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Happy New Year and welcome to my bulletin covering physics news and events for January 2012 and beyond.

We start the year with the AIP Annual General Meeting, which will be held in Melbourne on Monday 6 February 2012. Details of the AGM are below. Please contact me or your state representatives if you have any issues you would like brought up at the associated Council meeting.

In January, Korea’s first astronaut Soyeon Yi talks about her work on the International Space Station (ISS) in Canberra and Melbourne, David Awschalom discusses diamond computing in Melbourne, you have the opportunity to register for February’s scientists meet policy-makers day in Canberra and seminars get underway at many of the physics departments across Australia.

2011 saw many physicists being recognised for their work, most significantly Brian Schmidt and his Nobel Prize. Over the next two years, together with the Astronomical Society of Australia, the AIP will be hosting public lectures by Brian in areas not already on his very heavy schedule, as well as smaller-scale events with teachers and students with a particular interest in astrophysics.

Other physicists honoured include Tanya Monro (on multiple counts), Ken Freeman, Joe Wolfe, Marcela Bilek, Joss Bland-Hawthorn and Cheng Anderson on your achievements. Details are below.

Last year saw improvements to our magazine, Australian Physics, and the publication of 9 issues to get us back in line with the bimonthly calendar date on the cover. Thanks to Peter Robertson and his team for this.

One of our members, Bruce McKellar, was elected President Designate of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics which sees him on the executive of that august body for the next six years.

For the year ahead we have the AIP congress in Sydney in December at which time we will also commence a year of celebration of the AIP’s 50^th anniversary. One of the things we wish to do as part of those celebrations is to further enhance our linkages with the Institute of Physics from which we grew half a century ago – and we’re after ideas on how to do so.

In this bulletin we’ve also introduced a list of some recent physics-related papers.

Read more details below. Then click through to our calendar at http://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/events/aip-event-calendar to book events into your diary and to add your own events.

You are welcome to contact me regarding AIP or other physics matters. Just email aip_president@aip.org.au.

All the very best for a productive 2012,

 

Marc

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Notice of 49th Australian Institute of Physics AGM

DATE: 6 February 2012

TIME: 5pm

VENUE: Conference Room, 7th floor, David Caro Building, University of Melbourne AGENDA:

1. Apologies, recording of proxies

2. Minutes of 47th Annual General Meeting

3. Business arising from the minutes

4. President's report

5. Treasurer's report

6. Election of Office Bearers for 2011/2013

7. Appointment of auditor.

8. Any other business.

In this bulletin:
1. AIP events across the country
2. Activities for the general public, students and teachers
3. AIP branch updates for 2012
4. Australian physics research of note
5. Develop your physics communication skills
6. Book reviews for Australian Physics – can you suggest a title for review?
7. Physicists honoured
8. Prizes, competitions
9. Seminars
10. Conferences
11. Submissions to the bulletin and journal

 

DATE: 20 January

TIME: 4pm

VENUE: Meeting room 449, Level 4, O Block Podium, QUT

More info: Till Weinhold on till.weinhold@gmail.com.

Two free public talks – children are welcome

Soyeon Yi is a South Korean scientist and PhD graduate of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology). She was one of the two finalists through the Korean Astronaut Program and she became the first Korean and the second Asian woman to fly in space in 2008.

DATE: Friday 20 January

3pm: My life as an astronaut (for a young audience)

6pm: Science in space (general public)

VENUE: CSIRO Discovery Centre

DATE: Friday 24 February

TIME: 8.30am – 5.00pm

VENUE: The Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science, McCoy Circuit, Acton, ACT

We recognise it is difficult to establish sound policy that meets the needs of modern societies in the absence of the scientific evidence base. Improving communication and information flow between experts who generate evidence and policy makers who use it can assist to formulate sound, accurate and timely policies as well as assist in the delivery of meaningful advice to politicians.

Science & Technology Australia in partnership with the HC Coombs Policy Forum will take a closer look at the intersection between the scientific evidence base and the formulation of policy.

Registration is free but numbers are limited, Register by 3 February.

