Thursday, July 5, 2012
God particle: Physicists celebrate Higgs boson 'triumph'
The focus Wednesday at CERN was the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle that exists for a mere fraction of a second. Long theorized but never glimpsed, the so-called God particle is thought to be key to understanding the existence of all mass in the universe. The revelation Wednesday that it — or some version of it — had almost certainly been detected amid more than hundreds of trillions of high-speed collisions in a 17-mile track near Geneva prompted a group of normally reserved scientists to erupt with joy.
UN declares 2014 International Year of Crystallography
Announced July 4, 2012 by the IUCr President:
This is to communicate the excellent news that the United Nations
yesterday declared that 2014 will be the official International
Year of Crystallography.
The initiative had been proposed by the International Union of
Crystallography and spearheaded by the Moroccan Crystallographic
Association. They have worked closely with the Permanent
Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco in the United Nations
along with helpful support from a number of delegations to the
United Nations from other countries. The IUCr thanks the Moroccan
authorities for the help and cooperation extended to us in
bringing this proposal to fruition.
The declaration of IYCr 2014 provides all of us with a wonderful
opportunity to sustain and renew our commitment to this outstanding
subject. It has brought us together, whether we consider ourselves
as crystallographers, or as physicists, chemists, biologists and
materials scientists who work extensively with crystallography
and its related techniques.
Ours is a very old subject, which shifted its emphasis from a
study of crystals to a study of structures over a hundred years
ago. Today, the subject is poised towards a study of dynamics and
properties. All healthy scientific endeavour can recreate and
reinvent: crystallography is a meaningful example of this.
I would like each and every one of you to use this opportunity
to stimulate and ignite an interest in crystallography amongst
students, scientists and the general public.
The declaration of IYCr 2014 by the United Nations is the finest
endorsement for a subject that has weathered time and tide and
continues to thrive. It signifies that crystallography has
continuing cultural relevance and, in the end, this is the
only justification for carrying out science in this rapidly
changing world with its political and social flux and constant
economic variables.
I will write about IYCr 2014 in more detail in the IUCr Newsletter
but, in the meantime, I would ask all of you to participate in
this happy occasion.
Gautam R. Desiraju
President, International Union of Crystallography
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