LEFT-HANDED MATERIALS
Steps toward a "perfect lens" and lenses that bend microwave beams the opposite way to normal lenses have been taken by an MIT/Harvard collaboration (K22.1, K22.2). There is debate over whether or not these theoretically possible devices could actually be created, but the new experimental results put part of that debate to rest. Passing the microwaves through a slab of "left-handed material" (LHM), as these devices are known, results in a focused spot of microwave power, something that would not happen with normal right-handed materials. Other researchers from the University of Utah (K22.4) suggest that LHMs can be used for a new 3D imaging process.

MISCONDUCT IN PHYSICS
Recent evidence of professional misconduct in two different areas of physics has caused the community to think deeply about such issues. In November 2002, the APS Council approved new statements of professional ethics and revised its "Guidelines for Professional Conduct". A panel session, including members of the Lucent and Berkeley review committees will discuss these issues allowing time for input from the community. The session will be chaired by APS President Myriam Sarachik (CCNY-CUNY). Panelists include Malcolm Beasley (Stanford), Pierre Hohenberg (Yale), Arthur Bienenstock (Stanford), George Trilling (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). (Session U1)

CARBON NANOTUBES - A TOOL FOR ALL OCCASIONS
Carbon nanotubes are now a huge focus of research and development with applications arising in diverse areas. They are being studied as ultrasensitive sensors of gas molecules in the environment, as opticalsensors, and as mechanical sensors that can detect very slight bending. Nanotubes are also being explored as the basis for electronic devices. Results will be presented for nanotube version of transistors, the
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Contact: David Harris
harris@aps.org
301-209-3238
American Physical Society
23-Jan-2003