Free public talk and reception

DATE: Wednesday 18 January

TIME: 6.30 – 7.30pm

TITLE: Engaging diamonds in the quantum age

SPEAKER: David Awschalom, University of California, Santa Barbara

VENUE: Hercus Theatre, Ground Floor, School of Physics, University of Melbourne

‘Semiconductors are like people: it’s the defects that make them interesting.’

David Awschalom will explain how the quantum properties of materials like diamond might revolutionise electronics. Creating defects in this semiconducting gemstone could provide unlimited data storage and unparalleled computing power, enabling us to model the human brain, to design new drugs for targeted therapy and to address fundamental science questions such as quantum gravity.

Free public talk – children 10+ are welcome

Soyeon Yi is a South Korean scientist and PhD graduate of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology). She was one of the two finalists through the Korean Astronaut Program and she became the first Korean and the second Asian woman to fly in space in 2008.

DATE: Thursday 19 January

TIME: 5.30pm for a 6.00pm start

VENUE: Engineers Australia, 21 Bedford St, North Melbourne

Free public talks from 6.30 – 7.30pm, preceded by a tour of VSSEC 30 mins prior to the session. Seats are limited, so follow the link to book a seat.

Date	Speaker	Title
13 February	Andrew Hyslop, Goddard Flight Centre, NASA	An Australian designing robotic satellites at NASA
29 March	Richard Wassersug, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada	Latest research in space biology

VSSEC is at Strathmore Secondary College, Pascoe Vale Road, Strathmore.

The Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing holds regular free public lectures on the Hawthorn campus at 6.30pm. For more info go to the Swinburne public astronomy lecture website.

VENUE: Swinburne University, Hawthorn campus

Free, but booking required.

Date	Speaker	Title	Room
14 February	Michael Shara, American Museum of Natural History, New York	TBA	BA201
29 March	Andrea Ghez, UCLA	The supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy	EN715
18 April	Chris Blake, Swinburne University	TBA	TBA
25 May	Catarina Ubach and Francesco Pignatale, Swinburne University	TBA	TBA

Contact: Liz Thackray on ethackray@swin.edu.au or (03) 9214 5569, or book online.

During the January school holiday period Swinburne will be running 3D AstroTours for the general public. The 50-minute session for ages six and up will include “Mars”, the brand new 3D movie made by Swinburne 3D Productions.

Dates and times:

11am, Tuesday 17 January

11am, Wednesday 18 January

2pm, Wednesday 18 January

11am, Tuesday 24 January

11am, Wednesday 25 January

2 pm, Wednesday 25 January

Bookings are essential and can be made via email to astrotour@swin.edu.au or call Liz Thackray on (03) 9214 5569.

See http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/astrotour for more information.

Gingin Observatory runs a variety of public events, many suitable for families, as well as regular stargazing tours. More info is available at the Observatory website or by contacting Carol Redford or Donna Vanzetti on (08) 9575 7740 or stars@ginginobservatory.com. Contact Carol or Donna to book into events.

The Gravity Discovery Centre is open every day of the school holidays, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Special events include:

Date	Time	Event
2,3,6,7,8,10,11,28 January	8-10pm	Marvellous Moon stargazing
13,14,17,18,20,21,24,25,27 January 2012	8-10pm	Dark Night stargazing

The Queensland branch committee for 2012 is:

Chair Chris Langton (QUT) (christian.langton@qut.edu.au)

Vice President Igor Litvinyuk (GU)

Treasurer Tom Stace (UQ)

Secretary Till Weinhold (UQ) (till.weinhold@gmail.com)

Committee members Joanna Turner (USQ), Joel Corney (UQ), Mark Young (Anglican Church Grammar School), John Wilkinson (Forest Lake College), Kristy Vernon (WIP Representative) (QUT), Juna Sathian (QUT), Joel Alroe (QUT) and Warwick Bowen (UQ)

The West Australian branch committee for 2012 is:

Chair Marjan Zadnik (m.zadnik@curtin.edu.au)

Vice- Chair David Parlevliet

Secretary Andrea Biondo (andrea.biondo@uwa.edu.au)

Treasurer Ian McArthur

Committee members Chris Creagh, John Chapman, Bruce Hartley, Geoff Swan.

