AAPT.org - American Association of Physics Teachers

AAPT NEWS

August 2006

From the Editors

Welcome to the monthly update. We are just back from the AAPT Summer Meeting in Syracuse, NY, where more than 1,100 members gathered for a terrific week of sessions, plenaries, contests, and social events. We also enjoyed meeting many of you in person and hearing about how you like the AAPT NEWS. On that note, let's get started (and as always, if you have some feedback for the NEWS: Please write and tell us).

Contents

 
 
News Headlines 

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

Colgate Hosts AAPT Workshop
From Colgate University News

Fantastic Voyage: Zero-Point Energy
From ScienceDaily

National Congress on Science Education 2006 Is a Success
From NSTA Express

The Neutrino Frontier
From Scientific American

The Einstein Dilemma
From Discover (Subscribers Only)

New Model for Scholarly Publishing
From Inside Higher Ed

The Elegant Universe: String Theory
From NOVA

Rep. Rush Holt: The Interview
From AAAS/ScienceCareers.org

Powering Up, One Step at a Time
From Wired

Obtaining the Perfectly Boiled Egg
From PhysicsToday

Rallying Behind Open Access
From Inside Higher Ed.

Hollywood Physics
From PhysicsWorld

First Space Lakes Found on Saturn Moon
From National Geographic

Summer Reading
From The Science Teacher

Congress Renews Perkins "Career Education" Law
From EducationWeek
(Registration required)

Separation of Church and Science
From Inside Higher Ed

"Micro-Boxes" of Water Used to Study Single Molecules
From NIST Tech Beat

No Educators Left Behind?
From USA Today

 
News from the Executive Office

U.S. Physics Team Wins Gold & Silver Medals in Singapore
In the largest International Physics Olympiad ever, the U.S. Physics Team won four golds medals and a silver. More details on the Team site.

2006 AAPT/Lexmark High School Photo Contest Winners
Winners were selected by members at the AAPT Summer Meeting last month. Here is the complete list of winners (PDF). See the AAPT homepage for the two first place images and look for more images soon.

2006 Video Contest Winners Announced
View the list of winners on the AAPT homepage.

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 special activities and events!

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

American Journal of Physics
Article of the Month
"Oersted Medal Lecture, 24 January 2006: Love Them to Death" by Kenneth W. Ford
(AJP online subscribers only, PDF format)

The Physics Teacher
The TPT Article of the Month will resume in September.
 
Member News

New Member Benefit: Congress Web
Take action and write to your senators and congresspersons in support of increased funding for science education. AAPT makes it easy for you through Congress Web and the Legislative Action Center.

PER-CENTRAL Digital Archive Now Live
The Physics Education Research-Community Enhancing Network for Teaching, Research, and Learning is pleased to announce the launch of its digital archive. Access is free and with an account users can browse through the database, submit resources to be included in the collection, maintain a discussion forum, and create your own personal "filing cabinet" of previously searched items.

Contributions to ComPADRE Sought
ComPADRE and the Physical Sciences Resource Center (PSRC) are looking for good materials that can be added to the collections. To submit materials or register (free) click here.

2007 NCUR/Lancy Initiative: Call for Proposals
The Initiative is designed to provide exceptional undergraduates with the opportunity to do original work in close collaboration with faculty mentors. The program will make grants to institutions only. Please see proposal guidelines here.

Publish Your News Here
Have a news item you'd like to share with the AAPT membership in the September issue? Send it to us by August 25—be sure to include an 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 Executive 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.