![[IOP]](http://images.iop.org/cws/icons/themes/phw/colophon-small.png){kind=icon}
Blog
How to survive a mission to Mars
Jul 29, 2010
By Michael Banks
On 3 June 2010 six people – Romain Charles, Alexei Sitev, Diego Urbina, Sukhrob Kamolov, Alexei Sitev, Alexander Smoleevsky and Wang Yue – entered a capsule located at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow.
The crew was heading for a 520-day mission to Mars, but instead of getting ready for launch they were going nowhere. They are part of an experiment conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) to simulate a manned flight to the red planet.
The crew live and work in a mock-up spacecraft with limited food supplies and even a 20-minute delay in communication with the outside world (which is only possible via e-mail).
While ESA will be carefully studying how the participants respond to being locked away on the ground for more than 500 days, author Mary Roach has written a new book looking into the science of life in space.
Released on 2 August, Packing For Mars attempts to answer some of those questions you always wanted to know such as what happens when you can’t walk for a year or what happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk?
I haven’t read the book yet, but if it is anything like the short video posted yesterday by the publishers to promote the book then it will make for an hilarious read.
One only hopes that the ESA participants have better success than the ones in the video; at least they will be able to wash themselves.
Can crowd dynamics modelling help prevent another Duisburg disaster?
Jul 28, 2010
By James Dacey
Last Saturday night the Love Parade in Duisburg was supposed to be a celebration of music and revelry, but it turned into one of the most shocking crowd disasters of recent years. 21 people died and hundreds of others were injured as they were crushed trying to escape from a crowd disturbance which escalated into a stampede. Festival planners have come under intense fire for expecting all 1.5 million festival goers to pass through the same tunnel on their entrance to the festival site.
Andreas Schadschneider is a physicist based at Cologne University who specialises in modelling crowds. Since Saturday’s disaster he has been bombarded by inquiries from members of the world’s media who, quite naturally, want to get to the bottom of what happened and whether any of the event’s planning authorities were at fault. I caught up with Schadschneider earlier today to give him a bit more freedom to discuss how the German authorities might respond to this tragedy and how physical modelling might help limit this kind of tragedy in the future.
Early reports have described the panic that broke out just before the entrance to the tunnel, which then triggered a stampede as people tried to escape. As the official inquiries get under way event organizers, the local police and the local planning authorities are all in the firing line. “At the moment, everybody is blaming each other,” he said. Schadschneider feels, however, that we should not jump to any rash conclusions over the specifics of the Duisburg events and who is responsible.
Panic or co-operation?
While Schnadschneider makes it clear that specific details about the Duisburg disaster are not yet available, he does feel that “panic” is an overused term in describing crowd dynamics. This is an issue he explained in a feature article for Physics World in July: “Safety engineers have reviewed hundreds of disasters and found that, in the vast majority of cases, such behaviour has played no – or almost no – role in the tragic events. Instead, the opposite is usually observed, with most people acting co-operatively and altruistically even under extreme conditions”.
Continue reading "Can crowd dynamics modelling help prevent another Duisburg disaster?" »
String theory woven in twists and turns
Jul 28, 2010
By Hamish Johnston
Three weeks ago I was in London watching Edward Witten deliver the 2010 Newton Lecture at the Institute of Physics (IOP). Now thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you too can watch the lecture courtesy of the IOP.
Witten’s speech is split into two parts; the first is above and the second below. Both videos are about 30 minutes long.
Witten was in town to accept the 2010 Isaac Newton Medal from the IOP, which was presented by IOP president Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
I enjoyed Witten’s lecture, which was pitched at a general level and took a narrative approach to how the subject developed – and the unexpected twists and turns along the way. So grab some popcorn and enjoy!
A brief history of the particle accelerator…
Jul 27, 2010
By Hamish Johnston
Thanks to Gabriela Quiros at QUEST – a multimedia science and environment programme from KQED in San Francisco – for forwarding a link to this video, which traces the history of the particle accelerator back to the Bay Area of the 1930s.
While it’s aimed at a general audience, it has some nice archive images of early accelerators – including an ancient copper cyclotron that looks like the sort of plumbing nightmare that still lurks in the lofts of many British houses.
