AAPT NEWS, October 2006

News Headlines 

A selection of recent stories of interest to our members.*

Americans Win Nobel Prize in Physics
From The Washington Post

New Ideas for X-Ray Lasers
From ScienceDaily

Einstein vs. the Nobel Prize
From Discover

Mystery of the Megavolcano
From NOVA

Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science
Proceedings from New York Academy of Sciences Conference (April 2006)

Physics First Is Moving Slowly into Nation's High Schools
From Education Week (Free registration)

Supersizing Stars
From Science

The Ascent of Wind Power
From The New York Times (Free registration)

Royal Society Archives (1665-2006): Free Access
From The Royal Society

Astronomers Spy First Planetary Disk Around Large Star
From Scientific American

NRC Issues Key Report on K-8 Science Education
From The National Academies

Moving Beyond String Theory
From Wired

Science-Based Cleanup of Rocky Flats
From Physics Today

Beyond Lecturing
From The Chronicle of Higher Education

Almost Certain Escape from a Black Hole
From PhysicsWorld

Video of the Month
Why Cats Land on Their Feet
From National Geographic
News from the National Office

The Physics Teacher Archive Now Back to 1963
The entire archive of TPT issues from 1963 to today is now online. This new search feature is available everyone. Access to articles is limited to online subscribers only.

Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold: AAPT Joins on as National Partner
AAPT is supporting this upcoming PBS television special and teaching guide. Visit the campaign site for more details.

Celebrating 75 Years
This year marks AAPT's 75th anniversary. Visit our anniversary site for
details on this year's continuing special activities and events!

Editors Sought for ComPADRE
ComPADRE is looking for editors for two collections: Upper Division Physics and Introductory Physics.

2006 Apparatus Competition Winners
This year's first place winners are Gabe Alba and Hsu-Chang Lu from Rutgers University. Thanks to Pasco Scientific for sponsoring the competition. Here is the complete winners list.

2006 AAPT/Lexmark High School Photo Contest Winners
The Winners Showcase is now available. Here is the complete list of winners (PDF).
Recommended Reading 

American Journal of Physics
Article of the Month
"Einstein and the Existence of Atoms," by Jeremy Bernstein
(AJP online subscribers only, PDF format)

The Physics Teacher
Article of the Month
"Estimating the Speed of Light from Earth-Moon Communication," by David Keeports
(TPT online subscribers only, PDF format)
Upcoming Meetings & Events 

AAPT Strand Day 2006: Save the Date
Mark your calendar: October 20 at the NSTA Regional Meeting in Omaha, NE. Visit the site for more details.

AAPT 2007 Winter Meeting: Save the Dates
Begin your planning now by visiting the Winter Meeting page.
Member News

"Physics To Go" Now Part of ComPADRE
Physics To Go is an outreach website that is valuable for both physics teachers and students. Recently redesigned, it now incorporates two images in the categories "Physics in Your World" and "From Physics Research." Physics To Go is also a digital library in informal physics learning, with about 300 sites in the collection at this time.

Research Experience for Teachers and Undergraduates Added to ComPADRE
Two new segments have been added: Research Experience for Teachers and Research Experience for Undergraduates.

International Workshop on Historic Scientific Instrument Collections: First Announcement
The University of Mississippi will host the second Scientific Instrument Collections in the University, or SICU2, workshop June 21-24, 2007. This workshop aims to solidify the foundation for finding, describing, organizing, preserving, and using the vast resource of historic instrument collections available in academic institutions worldwide. SICU2 is sponsored by the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science and by the University of Mississippi, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Visit the web site for more details.

AAAS Resource Directory of Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities, 4th Ed.
Individuals with disabilities who hold graduate or undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics are invited to participate in this prestigious Resource Directory to be published in the spring of 2007. The directory will available upon request in print and CD-ROM formats. The deadline is March 15, 2007. For more information about the project, visit the web site or e-mail Tesa Leon (or call 202-326-6582).

Publish Your News Here
Have a news item you'd like to share with the AAPT membership in the November issue? Send it to us by October 24—be sure to include a brief overview and a URL (website address) where readers can go to for more information: aapt-news@aapt.org
Career Center

Looking for the best physics job candidates and job opportunities? The AAPT Career Center is part of the Physics Today Career Network focused on the physics industry and its related disciplines. The network reaches more than 120,000 physicists and other scientists in a broad range of sectors from academia to industry to government and nonprofit organizations. It offers advertisers unmatched exposure and the best buy for their advertising dollar. Visit the online Career Center.

About the AAPT News

The AAPT NEWS is a service to our members and is produced by the National Office of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

E-mail news items, comments, and suggestions to: aapt-news@aapt.org

* Links to non-AAPT sites are intended as a service to readers interested in AAPT, physics, and education. These links do not reflect an endorsement of any content or product. Also, due to the evolving nature of websites, some external links referenced in the AAPT NEWS may expire over time.