The first ever photograph of light as both a particle and wave
Light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. Since the days of Einstein, scientists have been trying to directly observe both of these aspects of light at the same time. Now, scientists at EPFL have succeeded in capturing the first- ever snapshot of this dual behavior.
Quantum mechanics tells us that light can behave simultaneously as a particle or a wave. However, there has never been an experiment able to capture both natures of light at the same time; the closest we have come is seeing either wave or particle, but always at different times. Taking a radically different experimental approach, EPFL scientists …
Novel Technologies bag the 2015 King Faisal International Prize
The King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has awarded the 2015 King Faisal International Prize (including endowment of US$200,000) for Science in the field of chemistry to Michael Grätzel of Switzerland and Omar Mwannes Yaghi of USA. Michael Grätzel (born in 1944 in Dorfchemnitz, Saxony, Germany) the Director of the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces (Institute of Physical Chemistry), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland. The prize committee stated that ‘Michael Grätzel is recognized for his foundational and practical discoveries in the development of photo-electrochemical systems for solar energy conversion. His world-famous Grätzel solar cells are simple …
Governments Agree the Negotiating Text for the Paris Climate Agreement
p>A key milestone towards a new, universal agreement on climate change was reached in Geneva following seven days of negotiations by over 190 nations.
Nations concluded the Geneva Climate Change Talks by successfully preparing the negotiating text for the 2015 agreement. The agreement is set to be reached in Paris at the end of 2015 and will come into effect in 2020.
Delegates from 194 countries convened in Geneva to continue work following the Lima Climate Change Conference …
FAceS project – call for participation
Since 1 March 2014, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the credit line “performance evaluation in science,” the project “The Many Faces of academic achievement and performance : “incentives for research and teaching “. The aim of this research project is to develop a set of quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure performance in research and teaching, and to analyse the intended and unintended consequences resulting from performance measures.
The FAceS research team needs the input from the scientific community in order to generate representative data.
Featured in EPN
Most recent highlights from EPN:
Crossing borders: the DNA of physics by H.C.W. Beijerinck
The acoustics of a concert hall as a linear problem by Tapio Lokki and Jukka Pätynen
On house renovation and co-authoring: tricks of the trade to boost your h-index by Roberto Piazza
The European Science Foundation: death or mid-life crisis? > by Martin Hynes
Hearing overcomes uncertainty relation and measure duration of ultrashort pulses by Marcin Majka, …
EPS Executive and Staff activity for February 2015
The EPS works to support its members. Click here for the list of the activities of EPS Executive Committee and staff for the last month.
2 February: The Executive Committee meeting was organised by Elisabeth Rachlewmember of the EPS Executive Committee, and took place in Stockholm at KTH Physics – AlbaNova.
XXIX ICPEAC
The 29th International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions [XXIX ICPEAC] will take place in Toledo (Spain) from 22 to 28 July 2015. The invited speakers include the Nobel Prize Laureates Ahmed Zewail (Plenary Talk) and Serge Haroche (Public Lecture), as well as the Prince of Asturias Laureate Pedro Echenique (Public Lecture), whose talks will commemorate the International Year of Light. As usual, the ICPEAC conference will gather the most prestigious scientists in the field and will be an active forum for scientific discussions and inspiration.
Editorial – Hitting the nail on the head
The Opening Ceremony of the International year of Light took place in Paris on 19-20 January 2015. It was a wonderful event, full of exciting science, inspiring uses of technology for social progress, and beautiful artistic representations. Since then, I have been in a number of conversations where people have asked “what is the lasting impact”?
Actually, this question gets asked a lot in any context where the scientific community in general, and the European Physical Society [EPS] in particular becomes involved in outreach or policy initiatives. While it is a good question, and requires a reply, it can be misleading. When it gets asked, the questioner wants to know what this one event (this …
2015 EPS Edison Volta Prize goes to ESA’s Planck Mission team
The European Physical Society [EPS], the Centro di Cultura Scientifica Alessandro Volta and Edison S.p.A. are delighted to announce the award of the 2015 EPS Edison Volta Prize for outstanding contributions to physics to the three principal scientific leaders of the European Space Agency’s [ESA] Planck Mission:
EPS letter to the president of the European Commission on the re-allocation of H2020 funds
The European Physical Society [EPS] has written a letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, expressing concern over the re-allocation of funds from the Horizon 2020 budget.
Research and development are key drivers of prosperity, and reducing Europe’s capacity to finance frontier research jeopardizes its ability to develop the future technology that will be important for economic growth, job creation, and addressing societal challenges.
International Year of Light news
2nd Art, Science, City International Conference 2015 – Barcelona, Spain
Opening Ceremony of the International Year of Light in Munich, Germany
ARTE Future – a TV series on tomorrow’s light technologies
IYL 2015 – activities in the Netherlands
The International Year of Light 2015 officially kicked off in the Netherlands in a meeting that took place on took place on 19 January in Amsterdam. This is only the beginning, and there are many more events planned through the year. The events planned for February are presented.
