorial Fellowships, which will support Dutch graduate students and postdoctoral researchers as they pursue research in physics and its related subdisciplines in the U.S. Applications for the 2023 fellowships are underway and due March 15. AIP and its Center for History of Physics will select the fellows in May. For information about eligibility, application, and criteria, visit the AIP Robert H.G. Helleman Memorial Fellowships website.

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In APL Bioengineering, researchers describe how gut-on-a-chip devices can bridge lab models and human biology. Modeling the microbiome is particularly difficult because of its unique environmental conditions, but through creative design, gut-on-a-chip devices can simulate many of these properties, such as the gut’s anaerobic atmosphere, fluid flow, and pulses of contraction/relaxation. Growing intestinal cells in this environment means that they more closely resemble human biology compared to standard laboratory cell cultures.

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AIP Foundation and the Society of Physics Students have partnered with Google to award up to 20 $2,500 scholarships to physics and astronomy undergraduate students. Applicants must be undergraduate members of SPS and have at least one full semester remaining at the time of the award. The committee will consider applicants’ interest and perseverance in physics or astronomy, their effort and potential, and their active participation in their physics department, clubs, and programs outside the classroom. Applications are due March 15/

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The TEAM-UP Together Scholarship Program is underway and will continue to accept applications for its next round of need-based scholarships until April 7. The scholarship program is one of TEAM-UP Together’s strategies aimed at doubling the number of African Americans earning bachelor’s degrees in physics and astronomy by 2030. The awards of $10,000 per academic year are to be used for tuition, fees, or supplies. To apply, students must be African American or Black undergraduates majoring in physics or astronomy at accredited U.S. colleges or universities.

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In APL Photonics, researchers design a solar harvester with enhanced energy conversion capabilities. The device employs a quasiperiodic nanoscale pattern, meaning most of it is an alternating and consistent pattern, while the remaining portion contains random defects that do not affect its performance. The fabrication process makes use of self-assembling nanoparticles, which form an organized material structure based on their interactions with nearby particles without any external instructions. Thermal energy harvested by the device can be transformed to electricity using thermoelectric materials.

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In Journal of Applied Physics, a team of scientists fabricate sensitive nanostructured silver surfaces to detect arsenic, even at very low concentrations. The sensors make use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: As a molecule containing arsenic adheres to the surface, it's hit with a laser and the arsenic compound scatters the laser light, creating an identifiable signature. The technique is a departure from existing methods, which are time-consuming, expensive, and not ideally suited to on-site field assays.

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The Journal of Chemical Physics and the APS Division of Chemical Physics announce Haiming Zhu as the winner of the JCP-DCP Future of Chemical Physics Lectureship in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of the photophysical properties of emerging optoelectronic materials and processes using spatio-temporal resolved ultrafast spectroscopy.

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Researchers have analyzed brewing with numerical simulations to predict an array of beer foam features. Publishing their work in Physics of Fluids, they demonstrate that their model can determine foam patterns, heights, stability, beer/foam ratio, and foam volume fractions. The study presents the first use of a computational approach called a multiphase solver to tackle beer heads.

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When the Artemis 1 mission was launched in November, it became the world’s most powerful rocket, and with liftoff came a loud roar heard miles away. In JASA Express Letters, researchers report noise measurements during the launch at different locations around Kennedy Space Center. The data collected can be used to validate existing noise prediction models, which are needed to protect equipment as well as the surrounding environment and community. These data will be useful as more powerful lift vehicles are developed.

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Researchers recently modeled the transmission of COVID-19 within an isolation room at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, U.K. Their goal was to explore the optimal room layout to reduce the risk of infection for health care staff. To accomplish this, they used an adaptive mesh finite-element computational fluid dynamics model to simulate 3D spatial distribution of the virus within the room — based on data collected from the room during a COVID-19 patient’s stay. They share their findings and guidance in Physics of Fluids.

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AIP is pleased to announce Anna Lee as the new executive director of AIP Foundation. Starting February 1, Lee will lead the foundation as it magnifies philanthropic support of the Institute. Her appointment as executive director will bring valuable leadership and strategic direction to the foundation as it continues to share the history of the physical sciences, motivate and encourage a new generation of scientists, attract and inspire new partners, and support AIP priorities through critical fundraising opportunities.

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The Acoustical Society of America offers Science Communication Awards in Acoustics to recognize excellence in the communication of acoustics-related topics to a popular audience. The 2023 award cycle will accept content created between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022; if you have seen, heard, or created something acoustics-related during this time frame, please nominate it! Each nominated entry will be judged according to its general accessibility, relevance to acoustics, accuracy, and quality. Nominations will be accepted until March 15, 2023.

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The Heineman Foundation, AIP, and AAS are pleased to announce Karen Meech, astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, as the winner of the 2023 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. Meech was selected “for her pioneering work in expanding and pushing boundaries in the field of small body solar system observational science, and for making transformative contributions to shape the broader field of planetary science in general.” She will be awarded $10,000 and a certificate and invited to give a talk at a future AAS meeting.

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In the "butterfly effect," an insect can flap its wings and create a microscopic change in initial conditions that leads to a hurricane halfway around the world. This chaos is seen everywhere, from weather to labor markets to brain dynamics. And now, in the journal Chaos, researchers explored how to turn the twisting, fractal structures behind the science into jewelry with 3D printing. The jewelry shapes are based on the Chua circuit, a simple electronic system that was the first physical, mathematical, and experimental proof of chaos.