The NSW branch committee executive for 2012 is:

Chair Scott Martin (Scott.Martin@csiro.au)

Secretary Fred Osman

Treasurer Michael Lerch

The Victorian branch is unchanged from last year. The exec members are:

Chair Andrew Stevenson (andrew.stevenson@csiro.au)

Vice Chair David Paterson

Treasurer Chris Vale

Secretary Mark Boland (mark.boland@synchrotron.org.au)

Each week, Science in Public’s Tim Thwaites identifies the most interesting and important new research published by Australians – and below are some of the physics-related stories from the past month.

Other research of note can be found here: http://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/category/storybook/oz-research

Sydney researcher have developed the narrowest conducting wires in silicon ever made – just four atoms wide and one atom tall – and shown them to have the same electrical current carrying capability of copper. Despite their astonishingly tiny diameter – 10,000 times thinner than a human hair – these wires have exceptionally good electrical properties, raising hopes they will serve to connect atomic-scale components in the quantum computers of tomorrow. The wires were made by precisely placing chains of phosphorus atoms within a silicon crystal, according to the study, which includes researchers from the University of Melbourne and Purdue University in the US.

Bent Weber, Prof Michelle Simmons; ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, University of New South Wales.

Science; http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-technology/wires-shrink-atomic-scale

The soaring mountain peaks and deep valleys hidden beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet have been revealed in a new map produced using decades of survey data acquired by planes, satellites, ships and dog-drawn sleds. Called BEDMAP2, the close-up view of Antarctica without its ice, is a comprehensive digital map of the bedrock, produced using more than 27 million points of data collected by a range of international partners.

Dr Roland Warner, Australian Antarctic Division

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/science/cool-science/2011/bedrock-map-reveals-ice-free-antarctica

Canberra astronomers have found that extensive regions of the sub-surface of Mars could contain water and be at comfortable temperatures for terrestrial – and potentially Martian – microbes. The researchers modelled Mars to evaluate its potential for harbouring inhabitable water. They found more than they were expecting. “Our models tell us that if there is water present in the Martian sub-surface then it could be habitable – as an extensive region of the subsurface is at temperatures and pressures comfortable for terrestrial life.”

Eriita Jones, Dr Charley Lineweaver, Planetary Science Institute, ANU

Astrobiology Journal; http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=12911

An international team of astronomers has made a new discovery about how old stars called ‘red giants’ rotate, giving an insight into what our Sun will look like in five billion years. The group, which includes Sydney researchers, has discovered the cores of red giants spin at least 10 times faster than their outer layers.

Prof Tim Bedding, Dr Dennis Stello, School of Physics, University of Sydney.

Nature; http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?

Communicating science with diverse audiences has never been more important or difficult. Whatever your need is to make science and technological subjects accessible, you need the right skills to get your message across.

The Australian Science Communicators National Conference will be the place to get you started on the right track. Specialists with diverse skills in communicating science will meet for three days to explore issues, provide training, problem solve, network and discuss effective ways to engage Australians with science.

Whether you are a science researcher or teacher, are working for a science or environmentally related organisation or are freelance, and whether you meet people face to face or communicate through various media, this conference will have something for you.

The conference features a wide range of speakers including the federal and state Chief Scientists, heads of science agencies, people skilled in developing computer games for education and using other new media, and those who link art with science to put ideas in different contexts. For the big picture view the full program on http://2012conf.asc.asn.au/.

John Macfarlane, the book review editor for Australian Physics, would like suggestions for books that could be reviewed in the journal. If you’ve recently come across a book that you think more people should hear about, let John know. And if you like, you can volunteer to review it.

Contact John at jcmacfarlane@netspace.net.au.

My congratulations to the many physicists whose contributions to research, and society more generally, are recognised. Here are details of some of the recently announced awards.

Australian Academy of Science

AIP member Tanya Monro, from the University of Adelaide, was awarded the Pawsey Medal, an early-career award for research in physics by the Australian Academy of Science. She’ll receive the award at the AAS annual conference in May. To round off a successful 2011 in which she is also the South Australian ‘Australian of the Year’ and a finalist in the Eureka Prize for Science Leadership, Tanya has also been recognised at the Scopus Awards and the Australian Innovation Challenge (see below).

The Academy also announced Ken Freeman, from the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at ANU, as the winner of the 2013 Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture for research in the physical sciences.

