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Newswise — The following press events will take place at the March Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) at the New Orleans Convention Center. Pressroom: B2-2.
Press Conference, Monday, March 10, 11 amTHE FIRST MIXED REALITY EXPERIMENT, STOCK MARKET PHYSICS, AND CELL PHONE VIRUSES More and more these days, physicists are venturing beyond traditional research domains, often developing entirely new disciplines such as econophysics and complexity theory. Many of these new disciplines fall under the domain of the APS Group on Statistical and Nonlinear Physics (GSNP), including the three topics that are the focus of this press conference. Alfred Hübler will start things off in describing a system that explores the connection between the real and virtual worlds by linking a mechanical pendulum to its virtual twin. As the first ever real/virtual physics experiment, it helps clarify the influence that virtual communities exert on the real world and vice versa. Among other things, the experiment could help us understand how the economies of online games such as Second Life could affect real economies. H. Eugene Stanley , on the other hand, is a pioneer of the real-world discipline known as econophysics. He has found that so-called rare events in stock market dynamics are much more important than traditional economics theories consider them to be. Stanley explains that financial fluctuations show how supposedly rare outliers prove to be consistently common with larger amounts of data. The third speaker in the press conference, Pu Wang , is exploring a whole new technological threat -- the possibility of a cell phone software virus epidemic. Cell phones can transmit malevolent code through text messaging or through Bluetooth connections. Text message viruses tend to spread through social connections regardless of the phones' locations, while Bluetooth viruses are spread as cell phones get close to each other. These two modes of transmission lead to very different epidemiological patterns, and require different virus countermeasures.
Press Conference, Monday March 10, 3 pmBUILDING CIRCUITS AND MATERIALS ONE MOLECULE AT A TIME Photolithography is a powerful technique for etching surfaces with light and designing such patterned structures such as microprocessors. The technique is limited, however, by the wavelength of light used, and the current state-of-the-art can only precisely etch details on a scale of 30 nanometers or larger. Now macromolecular self assembly is emerging as an alternative to photolithography. This uses polymer building blocks to construct patterned surfaces on even smaller scales with greater precision. NIST's Alamgir Karim will describe two-dimensional physical and chemical patterns (templates) that can direct, in three dimensions, the orientation of "block copolymers," materials consisting of a long chain of one type of building block strongly bonded to a chain consisting of another type of monomer. Paul Nealey of the University of Wisconsin is investigating techniques to integrate self-assembling block copolymers into the lithographic process for improved information transfer, process control, and sub-15 nanometer resolution. In a related talk, Daniel Savin of the University of Vermont uses polypeptide-based polymers that are "tunable" and have potential applications as viscosity modifiers, liquid crystals and gels. The bulk properties of these materials depend on the morphology of these polymers, which can be finely tuned by altering the acidity or the temperature of the solution.
Press Conference, Tuesday, March 11, 11 am3-D OPTICAL LATTICES, TIN BUCKYBALLS, AND SUBWAVELENGTH IMAGE TRANSMISSION (Session B4)Among the thousands of talks at the March APS meeting, some stand out in presenting significant advances in their fields. The first of three breakthroughs that will be presented in this press conference is a leap forward in optical lattice research. David Weiss and colleagues have constructed a 3D optical lattice partially filled with individual atoms at 250 sites. In contrast to previous 3D lattices, the spacing between the atoms in the new system is large enough that the atoms can be individually manipulated with lasers and microwaves without disturbing neighboring atoms, which should hasten the development of lattice-based quantum computers. Next up will be Lai-Sheng Wang whose group has added gold, lead and tin to the list of materials that can be arranged into tiny fullerene spheres. Tin fullerenes in particular look likely to be the most chemically versatile form of fullerenes because of the varieties of atoms that can be trapped inside them to tailor their chemical properties. Finally, Pavel Belov will describe record-setting subwavelength image transmission. The feat was achieved with a novel arrangement of metal rods that can reproduce image details much smaller than is possible with even a perfect conventional lens. The development could lead to unmatched image magnification and super dense data storage. Press Conference, Tuesday, March 11, 1 pmPHYSICISTS LOOK AT CLIMATE CHANGE (Session L3)The prospective rise in temperatures or of sea levels or the intensifying of severe weather is of concern to everyone. Physicists have special skills which they can turn to this huge issue. So, for example, a background in studying string theory can be adapted into studying the oceans. The specific climate issues here concern complexities in the carbon cycle, a statistical approach to climate modeling (rather than using numerical simulation), turbulence and ocean models, and the dynamic effects of climate on ecosystems such as eggplant crops.
