Members in the Media

“We now have the opportunity to determine what the sources are, if we are indeed seeing sources of cosmic rays….The big difference …is that we are not using light, we are using neutrinos to look at the sky.”
Francis Halzen, University of Wisconsin-Madison, on the IceCube neutrino detector’s capabilities, FoxNews.com, January 23, 2014.

“This creation of a Dirac monopole is a beautiful demonstration of quantum simulation…. Although these results offer only an analogy to a magnetic monopole, their compatibility with theory reinforces the expectation that this particle will be detected experimentally.”
Lindsay LeBlanc, University of Alberta, commenting on another team’s creation of a “Dirac string,” BBCNews.co.uk, January 29, 2014.

“Hawking’s paper is short and does not have a lot of detail, so it is not clear what his precise picture is, or what the justification is.”
Joseph Polchinski, the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, on Stephen Hawking’s recent surprising announcement that black holes don’t exist, The Christian Science Monitor, January 29, 2014.

“It’s not possible to have both of those things, to have no drama at the apparent horizon and to have the information come out.”
Raphael Bousso, University of California, Berkeley, on Stephen Hawking’s recent surprising announcement that black holes don’t exist, The Christian Science Monitor, January 29, 2014.

‘‘It’s quite close to application.…Not too much extra needs to be done.”
Zhifeng Ren, University of Houston, on a conductive material he’s developing that’s transparent and flexible, The New York Times, February 4, 2014.

“Despite seeing them all the time, icicles are actually poorly understood.”
Stephen Morris, University of Toronto, The Washington Post, February 4, 2014.

“It’s already a thing, but whether it will be blessed by Congress depends on how highly evolved the members of Congress are.”
Rush Holt, U.S. House of Representatives, on his proposal for an official “Darwin Day,” U.S. News and World Report, February 7, 2014.

“Mother Nature is pretty unforgiving–we’re trying to stuff a lot of energy in a very small volume.”
Omar Hurricane, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, on the National Ignition Facility’s laser fusion experiments, The Los Angeles Times, February 12, 2014.  

“These results are still a long way from ignition, but they represent a significant step forward in fusion research.”
Mark Herrmann, Sandia National Laboratories, on the National Ignition Facility’s recent report that their laser fusion experiment produced more energy than it absorbed, USA Today, February 13, 2014.

“Our nation needs a new, transparent, clean-energy policy that no longer turns a blind eye to the many negative impacts of coal burning –or to companies trying to sell coal to other nations playing catch-up in the global economy. A cornerstone of this policy must be the rational use of our vast reserves of Western coal as we ramp down the overuse of what is, by far, the dirtiest fossil fuel.”
Michael Riordan, The New York Times, February 13, 2014.

“We now know that if you go and buy a can of conventional house paint, any one of us can be a Picasso.”
Volker Rose, Argonne National Laboratory, on using X-rays to identify pigments used in famous paintings, AFP, February 15, 2014.

“We are not sure the government appreciates the role that basic research plays….The real question is, how does it view not-directed, nonindustrial, curiosity-driven blue-sky research? I worry the view is that it is irrelevant at best and that in many cases they actually dislike it.’’
Kenneth Ragan, McGill University, The International New York Times, February 17, 2014.