More info on the AAS awards at http://www.science.org.au/news/media/6december11-2.html.

Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Awards 2011

In September 2011 Tanya Monro won the Physical Sciences category of the 2nd annual Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Awards 2011, presented by Elsevier and Australasian Research Management Society. The awards are judged on research impact, external impact and esteem.

The Australian newspaper’s Innovation Challenge

AIP member Joe Wolfe of the University of NSW won the Education category for his Physclips Platform: A new way to learn Physics.

Physclips is a freely available new media technology platform for learning physics, or for teaching it, at the senior high school or introductory university level. Currently, it comprises completed volumes on mechanics, special relativity, sound and waves, and has various collections of resources for electricity, magnetism and thermal physics. Joe says the platform and its interactivity provide a learning experience that goes beyond chalk and talk.

You can see Physclips here www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au.

Tanya Monro was also shortlisted, with Alexandre Francois, as one of the top five inventions in the health category inventors for their VESPR (versatile enhanced surface plasmon resonance) sensor. The VESPR sensor, which is cheap to manufacture and easy to use, lets GPs rapidly diagnose diseases such as cancer, HIV and influenza.

The winner of the health section was another physicist, Marcela Bilek from the University of Sydney, for the invention of a new way to coat the surfaces of biomedical implants, such as hip and knee prostheses and cardiovascular stents, with biologically active molecules to shield them from the body’s immune system. The technology promises to lessen the problem of the body’s rejection of biomedical implants.

More information on the Innovation Challenge is at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/innovationchallenge.

Optical Society of America

AIP member Joss Bland-Hawthorn, an astronomer and astrophotonics pioneer from the University of Sydney, has recently been elected a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.

More info at http://sydney.edu.au/news/physics/1737.html?newsstoryid=8243.

Defence Science

In November last year, the 2011 Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science was presented to Cheng Anderson, DSTO, for her pioneering role in reducing the vulnerability of Australia’s Defence platforms over three decades. Cheng’s research on radar signatures is contributing to ‘stealth’ technology, and will help save lives.

In awarding the prize, Minister Snowdon, the Minister of Defence said it recognised the rare distinction of an individual scientist being solely responsible for establishing a critical defence capability.

More info at http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/news/6796/.

The 2012 Emerging Space Leaders Grant Programme (formerly known as the Youth Grant Programme) provides opportunities for students and young professionals to participate in the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) scheduled to take place in Naples, Italy from 1 to 5 October 2012 and in other activities held in association with the congress

Students and young professionals between the ages of 21 and 35 on 1 January 2012 with space-related career interests are encouraged to apply for the programme. Up to twelve students and young professionals will be selected by the IAF to participate in the 2012 programme.

More info at http://www.iafastro.org/index.html?title=ESLgrants

Applications close 1 February 2012.

Australian primary and secondary school students have the opportunity to propose their own experiment to be performed on board the ISS in the Japanese experiment module, Kibo.

What experiment would you like to perform using only items found on the ISS, such as weights, a yo-yo, balloons, paper, straw and a compass?

Deadline: Monday 27 February

More info at http://www.vssec.vic.edu.au/try-zero-g-propose-your-own-experiment-for-the-iss/#more-7828

Please check the departmental websites for any updates.

The Director’s Colloquium at the Research School of Physics and Engineering is the leading physics forum in the ACT and is focused on presentations by high profile scientists who are also outstanding communicators. The colloquia are held monthly on Thursdays at 12.30pm in the Leonard Huxley Theatre (Building 56) of the ANU.

More info can be obtained here or from the Colloquium Chair Dr Dragomir Neshev (dragomir.neshev@anu.edu.au).

No seminars are currently listed on the website.

The Australia Telescope National Facility holds regular colloquia on Wednesdays at 3.00pm in the ATNF Marsfield Lecture Theatre. More info here or contact Ryan Shannon on ryan.shannon@csiro.au or (02) 9372 4326.

