From: "JACK L. URETSKY (C) 1996; HEP DIV., ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB, ARGONNE, IL 60439" <JLU@hep.anl.gov>
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 18:37:59 -0500 (CDT)
From: SMTP%"whatsnew@aps.org" 11-OCT-1996 16:09:56.14
To: JLU
CC:
Subj: What's New for Oct 11, 1996
Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 21:05:38 GMT
From: whatsnew@aps.org (What's New)
Message-Id: <199610112105.VAA22623@aps.org>
To: jlu@hep.anl.gov
Subject: What's New for Oct 11, 1996
WHAT'S NEW by Robert L. Park Friday, 11 Oct 96 Washington, DC
1. NOBEL PRIZE AWARDED FOR DISCOVERY OF SUPERFLUIDITY IN HELIUM-3
The 1996 Physics Prize was shared by David M. Lee, Douglas D.
Osheroff and Robert C. Richardson. Lee and Richardson are at
Cornell University where the discovery was made in 1972. Doug
Osheroff, who is now at Stanford, was a graduate student at
Cornell when the discovery was made. Superfluidity was detected
during a search for an antiferromagnetic phase in solid helium-3.
In 1981, the three were awarded the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed
Matter Physics Prize of the American Physical Society and it has
been widely assumed that the Nobel Prize would follow.
2. CHEMISTRY PRIZE AWARDED FOR THE 1985 DISCOVERY OF FULLERENES.
The 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was shared by Richard F. Curl,
Harold W. Kroto and Richard E. Smalley for the discovery of this
new form of carbon. Curl and Smalley are at Rice University
where the discovery was made. Kroto is now at the University of
Sussex. Two graduate students, J.R. Heath and S.C. O'Brien, were
also involved in the experiments. Smalley is Professor of
Physics, as well as Chemistry, and is a Fellow of the APS.
3. FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, BUDGET CUTS FAIL TO MATERIALIZE.
The Nobel prizes, of course, are an indication of where we were--
in the case of physics, where we were a quarter of a century ago.
According to an AAAS analysis released this week, total R&D is up
4.1% in the FY 97 budget that was just completed (WN 4 Oct 96).
Total R&D is $74B, but that's not much of a clue to the health of
science -- the basic research part is only about $15B. Still,
basic research is up 2.7%, which is a lot better than we had any
reason to expect, based on the budget resolution passed by
Congress. The winner was NIH with a 6.4% jump in basic research
to $6.9B; NSF basic research was up an anemic 2.5% to $2.1B.
4. APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR SUMMER 1997 MASS MEDIA FELLOWSHIPS.
The APS is sponsoring two ten-week summer fellowships to work in
mass media organizations. Priority will be given to graduate
students in physics or closely related fields, but outstanding
undergraduates and postdoctoral researchers will be considered.
The fellows will receive a stipend of $4,000, a travel allowance
and hands-on experience in communicating complex science issues
to the public. The deadline for completed applications is January
15, 1997. For more information, write to opa@aps.org.
5. BIOELECTROMAGNETICS: NEW PRODUCTS LET YOU HAVE IT EITHER WAY.
There is a revolution underway. Anyone who is still terrified at
the thought of a magnetic field penetrating your body can buy a
BioElectric Shield for $139.95 that protects against "magnetic
poisoning." But more and more people now use magnets to improve
their health; for them there is a new Magnetic Bed Pad at $299.95
that "stimulates circulation and increases oxygen absorption."
THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY (Note: Opinions are the author's
and are not necessarily shared by the APS, but they should be.)