Press Conference, Wednesday, March 12, 1 pmDIAMOND COMPUTERS (Session S1)No, computers aren't made of diamond yet. But diamond offers many desirable properties that might become standard equipment on specialized information processing machines in coming years. Besides being the hardest natural material, the best heat conductor and one of the best electrical insulators, diamond might also serve as a platform for quantum bits, as a source for single photons in the visible range, and as a repository for a new line of encryption products.
Press Conference, Wednesday, March 10 3 pmDESIGNER VIRUSES (Session Q2)Some viruses are evolutionarily so well designed for self-assembly that you can break them into pieces, put them into a test tube, shake them up, and get fresh virus out. Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus is like this. Under the right conditions, its purified coat protein mixed together in vitro with its genetic material will spontaneously assemble into infectious particles. This property can be exploited to assemble new nanomaterials - one focus of the emerging field of physical virology. In session Q2, Adam Zlotnick will discuss how he and his colleagues at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center can manipulate the cowpea chlorotic mottle virus coat protein and redirect viral assembly to generate tubular structures. Charles Knobler ([email protected]) of UCLA will discuss the interplay between the length of protein building blocks in the cowpea chlorotic mottle virus and the size of the capsid. These variables can be manipulated to use virus proteins to make nonbiological particles that, according to experimental design, may contain foreign molecules or conform to a designed structure.
Reception, Wednesday, March 12, 5-6:30 pm in pressroomAIP SCIENCE WRITING AWARDTim Folger is the winner of this year's AIP Science Writing Award to a journalist for his article in Discover Magazine about Roger Penrose and quantum weirdness (http://www.aip.org/press_release/08writingawards.html ). Science writers are invited to have food and drink and to meet Mr. Folger.
Press Conference, Thursday, March 13, 9:30 am (Session V5)KATRINA'S IMPACT ON LOCAL PHYSICS DEPARTMENTSHurricane Katrina had a huge effect on all aspects of life in New Orleans. At this briefing we'll look at what happened at some local universities, particularly what happened to physics teaching and research. One speaker will describe how he hosted a New Orleans-based physicist and his work in another state far away. Speakers include Andrew Zwicker (Princeton), Murty Akundi(Xavier University of Louisiana), Shirley Laska (University of New Orleans), Jim McGuire(Tulane University), Greg Seab (University of New Orleans), Natalia Sidorovskaia (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), and David Hoagland (Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst)
Press Conference, Thursday, March 13, 1 pmANIMAL MOTIONSTo understand the mysteries of natural phenomena, physicists are looking at the most awesome examples: animals. But of course, there's a physics twist, which means robots that run, and software that makes an animal. Daniel Goldman will be presenting new research from the Sandbot, a robot that mimics the mobility of sand crabs, desert lizards, and animals that move quickly on tricky surfaces like sand, mud, and gravel. The research sheds light on the physics questions about granular solids, as well as potential uses for human transportation on these surfaces. The Sandbot, which can run on sand at 2 meters a second, will make an appearance at the press conference. Daniel Edwards will present the AnimatLab software, which can create 3-D graphic displays of animal bodies. These are no ordinary displays: the software gives researchers extensive control in designing every aspect of the model, including nervous and brain systems, the anatomy of the animal's movement, their surroundings, and sensory systems. Other presenters at the meeting will be showing data results using AnimatLab to study jumping locusts and shaking cat paws (A38.7 and Y36.2). Finally, Nikolai Rulkov of UC San Diego and Joseph Ayers will talk about their robot model of the nervous and neurological systems of the Sea Lamprey, where they examine the neurological response to physical motion. This simple model brings researchers one step closer to understanding the mysteries of the brain.
***********The American Physical Society is the world's leading professional body of physicists, representing over 46,000 physicists in academia and industry in the US and internationally. It has offices in College Park, MD, Ridge, NY, and Washington, DC.
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