There’s also commentary from some of the Golden State’s most famous particle physicists including Nobel winner Burton Richter and SLAC director Persis Drell.
Zooming in on the Martian surface
Jul 27, 2010
Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
By James Dacey
For a period around the turn of the 20th century, a number of people began to believe that the Martian surface may be patterned with a network of canals created by some kind of intelligent civilization. This theory emerged after primitive observations by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877 revealed a series of long straight lines around the planet’s equatorial region.
Telescopes have come a long way since then and I think we can say fairly confidently that the surface markings are more likely due to natural geological processes. However – as is often the case in observational astronomy – the truth is just as awe-inspiring.
This image shows Valles Marineris, the “Grand Canyon of Mars”, which sprawls wide enough to reach from Los Angeles nearly to New York City, if it were located on Earth. It is a snapshot taken from a new interactive global map of the Martian surface produced by stitching together nearly 21, 000 images captured by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) – a multiband infrared and visual camera on board NASA’s Mars Odyssey Orbiter.
The map allows you to zoom in on specific geological features, such as craters and volcanoes, to a resolution of 100 m. It could be used by scientists to study the mineralogy and physical geology of the Martian surface.
NASA says that the map will also help with the selection of a landing site for its Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which is due to launch in 2011. Once this craft has landed, a NASA rover will collect samples to see whether the planet could have supported life at some point in its history. So you never know – it may turn out that the Martian surface has been sculpted by little green men after all.
Science-writing tips from a high flyer
Jul 22, 2010
By Louise Mayor
We were delighted to hear that Mark Williamson won “Best Space Submission” in the Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards 2010, for an article published in Physics World last March.
His victorious piece, Up close and personal, is about how planetary astronomy has developed from a science of entirely remote observation to one of immersive experimentation.
I caught up with Mark to find out his reaction to winning, and his thoughts on writing for Physics World in particular. Also – perhaps with selfish motives – I found out his tips for successful science writing.
Mark said that he was pleased to win the award, and explained that each of the categories is judged by other writers: “So it’s a sort of peer review,” he said.
I asked Mark whether writing for Physics World requires a different approach to some of the other publications he contributes to, such as Engineering & Technology and Space Times. But as he explained, “Physics World has a very different readership from the other magazines I write for, but I have exactly the same attitude to writing as for any other audience.
“It’s clear that a majority of the readership has a professional interest in physics, so you have to find a reason for them to read your article on space technology. You have to make it relevant, or at least interesting, to them.
“On the other hand, many physics graduates and readers of Physics World never work in physics, which is why a few years ago there was a drive to make the magazine more relevant to this audience too. Apart from that, physicists are not only interested in physics…are they?”
When worlds collide: physics meets music
Jul 21, 2010
By James Dacey
Albert Einstein was the kind of physicist that you don’t really find anymore – making so many remarkable contributions to so many different areas of physics. But in addition to his scientific achievements, a lot is made about Einstein’s colourful personal life, not least his lifelong passion for music.
Sharing this passion is particle physicist Brian Foster of the University of Oxford who has teamed up with the British musician Jack Liebeck to create a special show about Einstein. Currently touring the UK, “Einstein’s Universe” involves a special lecture, interspersed with classical music, which explores Einstein’s legacy to physics and the role music played in his life.
In this exclusive video report for physicsworld.com, I caught up with the pair on the day of a recent performance at St George’s concert hall in Bristol, UK.
During our interview, Foster talked about how music inspired Einstein and how it offered a form of escapism from his research. “He often said that he had more pleasure in life from playing the violin than from anything else he did,” Foster explained.
The Oxford professor also described how Einstein used his fame to form friendships with some of the great musicians of his day. “He was great friends with Fritz Kreisler the violinist and [Gregor] Piatigorsky the cellist, and they played chamber music often together.”
Like Einstein, Foster is another physicist with a passion for music and he also plays the violin. Part of the Einstein performance involves Foster joining Liebeck on stage for a duet. At the end of my interview I was treated to a preview of this as the pair performed an arrangement of a violin sonata by Mozart, which you can enjoy in full in this second video.
It’s bigger, farther, faster…
Jul 21, 2010
By Hamish Johnston
Scientists – and particularly astronomers – are always discovering things that are bigger, faster or farther than before.
