Reasons for optimism over US particle physics - opinion - 08 June 2008 - New Scientist
Reasons for optimism over US particle physics
08 June 2008
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Shochet's presentation at the meeting
Office of High Energy Physics, DoE
MONTHS after US particle physics experienced brutal funding cuts, reasons for optimism are emerging. So concluded a panel of leading physicists at a meeting in Washington DC last week.
The panel was asked by the US Department of Energy to consider four possible funding scenarios - and how they would spend the money over the next decade. "We can't do everything we'd like to do, it can't all go as quickly as it should, but we can do a great deal," says physicist Mel Shochet of the University of Chicago.
Among the big losers in the cuts were those involved in the International Linear Collider, which was suspended in December. The panel added that the need for the ILC is not yet proven and so construction should not be guaranteed. "It is so expensive, you have to show that it is necessary," says panel chairman Charles Baltay of Yale University. Nevertheless, the panel concluded that the ILC will win back funding in all but the worst-case scenario.
Its recommendations will go to a DoE committee for approval.
Focus on America - Delve into the science and technology questions facing the USA in our special report.
From issue 2659 of New Scientist magazine, 08 June 2008, page 6
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Discovery News : Discovery Channel : Mars Phoenix Flunks First Big Dig
Discovery News : Discovery Channel : Mars Phoenix Flunks First Big Dig
Mars Phoenix Flunks First Big Dig
Bob Christie, Associated Press
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So Far, So Good... View More Images From Phoenix
June 7, 2008 -- The first sample of Martian dirt dumped onto the opening of the Phoenix lander's tiny testing oven failed to reach the instrument, and scientists said Saturday they will devote a few days to trying to determine the cause.
Photos released by the University of Arizona team overseeing the mission showed a scoopful of dirt sitting on and around the open oven door after being dumped by the craft's 8-foot robot arm. But none of it made it past a screen and into the tiny chamber, one of eight on the craft designed to heat soil and test gasses for signs of water or organic compounds that could be building blocks for life.
Nothing seems to be wrong with the dirt delivery by the lander's robot arm, said William Boynton of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who is overseeing the oven experiments. The dirt landed properly and instruments show a vibrator on the screen designed to help shake soil into the chamber was working.
However, an electronic eye positioned to detect dirt falling into the chamber didn't report any particles.
"We think everything is working correctly, although we don't really know for sure," Boynton said Saturday in a teleconference news briefing from Tucson. "We're a little bit concerned about this but we have some other things to check out."
The teams overseeing the experiments plan to spend the next several days going over possible reasons for the apparent failure, Boynton said.
It could be that the dirt is too dense or compacted to make it past the screen, which is there to allow only small particles into the oven. Or, it could be that incorrect readings from the vibrator made it look like it was working when it was not.
Even if this oven turns out to be unusable, the seven other ovens would be available for the mission's primary experiments.
In the meantime, scientists will turn their attention to using the arm's backhoe-like arm to take close-up photos of the surface and do additional digging.
Phoenix landed in Mars' northern plains on May 25 for a three-month mission. It is not a rover like some Mars missions, and its instruments cannot directly detect past or present life.
The $420 million mission is being overseen by the University of Arizona, with support from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Mars Phoenix Flunks First Big Dig
Bob Christie, Associated Press
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So Far, So Good... View More Images From Phoenix
June 7, 2008 -- The first sample of Martian dirt dumped onto the opening of the Phoenix lander's tiny testing oven failed to reach the instrument, and scientists said Saturday they will devote a few days to trying to determine the cause.
Photos released by the University of Arizona team overseeing the mission showed a scoopful of dirt sitting on and around the open oven door after being dumped by the craft's 8-foot robot arm. But none of it made it past a screen and into the tiny chamber, one of eight on the craft designed to heat soil and test gasses for signs of water or organic compounds that could be building blocks for life.
Nothing seems to be wrong with the dirt delivery by the lander's robot arm, said William Boynton of the University of Arizona in Tucson, who is overseeing the oven experiments. The dirt landed properly and instruments show a vibrator on the screen designed to help shake soil into the chamber was working.
However, an electronic eye positioned to detect dirt falling into the chamber didn't report any particles.
"We think everything is working correctly, although we don't really know for sure," Boynton said Saturday in a teleconference news briefing from Tucson. "We're a little bit concerned about this but we have some other things to check out."
The teams overseeing the experiments plan to spend the next several days going over possible reasons for the apparent failure, Boynton said.
It could be that the dirt is too dense or compacted to make it past the screen, which is there to allow only small particles into the oven. Or, it could be that incorrect readings from the vibrator made it look like it was working when it was not.
Even if this oven turns out to be unusable, the seven other ovens would be available for the mission's primary experiments.
In the meantime, scientists will turn their attention to using the arm's backhoe-like arm to take close-up photos of the surface and do additional digging.
Phoenix landed in Mars' northern plains on May 25 for a three-month mission. It is not a rover like some Mars missions, and its instruments cannot directly detect past or present life.
The $420 million mission is being overseen by the University of Arizona, with support from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
