‘Refuge des Cosmiques’ laboratory declared EPS Historic Site
The high altitude Laboratory ‘Refuge des Cosmiques’ is being declared a Historic Site of the European Physical Society [EPS] later this month. Located on the slopes of the Col du Midi – near Mont Blanc – at 3,613 metres above sea level, the laboratory was designed to study cosmic rays and their potential applications for nuclear physics.
A plaque will be unveiled at the laboratory, on the morning of 23 July, detailing the location’s relevance to the history of physics. This recognition of the site is especially fitting this year…
Editorial: Widening our 2020 Horizons
Dear Readers,
The European Physical Society [EPS] has been duly responding to various questionnaires from Brussels, to provide significant input to the European Union’s scientific policies, namely in: ‘Areas of untapped potential for the development of the European Research Area’ and ‘Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding’.
In particular, the EPS has been repeatedly stressing the importance of investment…
2013 International Nanoelectronics Conference
The 5th International Nanoelectronics Conference [INEC 2013] of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers [IEEE] will be held at the Resorts World Sentosa, in Singapore, on 2-4 January 2013. The theme of the conference will be future and sustainable nanoelectronics, and will aim to explore the connections between fundamental research and practical applications in this field.
The event will be conducted as four parallel symposia…
New edition of the Review of Particle Physics now online
The latest issue of the Review of Particle Physics has been published online last month. The review – often referred to as the “the Bible of particle physics” – comprehensively covers the fields of high-energy and astroparticle physics.
This current edition contains the latest data on such current research topics as Higgs bosons, supersymmetry, B mesons, neutrinos, dark matter, dark energy, the Big Bang and the early universe. In total, the 2012 publication covers 2,568 new measurements and contains 112 comprehensive review articles…
Cabled Observatory event explores multi-disciplinary synergy
A “Deep Ocean Cabled Observatories” workshop – examining potential synergies between astroparticle physics and marine and earth sciences – was held at NIKHEF, in Amsterdam, on 24-25 May this year.
The conference revealed many areas in which physics can collaborate with other disciplines – with the deep-ocean physics installations providing the perfect opportunity to accommodate such devices as seismometers and hydrophones, to gather data for varied researches…
Higgs? CERN sees new particle consistent with elusive boson
CERN’s ATLAS and CMS experiments have observed a new particle – consistent with the elusive Higgs boson – in the mass region around 125-126 GeV/c2, it was announced during a seminar at the Swiss-based laboratory on 4 July.
“The five sigma signal – at around 125 GeV – we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,” said CMS experiment spokesperson Joe Incandela. “The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies…
Chinese Physical Society celebrates 80th Anniversary
The Chinese Physical Society is celebrating its 80th Anniversary on 25 August this year. A commemorate event, which is being held in Beijing, will bring together international physics leaders to discuss the status of physics worldwide. European Physical Society president Luisa Cifarelli will be in attendance.
The celebratory special session will also include a forum on physics education and outreach, workshops in a number of select research fields, and excursions to local laboratories and places of interest…
EPS’s Caterina Biscari to head synchrotron facility
Caterina Biscari is being appointed the director of the Laboratory of Synchrotron Light CELLS-ALBA, in Barcelona, it was announced on 13 July. Biscari, a researcher with the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, will begin her new duties from September this year. The ALBA laboratory – which has been in operation since March 2012 – uses synchrotron light for a wide variety of experiments.
An internationally renowned expert in particle accelerator technologies, Biscari has…
Marisa Michelini elected new president of GIREP
Marisa Michelini was elected the new president of the Groupe International de Recherche sur l’Enseignement de la Physique [GIREP] during the World Conference on Physics Education, which was held on 1-6 July this year.
Michelini – a professor of Physics Education at the University of Udine’s Faculty of Science of Education – has a long standing relationship with physics education. The founder of the Centre for Teaching Physics Laboratory at the University of Friuli, Michelini has also been a director…
Quantum School
The Advanced School on Quantum Foundations and Open Quantum Systems will be held between 16-28 July this year, at the Tropical Hotel Tambaú, in João Pessoa, Brazil. The event aims to train young researchers and encourage the exchange of knowledge across various research areas.
Topics under discussion at the school will include: beyond the quantum; open quantum systems; philosophy of quantum mechanics; quantum information; quantum statistical physics and quantum solid state…
Heavy Ion Collisions in the LHC Era
The Heavy Ion Collisions in the LHC Era international conference will be held in Quy Nhon, central Vietnam, from 15-20 July this year. The event, which will focus on the proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at LHC and RHIC energies, will include an optional half-day excursion and the possibility for a post-conference tour in northern Vietnam.
Topics being covered at the conference include: collective dynamics; jet quenching; heavy flavour and quarkonia production; electroweak probes; QCD at high temperature and density & phase diagram…