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In Physics of Fluids, researchers simulate an atomic bomb explosion from a typical intercontinental ballistic missile and the resulting blast wave to see how it would affect people sheltering indoors.

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Nonpharmaceutical interventions slowed the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases but now, as NPIs are lifted, countries are seeing a resurgence in several respiratory diseases. In Chaos, scientists, using data from Hong Kong to develop their model, describe a threshold control method that can be used to predict the best time to lift NPIs without overwhelming the hospital systems when these other respiratory diseases inevitably surge back. They found that reintroducing NPI measures when a threshold of 600 severe cases is reached could ensure that the hospital system in Hong Kong is not overwhelmed by severely infected patients.

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In Journal of Applied Physics, researchers present a special silicon nitride nanopore-based sensing device that is designed to provide volume information about tau and tubulin protein molecules and their aggregation states. To create the sensor, the team explored how the proteins change the current and voltage flowing through a nanopore system.

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In APL Bioengineering, researchers develop an injectable hydrogel that treats infections around prosthetics without the problems caused by current treatments. The black phosphorus-enhanced gel has a porous structure, excellent injectability, and rapid self-healing properties. Tests show it has good stability and low toxicity to tissue cells, and irradiating the gel with near infrared light causes it to release silver ions. This process was highly efficient at inhibiting S. aureus, common bacteria that cause disease in humans.

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TEAM-UP Together is pleased to announce its first cohort of scholars, 31 African American students who will each receive $10,000 for the 2022-23 academic year. The scholarship program aims to reduce financial barriers that prevent many Black students from completing their undergraduate education in physics and astronomy. A collective action initiative, TEAM-UP Together is a partnership between the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, and the Society of Physics Students. TEAM-UP Together is sponsored by the Simons Foundation International.

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In Physics of Fluids, researchers design and analyze droplet experiments that were done on the International Space Station. The researchers sent four different surfaces with various roughness properties to the station, where they were mounted to a lab table. Cameras recorded the droplets as they spread and merged. The experimental results confirmed and expanded the parameter space of the Davis-Hocking model, a simple way to simulate droplets.

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With numerical simulations, researchers have demonstrated a new way to time weak electrical pulses that can stop certain life-threatening arrhythmias. Publishing their work in Chaos, the group shows that timed pulses are successful in ending atrial and ventricular fibrillations. The study provides early evidence that one theorized approach to controlling fibrillations – adaptive deceleration pacing – can improve the performance of defibrillators.

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In Physics of Fluids, researchers explore the lift production mechanism of flying snakes, which undulate side-to-side as they move from the tops of trees to the ground to escape predators or to move around quickly and efficiently. The investigators developed a computational model derived from data obtained through high-speed video of the snakes and considered several features, such as the angle of attack that the snake forms with the oncoming airflow and the frequency of its undulations, to determine which were important in producing glide.

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Since oral cancer occurs in one of the most accessible sites in the body, it can be easily treated if detected promptly. In Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, researchers report a breakthrough hand-held biosensor that enables quick and accurate detection of oral cancer. The group's biosensor consists of a sensor strip, similar to a glucose strip, and a circuit board (a hand-held terminal like a glucometer) for detection.

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Studying whether animals possess additional language-related skills can help us understand what it takes to learn speech and reveal the history of its evolution. Andrea Ravignani and colleagues studied seal pups' vocal plasticity, or how well they can adjust their own voices to compensate for their environment, and found that seal pups can change the pitch and volume of their voices, much like humans can. Ravignani will discuss his work linking vocal learning with vocal plasticity and rhythmic capacity at the 183rd ASA Meeting.

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At the 183rd ASA Meeting, Kenton Hummel will describe how soundscape research in day cares can improve child and provider outcomes and experiences. He and his team collaborated with experts in engineering, sensing, early child care, and health to monitor three day care centers for 48-hour periods. High noise levels and long periods of loud fluctuating sound can negatively impact children and staff by increasing the effort it takes to communicate. In contrast, a low background noise level allows for meaningful speech, which is essential for language, brain, cognitive, and social/emotional development.

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At the 183rd ASA Meeting, Brendan Smith will describe how hydrophones can listen to the sounds of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, informing the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining and assisting with interplanetary exploration. He and his supervisor David Barclay have developed noninvasive ways to study the vents that are sustainable in the long term because they work from a safe distance. Understanding the acoustics in the vicinity could help predict and prevent environmental impacts.

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Modern movie sound mixing uses techniques like impulse responses to reproduce dialogue and other sounds. These methods are crucial to align what moviegoers see and hear and keep them engaged in the story. At the 183rd ASA meeting, Jeffrey Reed of Taproot Audio Design will demonstrate the behind-the-scenes audio engineering required to re-create the acoustics of movie sets and locations, sharing short clips of film to compare the original recording to the studio mixed product.

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"I am sitting in a room, different from the one you are in now." With these words, Alvin Lucier begins a fascinating recording where his voice warps and becomes indistinguishable over time, solely because of how sound reflects in the room. For physics students, this audio can be used to reveal details of the surrounding room and teach important lessons about acoustic resonance. Andy Piacsek, of Central Washington University, will discuss how he employs Lucier's project in the classroom during his talk, "Students are sitting in a room."