Members in the Media

“Think of it almost like nano-Velcro.”
–Ali Dhinojwala, University of Akron, on synthetic gecko hairs he developed, The New York Times, August 30, 2005

“Zero-point energy is so tiny that nobody can feel it. But when you get to the realm of quantum mechanics, it exists. The question is, how do you harness it? I have not seen any meaningful theory or demonstration of that. It’s not impossible, but I don’t know how you would do it.”
–Hossein Sadeghpour, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, on the possibility of generating usable power from zero-point energy, San Francisco Chronicle, September 7, 2005

“Our study is the first step, in some sense, in trying to understand what’s the most stable angle that one can build, say, a retaining wall. And if it fails, where would the material end up? How much part of the land will give way?”
–Arshad Kudrolli, Clark University, on his study of the maximum angle of stability in a granular pile, Reuters, September 29, 2005

“When operas are good, they last an incredibly long time. In 200 years, ‘Doctor Atomic’ may be the historical memory of the Manhattan Project.”
–Marvin Cohen, UC Berkeley, on the opera Dr. Atomic, The New York Times, September 25, 2005

“It’s really a compelling adventure, and the value to society is huge. Our mission is to uncover the structure of the universe, but there’s also tangential value that will come out of this.”
–James Brau, University of Oregon, on the International Linear Collider,
The Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon) September 5, 2005

“Your waistline may be spreading but you can’t blame it on the expansion of the universe.”
–Richard Price, University of Texas at Brownsville, on which objects are stretched by cosmological expansion, New Scientist, October 1, 2005

“If we do this it has worldwide consequences, and it will stir up some kind of hornet’s nest.”
–Burton Richter, Stanford University, on a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board report that recommends that the United States design new nuclear weapons, Contra Costa Times, October 5, 2005

“Basically physicists are too undisciplined to let anyone else tell us what to name something. It’s mainly whatever name catches on.”
–Gordon Kane, University of Michigan, on naming things in physics, The New York Times, October 4, 2005

“My biggest problem is having a fast enough processor (brain) to figure these out. You have to think quickly, think ahead, know where you are in the room and how to position yourself for the next figure. It keeps you on your toes.”
–Brian Doyle, on ballroom dancing, The Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire), October 9, 2005

“Don’t buy gamma ray burst insurance.”
–Rocky Kolb, Fermilab, on the probability of a large gamma ray burst near Earth, San Francisco Chronicle, October 6, 2005

“I think the University of Chicago counts everyone who ever walked through there.”
–Herbert Kroemer, UC Santa Barbara, on how the University of Chicago claims 78 Nobel laureates, Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2005

Quotes about this year’s Nobel Prize in physics:

“In my last year of high school, I fixed TVs for a Denver company that was kind of instructive for me. But it was not a career I would’ve chosen.”
–John Hall, JILA, on one of his first jobs, Rocky Mountain News, October 5, 2005

“I could scarcely believe it.” The Swedish accents on the early morning congratulatory phone call “at least raised the possibility it was a joke.”
–Roy Glauber, Harvard University, on the phone call telling him he’d won the Nobel prize, USA Today, October 4, 2005