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News from ICTP 113 - Dateline
Tsunami Conference
Update
A feature article in the Italian weekly Panorama
(14 April 2005, p. 166-172), focussing on the role that Italy
can play in training scientists from the South to mitigate the
effects of earthquakes, highlighted the efforts of the ICTP Structure
and Non-Linear Dynamics of the Earth (SAND) group. Relatedly,
the recent ICTP conference on tsunami physics and preparedness,
held on 24 March 2005, will soon be followed by conferences in
Mauritius and Paris. ICTP is poised to play a central role not
only in international efforts to train experts but also in the
exchange of seismological information by scientists in both the
developed and developing worlds.
Radionet
On 20 May 2005, the weekly magazine Venerdì, distributed each Friday in the Italian national newspaper Repubblica, published an article featuring ICTP's School on Radio Based Computer Networking for Research and Training in Developing Countries, which was organised at ICTP in February. The article examined ICTP's successful training efforts for creating satellite internet connections in developing countries through inexpensive radiowave technology.
Infectious Disease Impacts
ICTP's Workshop on Infectious Disease: Theoretical, Ecological and Economic Approach, 13-15 April 2005, organised by a diverse group of scientific experts working on three continents, sought to analyse the dynamics and epidemiology of infectious diseases. It addressed such issues as the economic impacts of infectious diseases on human and wildlife populations, adaptive response and antibiotic resistance, the cost and effectiveness of vaccination regimes and other control strategies, the relationship between poverty, malnutrition and diseases, the effect of habitat alteration and climate change on disease epidemics, and the emergence of new and resurgent diseases.
Speakers Corner
This spring, ICTP inaugurated its first-ever series of informal lectures by visiting scientists. Michael Bate, professor of developmental biology, University of Cambridge, UK, kicked-off the Centre's 'Speakers Corner' series with a talk entitled "From Embryos to Behaviour" in which he examined the emergence of behaviour as the most complex development process taking place in an embryo.
John Harte
The second informal lecture took place on 12 May, when John Harte, professor, Energy and Resources Group and Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, spoke on "Predicting Climate Change on a Green Planet." Harte examined recent ice-core studies that reveal strong feedback between the Earth's climate and terrestrial ecosystems.
Albert Barabasi
Albert Barabasi, University of Notre Dame, Indiana,
USA, presented the third lecture on 20 May: "From the Cell
to the Web." Barabasi described how organic and non-organic
networks share the same complex topology and also examined how
such complexity helps to shield the systems from failures and
external attacks.
Geosciences
Eight ICTP scientists made presentations at the European Geosciences Union's second General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, on 24-29 April. Topics ranged from tsunami physics to regional climate modelling to earthquake prediction and the origin of the biosphere. The Assembly was attended by some 6000 scientists worldwide.
Scientific Council
The 34th meeting of the ICTP Scientific Council took place on 5-6 May in the Centre's Main Building. Jacob Palis, chairman of the Council and former director of the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics in Brazil, presided.
Akito Arima and Jia'er Chen
Council members attending their first meeting included Akito Arima, chairman of the Japan Science Foundation's Science Museum; Jia'er Chen, former president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China; and Paul Crutzen (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1995), former director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Division at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany.
Paul Crutzen
The Council reviewed ICTP's activities over the past year and
discussed the Centre's future programmes and direction.
Teleportation
"Teleportation-Beyond Star Trek" was the subject of a public lecture by Francesco De Martini, professor of quantum optics at the University of Rome "La Sapienza." The lecture took place at ICTP's Kastler Lecture Hall, Adriatico Guesthouse, on 29 April. De Martini's lecture was the second instalment of this year's Public Lecture Series, jointly organised by ICTP and Immaginario Scientifico.
Appointments and Awards
Simon Levin (see "When Maths Meets Ecology," News from ICTP, Spring 2000), professor of ecology at Princeton University and long-time director of ICTP mathematical ecology courses and workshops, was awarded the 2005 Kyoto Prize in basic sciences for establishing the field of 'spatial ecology' and expanding scientific understanding of the biosphere as a 'complex adaptive system.' The Kyoto Prize is awarded by the Inamori Foundation and includes a US$465,000 cash prize.
Two scientists who have participated in ICTP activities have won
the Wolf Prize, which carries a US$100,000 cash award.
Daniel Kleppner, professor of physics at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), received the 2005 Wolf Prize in
physics. Kleppner lectured at the ICTP colleges on lasers in 1983
and 1985.
Gregory Margulis, professor of mathematics at Yale University,
and Sergei Novikov, distinguished professor at the University
of Maryland's Institute for Physical Science and Technology and
Department of Mathematics, shared the 2005 Wolf Prize in mathematics.
Margulis spoke at the ICTP workshop on dynamical systems in 2001.
The award ceremony took place at a special meeting of the Israeli
Knesset on 22 May. Israeli President Moshe Katsav presided at
the ceremony.
Alexander M. Polyakov, Joseph Henry professor of physics,
Princeton University, has been elected to the US National Academy
of Sciences (NAS). Polyakov, who won the ICTP Dirac Medal in 1986,
was one of 72 eminent US scientists and 18 foreign associates
elected to NAS in recognition of their distinguished achievements.
Election to NAS is considered among the highest honours that can
be accorded a scientist. The total number of members in NAS now
stands at 1976. The number of foreign associates is 360.
i-ROOMS in Benin
The University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, has become the first institute to receive a computer-based multimedia kit as part of a new ICTP-sponsored partnership called "i-ROOMs". The kit, developed by ICTP's Science Dissemination Unit (SDU), will link the two scientific institutions via internet for the purposes of exchanging information and broadcasting and archiving seminars and lectures.
Yebeni Batidao Kouagou and K.R. Sreenivasan
ICTP Associate Yebeni Batidao Kouagou, associate professor
at the University of Abomey-Calavi, will serve as the local project's
coordinator. Plans call for similar kits to be distributed to
other ICTP federated institutes. For additional information, contact
sdu@ictp.it.
X-ray Imaging
ICTP recently organised the Workshop on "Advanced X-ray Imaging: Opportunities at ICTP" in collaboration with Sincrotrone Trieste, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia), the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the University of Trieste. The workshop, which took place on 19-20 June, is a follow-up to a meeting held in February at ICTP (see Dateline, News from ICTP, Spring 2005). Organisers hope to establish an international consortium for advanced imaging physics.
Orsay's Top 100
Two articles co-authored by ICTP staff scientist Riccardo Zecchina have been cited as among the 100 best papers produced by scientists who have carried our research at Orsay. With more than 200 labs and 2000 researchers, Orsay is France's largest scientific institution. The listing was published in Les 100 plus belles decouvertes d'Orsay (1955-2005).
Riccardo Zecchina
Zecchina's co-authors included long-time ICTP visiting scientist
Marc Mezard, Université XI Paris-Sud, and ICTP Dirac
Medallist Giorgio Parisi, University of Rome "La Sapienza."
Calendar 2006
The ICTP Calendar of events for 2006 is available online. It lists 47 training activities to be held at ICTP next year. New subjects include space weather and science for cultural heritage. Of the six activities to be held outside Trieste, five will be held in Asia and one in Africa. The calendar will be continually updated on the web. See www.ictp.it.
World Year of Physics Finale
As part of the celebration for the World Year of Physics 2005, ICTP, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), and the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) are cosponsoring the World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development. The conference is scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa, from 31 October to 2 November 2005. Between 500 and 600 physicists from around the world are expected to attend. For additional information, see www.wcpsd.org.
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