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SCIENCEThursday 31 December 2015

‘Millennium physicist’ ready to take helm at nuclear center

JAMEY KEATEN to science: She’s incredibly ference room because her
Associated Press energetic, incredibly pas- office was a “mess” during
GENEVA (AP) — Fabiola sionate, has a lot of differ- her move, Gianotti mused
Gianotti, who this week ent talents. ... She has a de- about an innovative, dem-
takes the helm at CERN gree in piano in addition to ocratic community where
— home to world’s larg- physics,” Dunford said. Nobel laureates lunch with
est particle accelerator, is Gianotti, who succeeds 25-year-old Ph.D. students.
seen as a new breed of sci- Germany’s Rolf Heuer as “CERN is a special place
entist. Initially trained in arts director-general on Jan. 1, where we do fund re-
and literature, she came to becoming the first woman search by bringing togeth-
physics relatively late. She to hold the post, insists she er experts from over the
enjoys cooking, jogging, doesn’t want to be “front planet — great scientists
music and keeping her eye stage” at the multinational — but also a huge amount
on the news, and notes the laboratory on the Swiss- of young people,” she said.
importance of being “a cit- French border: Her big- It’s “a democratic environ-
izen of the world.” ger focus is about helping ment in that there are no
Gianotti “embodies for me produce science for sci- barriers.”
what’s much more the mil- ence’s sake in the quest The center’s particle ac-
lennium physicist,” said Dr. to explain the how the uni- celerator smashes together
Monica Dunford, senior verse works. atoms and monitors the
scientist at Germany’s Uni- The 55-year-old Italian results to help understand
versity of Heidelberg, who stands out not just for her the universe on the most in-
spent six years at CERN, fashion sense in a sneak- finitesimal scale. The Large
the European Center for ers-and-jeans culture of Hadron Collider sends pro-
Nuclear Research. “Not so coffee-fueled collabora- tons whizzing through a
geeky, much more well- tion, sleepless nights and circular, 27-kilometer (17-
rounded, diverse, passion- absent-mindedness about mile) underground tun-
ate.” proper eating. In an inter- nel at nearly the speed of
“Fabiola brings freshness view held in a CERN con- light.q

Fabiola Gianotti attends a news conference at the European Team of Guam students build underwater robots
Center for Nuclear Research, CERN, in Meyrin near Geneva,
Switzerland. On Jan. 1, 2016 the 55-year-old Italian becomes HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A the land. ming pool. On Wednesday,

the first woman director-general at CERN the world’s biggest group of students in Guam You can build robots to the students headed to

particle accelerator that smashes together atoms and monitors is learning about the con- search and rescue some- Underwater World to put

the fallout to help understand the universe at the most infinitesi- nection between marine one. You can build robots their creations to the test
mal scale. to do the science and help in an underwater obstacle
robotics and environmen- in sustainability.’” course at the tunnel aquar-
( Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP) tal sustainability by creat-

ing their own underwater The robotics course is part ium.

robots. of a six-day clinic on sus- One team, called H20,

The group of 20 students, tainable technologies. Stu- used a three-blade pro-

ages 15 to 17, is participat- dents learn about sustain- peller, motor and floats to

ing in a two-week sustain- able design concepts for keep their robot buoyant

able technologies clinic fossil fuels, photovoltaics enough to move along the

put on by Guam Commu- and wind energy. course.

nity College. Sunga led students as they “The simplicity really helped

The students tested their drew up their own blue- the buoyancy,” said Fred-

homemade robots last prints, cut PVC pipe and lyn Rose Lumogda, a mem-

week at an aquarium in worked with a motor and ber of the team and senior

Tumon, The Pacific Daily control to make the robots. at Tiyan High School. “If it

News reported. “All I did was give them were any more complex, it

“I’m teaching them about motors and a control, and would have just sunk.”

marine sustainability and I gave them uncut PVC Each team was timed as

not just teaching them pipe,” Sunga said. “Then I they guided their robots

why corals are important, said, ‘OK, let’s go and start between small yellow

but teaching them, ‘Hey, cutting.’” buoys at varying depths. A

there’s a job out there,’” Students worked on the ro- few teams made it through

said the program’s director bots in groups of four and the entire course, but de-

A.J. Sunga, a science pro- after one full day of design- sign flaws prevented some

fessor at the college. “’You ing and building, they test- robots from getting past

could build robots to survey ed their models in a swim- the first few obstacles.q