2012 Committee on Space Research award winners
The Committee on Space Research [COSPAR] has announced the winners of the 2012 COSPAR awards. The prizes – which recognise exceptional contributions to the field of space science – will be presented at the 39th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, which is being held in Mysore, India, on 14-22 July this year.
The 2012 COSPAR awards include such distinctions as the International Cooperation Medal, the Space Science Award and the COSPAR Distinguished Service Medal…
‘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…
International Cosmic Day
The first International Cosmic Day will be held on 26 September this year. During this event, students and teachers worldwide will come together in research institutions, universities and classrooms to learn about cosmic particle research.
The event will celebrate the centenary of Victor Franz Hess’ discovery of cosmic rays – particles which originate in outer space and spread through the whole universe, often at extremely high energies. Through a series of seven high-altitude balloon rides, Hess measured the ionisation of the atmosphere…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
EPS Edison Volta Prize call
Nominations are now open for the new Edison Volta Prize of the European Physical Society [EPS]. The award – intended to promote excellence in research – will be given in recognition of outstanding achievements in physics.
The EPS Edison Volta Prize will be given biannually to individuals or groups of up to three people. The award consists of a diploma, a medal, and 10,000 euros in prize money.
The award has been established by the Centro di Cultura Scientifica “Alessandro Volta”, Edison S.p.A…
Neutrino research uncovers Mediterranean vortices
Chains of marine vortices have been discovered for the first time in the eastern Mediterranean by an Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare [INFN] neutrino research project. This unexpected observation, which is relevant to studies of climate change in the Mediterranean Sea, is described in a paper published in the online journal Nature Communications last month.
The vortices were uncovered by the Neutrino Mediterranean Observatory [NEMO] project…