This often makes for a good story – but is it news?
A case in point is the biggest star ever that has been found by a team of astronomers using several European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes. (The star was actually discovered some time ago, but getting an accurate mass was no mean feat).
It’s called R136a1 and is twice as massive as the previous contender. This doesn’t sound that impressive until you realize that it’s a whopping 300 times more massive than the Sun. You can see it compared to the Sun in the above artist’s impression from the ESO.
That’s big, but the universe is a humungous place full of very big things just waiting to be discovered. And next week or next month or next year someone is bound to find an even bigger star.
When we discussed the possibility of covering this discovery at our last news meeting we decided that biggest wasn’t enough – there had to be some scientific significance.
The obvious question to ask is “does this discovery improve our understanding of star formation and evolution?”
I suspect the answer is “it tells us that conventional models of star formation – most of which put an upper limit on star size of about 20 solar masses – are even more deficient than previously thought”.
This is, of course, very important to folks trying to improve models of star formation but I don’t think it merits a news story – particularly because astronomers have known for some time that their models can’t cope with huge stars.
BBC Radio 4 did deem the discovery newsworthy and interviewed lead astronomer Paul Crowther of the University of Sheffield on this morning’s Today programme. You can listen to the interview here.
Crowther explains that the finding is significant because it suggests the existence of a third class of stars that end their lives in extremely bright supernova explosions – but unlike their lighter counterparts, leave behind no black holes or neutron stars.
And that’s an interesting story in itself!
Climate chairman clarifies his media strategy
Jul 21, 2010
By James Dacey
In an act bearing a striking resemblance to a U-turn, Rajendra K Pachauri – the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – has sent a second letter to his associated scientists to clarify the panel’s stance on dealing with the media.
Pachauri moved quickly
Pachauri triggered a furore last week when a leak revealed a letter he had sent to members of the working groups on the upcoming IPCC 5th assessment report, which advises them to “keep a distance from the media” if asked about IPCC work.
This notion of climate scientists working in isolation was strongly criticised by several high profile bloggers, including University of South Carolina geographer Edward Carr, a member of the adaptation working group. Carr accused the IPCC of having a “bunker mentality” and said that the only way the organization can avoid future damaging episodes like “Climategate” is to operate with “complete openness”.
However, Carr has since revealed that Pachauri has now sent a second letter in an attempt to clear up the situation. Carr has published an extract from this letter on his blog:
“In my letter, I cautioned you to ‘keep a distance from the media’ if asked about your work for the IPCC. This was a poor choice of words on my part and not reflective of IPCC policy. My only intent was to advise new authors not to speak ‘on behalf of the IPCC’ because we are an intergovernmental body consisting of 194 states.”
The clarifying letter seems to have washed with Carr who describes it as “articulate, clear and eminently reasonable – everything the original letter was not”.
The fifth assessment report is due to be published in 2013 and 2014 and follows on from the fourth assessment released in 2007.
Memorable climate scientist passes away
Jul 20, 2010
By James Dacey
I was surprised this morning to read about the death of Stephen Schneider, the outspoken climate scientist from Stanford University.
I saw Stephen in February giving an impassioned defence of the science of anthropogenic climate change at the AAAS conference in San Diego. He stood out from the other presenters on the panel because of his memorable delivery style – combining a deep, holistic knowledge of climate science with a razor-sharp acerbic wit.
Schneider was a key player in the climate science community. He was the founder and editor of the journal Climate Change, and he authored and co-authored more than 450 scientific papers during his career. Schneider was also enlisted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), holding roles in the working groups for both the third and fourth (latest) scientific reports.
Physicworld.com recently reported new research co-authored by Schneider, which assessed the credentials of climate scientists. It came to the conclusion that sceptics of the basic tenets of anthropogenic climate change are less credible scientists than those who accept them.
Climate change scepticism was an issue Schneider touched on during his talk in February. He voiced his frustration with media representations of climate science debates, which he felt gave a disproportionate voice to the sceptics in the name of journalistic balance. He pleaded that journalists should be more responsible, and that more climate scientists should engage with the media given the political significance of their work.
Schneider died yesterday of an apparent heart attack.