Date	Speaker	Title
18 January	Kazuhito Motogi, Hokkaido University	A Time-resolved study of high mass protostellar jets and accretion disks
29 February	Paula Benaglia, Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia	Runaway massive stars and their bow shocks
28 March	Huub Rottgering, Leiden University	LOFAR: Opening up the low-frequency radio sky
2 May	Enno Middelberg, University of Bochum	A wider audience: turning VLBI into a survey instrument

The School of Physics holds regular colloquia on Mondays at 3.15pm (refreshments from 3pm) in the Slade Lecture Theatre, School of Physics A28, University of Sydney. More info here or contact Bruce Yabsley (02) 9351 5970 or colloquium_chair@physics.usyd.edu.au.

No seminars are currently timetabled for January. Check the website for details.

The School of Physics holds regular colloquia on Tuesdays at 3-4pm in the School of Physics Common Room, Room 64, Old Main Building, University of NSW. More info here or contact Julian Berengut on jcb@phys.unsw.edu.au or (02) 9385 7637.

Date	Speaker	Title
23 January	David A van Dyk, Imperial College London, United Kingdom	Embedding astronomical computer models into principled statistical analyses

The Physics Department holds regular colloquia on Fridays at 4pm (refreshments from 3.30pm) in Room 222, Parnell Building, University of Queensland. More info here or contact Chao Feng on uqcfeng1@uq.edu.au or (07) 3346 7719.

No seminars are currently timetabled for January. Check the website for details.

The Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing holds regular colloquia, usually on Thursdays at 11.30am, in the Swinburne Virtual Reality Theatre (Room 104, AR Building). More info here or contact Felipe Marin on colloquium@astro.swin.edu.au.

 

Date	Speaker	Title
2 February	Leonardo Testi, ESO	TBA
14 February (nb. Tuesday)	Francisco Pignatale, Swinburne	30-month review
23 February	Catarina Ubach, Swinburne	30-month review
28 February (nb. Tuesday)	Simon Mutch, Swinburne	30-month review
1 March	Anna Sippel, Swinburne	18-month review
20 March (nb. Tuesday)	Genevieve Shattow, Swinburne	6-month review

 

The School of Physics, UWA holds regular seminars on Tuesdays at 3.45-4.45pm in Room 2.15 (and also other times and locations, where noted).

More info here or contact Gay Hollister on ghollis@cyllene.uwa.edu.au or (08) 6488 2738.

No seminars are currently timetabled for January.

University of Adelaide, South Australia

16 – 20 Jan 2012

Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW

31 Jan – 03 Feb 2012

The 22nd Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis (ACMM 22), the10th Asia-Pacific Microscopy Conference (APMC 10) and the 2012 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICONN 2012)

Perth, Western Australia

05 – 09 Feb 2012

AINSE, Lucas Heights, Sydney

15 – 17 Feb 2012

Monash University, Melbourne

17 -18 Feb 2012

Brisbane, Queensland

25 Feb 2012

Sydney, NSW

27-29 Feb 2012

Athens, Greece

12 – 15 Jun 2012

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Victoria

4 – 11 Jul 2012

ANU, Canberra

30 Jul – 3 Aug 2012

Cairns Convention Centre, Qld

5 – 10 Aug 2012

Registration and abstracts open in November. Abstract submission closes 5 Apr 2012. Early bird registration closes 4 June 2012.

Cairns Convention Centre, Qld

12 – 17 Aug 2012

Wollongong, NSW

23 – 28 Sep 2012

Sydney, NSW

18 – 23 Nov 2012

My next bulletin will come out in late Jan/early Feb. We welcome contributions about activities, conferences and announcements by Wednesday 25 January. Please send your submissions to Niall Byrne (by replying to this email) or Margie Beilharz from Science in Public on margie@scienceinpublic.com.au or call (03) 9398 1416.

You can also submit your physics events directly to the AIP Events Calendar—they will be approved and publicly accessible in just a couple of days, and will also be included in the next month’s bulletin.

If you have an article you would like to submit to ‘Australian Physics’, please send it to the Editor, Peter Robertson on prob@unimelb.edu.au or to the Chair, Editorial Board, Brian James on b.james@physics.usyd.edu.au.

_________________________

For more information on physics events go to the AIP Events Calendar.

If you know of anyone who would like to receive these updates, please feel free to forward this to them.

Kind regards,

Marc

——————————————————————-

Dr Marc Duldig

President of the Australian Institute of Physics

Phone: + 61 (0) 421 757 285

Email: aip_president@aip.org.au