International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the only international organization established to regulate and monitor nuclear installation. With 144 member states and the active threat of terrorism, the IAEA suffers from a significant increase in workload with insufficient funding.

In 2002, the Nuclear Security Fund was created in the wake of the 9/11 attack. This plausible effort was deemed ineffective since the fund relies on voluntary funding from its member states, according to an article in Nature. With an inadequate annual budget of 15 million Euro (22.5 million USD), this security fund fails to perform its intended function.

Furthermore, the technology used in detecting nuclear threat needs a complete overhaul. While a vast variety of novel technology are available to detect even a trace amount of hazardous materials, IAEA still utilizes analytical instruments that are “often three decades old and have no available spare parts.” This is not to mention the problem with backlogging samples and even difficulty with obtaining a sample from a potential target. With a mere annual budget of 280 million Euro (406 million USD), the agency does not even have adequate funding to purchase the satellite image needed to search for suspicious targets.

Finally, it is necessary for nuclear operators around the world to form a better network of communication and information sharing. An organized discussion would be effective in developing safe and secure practice. The US Nuclear Threat Initiative is an example of such forum.

Many initiatives and changes are needed to improve and reform the IAEA. None of them comes cheap considering the cutting-edge technology and degree of specificity of this field. However, nuclear security is just as important, if not more applicable, than the next source of security threat. A properly funded regulation agency would be the first step towards building a safer and more open community globally.

For more information, see Nuclear security undervalued, Nature

In recent years, time traveling has been not only a scenario in science fictions and Hollywood blockbusters, but also a scientific possibility due to the rapid developments of quantum theory. Tidbits on the possibility of achieving time traveling has sprouted up in news in the past couple of weeks.

The soon to be available Large Hadron Collider (LHC, pictured above) of CERN utilizes several superconducting magnets (kept at just 1.9 K) to guide charged particles to a desired projectile. Scheduled to be in operation by May of this year, it is the largest and highest energy particle accelerator in the world.[1] Using the LHC, a special run is scheduled for April 2008 in attempt to recreate the Big Bang.

By colliding charged particles at high velocity, researchers hope to reproduce the first billionth second after the Big Bang. By successfully doing so, this exercise would further validate the theory–some claim as the origin of life–since the Nobel win of Professor George Smoot in 2007.

However, the public hype of the launch of LHC isn’t all for the recreation of the mysterious Big Bang. Much of its attention is the possibility of creating a time machine as a side product of this exercise. As mathematicians Irina Aref’eva and Igor Volovich of Moscow’s Steklov Mathematical Institute pointed out, Einstein’s theory of general relativity suggests that particle collisions at such high energy level would distort the space-time fabric surrounding it. This distortion can create a wormhole, or “time tunnel,” allowing time traveling.[2] A related interview with Irina Aref’eva is available on YouTube.

Such claim sounds little more than a scene out of some scifi movie; and many in the scientific community agrees. Most remains skeptical of the production and application of the man-made wormhole. Surely, arguments like the lack of “time travelers” from the future still echo every time machine idea is brought up. Since what will happen inside the particle accelerator is still largely unknown, its secondary consequences also remain unpredictable.

Noel

[1] Large Hadron Collider, Wikipedia

[2] The world’s first time machine? Tunnel to the past could open door to future within three months, say Russians

Earlier this month, the American Physics Society updated their Online Archive to include all the Physical Review articles as far back as 1893. While we celebrate for the time saved from making photocopies of old, dusty volumes in the back room of the library, this new addition is also good news for literature-surfing enthusiasts. Among the sea of findings is a pair of articles, published in 1939 by Hans Bethe of Cornell University that eventually earned him the Nobel Prize of Physics.

In these papers, Bethe proposed two possible fusion reaction mechanisms that enables stellar energy production. They are as follows:

p + p –> ²H

²H + p –> ³He

This helium-3 nucleus further reacts, resulting in helium-4. A second reaction chain was named the C-N-O cycle. This mechanism uses a small amount of carbon, interacting with nitrogen and oxygen intermediates to produce He nuclei from ejected protons as an end product.

While later experiments confirmed the validity of both of his mechanism proposals, he was incorrect in predicting the reaction prevalent in solar energy production. Bethe concluded that C-N-O cycle is the dominant mechanism by the estimated temperature on the sun at that time, which was an over approximation. Both of Bethe’s proposed mechanisms are accepted in the current astrophysics community, with proton-proton fusion as the main source of solar energy.

This pair of articles marked the beginning of many stellar physics discoveries to come. More detail on Bethe’s theory is available in the new APS online archive!

For more information: Landmarks: What Makes the Star Shine?

Noel