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December 2011 (Volume 20, Number 11)

December 2011 (Volume 20, Number 11) Entire Issue

News

The Physicists are Coming! The Physicists are Coming!
The annual March Meeting is coming to Boston Massachusetts in February, and promises to be the largest ever

International Conference of Graduate Students Invades Nation’s Capital
The three day Canadian-American-Mexican Graduate Student Physics Conference held this year in Washington DC highlighted the intersection of research and public policy

Electronic Coalition May Save Some Texas Programs
Universities across Texas have been told they have to close down their physics programs due to low enrollment numbers, but an electronic coalition may save some of them

APS Calls for Outreach Grant Proposals
The American Physical Society is calling for applications in order to fund programs aimed at promoting the fun and excitement of physics to the public

APS Starts New Recognition Program for Women
The Committee on the Status of Women in Physics will start in January to recognize the “CSWP Woman Physicist of the Month”

Science gets Budget Boost, but Congress Slams OSTP
In what some observers saw as a surprising move, the Federal budget for 2012 included mostly increases for science and research programs

Plasma Meeting Features Research on High Pressures, Fusion Reactors, and Etching
The Division of Plasma Physics drew over 1,500 physicists to Salt Lake City Utah for its annual meeting

Opinion

Letters to the Editor
Once a Physicist... • Consumers’ rights to catastrophe • Kelvin No Hero to Geologists • There is no game to change

The Back Page
The Economics of Education: Closing Undergraduate Physics Programs

Inside the Beltway
Wall Street’s Loss May Be the Nation’s Gain

Departments

Members in the Media
As quoted in other publications...

This Month in Physics History
December 2, 1942: First self-sustained nuclear chain reaction

The Education Corner
A column on educational programs and publications

Profiles in Versatility
Mmm, Mmm, Physics! The Man with the Plan for Cans

Zero Gravity: The Lighter Side of Science
Ultraluminal Neutrinos

Jochim, Radicevic Receive Apker Awards

2011 Apker winners Photo (L) by Jay Pasachoff; (R) by Shelly Johnston
APS annually chooses two undergraduates as recipients of the LeRoy Apker Award for outstanding achievement in physics research.
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Plaques Recognize Physics Milestones

Photo by Alan Etter/UDC
This fall, as part of its historic sites initiative, APS recognized both Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island and the former campus of the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, DC as historic physics sites.
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Fellows Convene in Santa Fe

Fellowes in Santa Fe small
Photo by Darlene Logan/APS
On November 10, APS hosted a reception for New Mexico Fellows at the La Fonda Hotel in downtown Santa Fe.
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New Faculty Gather in College Park

New faculty in College Park
Photo by Michael Lucibella
On a sunny autumn day in late November, more than 50 new physics and astronomy faculty members gathered for a photo opportunity at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD, as part of the latest in an ongoing series of workshops.
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