Radiations Newsletter

Volume 12, Issue 3

Tuesday & Wednesday, September 27 & 28

The annual Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College is on Cosmology (it is actually called “The Legacy of Einstein”) this year. We have purchased 40 tickets and have chartered a bus to take us there on Tuesday, September 27. The bus will be leaving from Sayles Hill at 8:00am and returning at approximately 5:30. On Wednesday, September 28 vans will be taken and will leave at 8:00am from Sayles Hill. It promises to be an outstanding set of lectures. Among other luminaries, cosmologists George Ellis and Kip Thorne will speak. Arjendu, Cindy, Joel, and Rich will be going, along with Cindy’s Cosmology Seminar students. If you want a ticket and a ride for either or both days, contact Mary. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first served basis. For more information on the conference, see <http://www.gustavus.edu/events/nobel/2005/>.

Thursday, September 29, 12:00-1:00pm, Olin 04

Hans Bantilan and Sarah Vigeland will give a talk entitled
Laser Interferometer Gravity Wave Observatory (LIGO) Research at Carleton over pizza at noon Thursday. Contact Mary Drew mdrew@carleton.edu, sign up outside Olin 331, or sign up in class by Wednesday so we can order the right amount of pizza. All are welcome.

Friday,September 30, 3:30-4:30p.m Olin 02

This is a meeting for Sophomores to help answer questions about the major and the department, and to welcome you to Olin.

Set aside Friday afternoon, October 7 (3:30-8:00) for the annual Phun Physics Picnic on the Hill of Three Oaks. Mara Morgenstern has volunteered to plan the festivities. One more Senior is needed. Please see Mary in Olin 331 or Mara if you can help.

Help civilians learn about Einstein and get a $25 River City Books Gift Certificate! The Northfield Public Library is sponsoring several activities related to the hundredth anniversary of Einstein’s greatest year, in conjunction with a Nova TV program on Einstein. The librarians are looking for physics students like you, willing to demonstrate examples of Einstein’s theories for a hands-on “Einstein Exploratorium” Saturday October 8 from 10 AM to 2 PM. (Arjendu and Joel will also be giving public lectures on Einstein there on October 6 and 13, and the Nova program itself is October 11.) Please contact Northfield Public Library librarians Kathy Ness or Leesa Wisdorf at 645-1804 or kathyn@selco.info and leesa@selco.info if you are interested. They or Joel can also give you further information.

Are you planning on taking the GRE this year? GRE Practicing to take the Physics Test books are available for checkout in the Physics Office, Olin 331. These practice books include three previously administered tests to help you become acquainted with the structure and content focus of the GRE Physics Test.

Interested in grad school? Consider applying for a National Physical Science Consortium Fellowship. These NPSC Fellowships support 2-3 years of graduate study plus two summer internships. Fellowships are open to all eligible students with emphasis on recruiting historically underrepresented minority and women students in the physical sciences and related fields. The application deadline is November 5, 2006. For more information, check out the poster on second Olin or visit their website at www.npsc.org.

Tutors are needed for introductory and intermediate physics classes. If you would like to be a tutor, contact Arjendu Pattanayak at apattana@carleton.edu or stop by his office, Olin 337.

All Science and Math Sigma Xi Poster Session is scheduled for Friday, October 21 from 3:30-4:30 in Hulings Atrium. Students who did summer research at Carleton or elsewhere will be presenting their results in poster format. Please come support them! You are welcome to come and go over the hour. Everyone is strongly encouraged to attend and talk with some of the presenters about their projects. You’ll learn a lot of new and interesting science and math.
If you did research somewhere last summer (at Carleton or elsewhere), please consider presenting a poster. In many cases, students use a poster that that is already prepared. If you did summer research at Carleton last summer, please talk to your summer research advisor if you need advice about (or funds for) making your poster. If you do present, please show up 10-15 minutes early and find a place to mount your poster. Your poster can be up to 42″ tall and 4-5′ wide. Supplies for attaching your poster to easels will be provided in Hulings.
Co-sponsored by Sigma Xi and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to Carleton.

September 22
Horst Stormer, Nobel laureate and professor of physics at Columbia, will be giving a public lecture on nanoscience at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. We would probably leave campus between 2 and 2:30 pm, have dinner in LaCrosse after the talk, and return late in the evening (between 9:30 and 10). If you are interested in going to this talk, let Melissa know as soon as possible so that we can make appropriate travel arrangements.