Sounds of Music – Physics and Music

Lecture by Prof. Abraham Katzir (in Hebrew) on the physical nature of music and sounds. The lecture will be accompanied by many demonstrations. This physics lecture will conclude the Tel Aviv University “Bekur Hamahapecha” annual four lecture series commemorating the late Prof. Aharon Katzir.

Date & Time: 7:30 PM, May 9, 2005

Place: Smolarz lecture hall, Tel Aviv University

Introduction: Prof. S. Yankelevich, Rector, Tel Aviv University

Admission: Free.

Information: listserv@listserv.tau.ac.il

Mainly for Physicists

Einstein Legacy Conference by the Israeli Academy of Sciences

The Academy is organizing a four day conference in celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Einstein’s miraculous year, under the title: "Albert Einstein Legacy – A One Hundred Years Perspective." The conference will take place at the Academy house in Jerusalem on the 10-13 of April 2005. Among more than the 20 scientists that have already confirmed their participation are the professors Yakir Aharonov, Haim Harari, Yuval Ne’eman, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, David Gross, Sir Roger Penrose and more.

Click here to read the full details (PDF) of the Albert Einstein Symposium of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 10 - 13 April 2005

The First Katzir- Makineni Lecture

Young@Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science will hold the first Katzir - Makineni Lecture this year. The lecture will be given every year by a senior scientist and outstanding high school students will be invited to attend. In honor of the Year of Physics, Professor Haim Harari will open the series with his lecture “An Introduction to the Future: Twenty Scientific Milestones in the 20^th Century.” Prof. Harari, is a past president of the Weizmann Institute of Science, a world - renowned physicist and a winner of the Israel Prize. The lecture will take place on the International Science Day, 14 March, 2005, which coincides with the birthday of Albert Einstein.

More details can be found at the website of Young@Science www.weizmann.ac.il/young (for high school students).

Hemda School - Tel Aviv

The annual lecture series that the school holds is dedicated to the Year of Physics and three out of four lectures will be on physics:

• Prof. H. Harari will talk about neutrino physics and its implications to the early universe..
• “Thinking Machines - From the Dawn of Electronics to the Future of Nanotechnology” - Prof. M. Heiblum.
• “Albert Einstein - One Hundred Years of History, One Hundred Years of Glory, One Hundred Years of Mystery” - Prof. L. Kuri.

The school also opened a special relativity elective course in honor of the Year of Physics. Furthermore, the school is holding special activities to encourage female students to get involved in science. More details can be found on Hemda website www.hemda.org.il

(For the public and high school students).

http://minerva.tau.ac.il/

Lectures of the Astronomy Club at Tel Aviv University

The Astronomy Club of Tel Aviv University is organizing a series of lectures open to the public in honor of the Year of Physics. The lectures in the month of January 2005 are:

• Aesthetics in the Dark Cosmos: Black Holes, Dark Matter, Dark Energy” - Prof. Mario Libio, 2 January 2005.
• “Einstein’s Legacy: 1905 - The Miraculous Year of Unification and Generalization” - Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund, 5 January 2005.
• “The Cassini - Huygens Mission to Saturn” - Ronen Yaccobi, 19 January 2005.

The lectures are broadcast directly on the net. More details on these and future lectures can be found on the website of the Astronomy Club.

Class Activities

Physics Days of the Center of Physics Teachers and Young@Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science

The Center of Physics Teachers is organizing physics days for hundreds of high school students at the Weizmann Institute of Science. A time schedule is currently being prepared and will be published once established. Details will appear at http://physyear.weizmann.ac.il

Periodicals

A Special Magazine of Scientific American - Israel: “The Century of Einstein”

Ort Israel published a special edition of the Hebrew edition of Scientific American dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of Albert Einstein meteoric breakthrough to the forefront of scientific research. The December 2004-January 2005 edition of the magazine includes a series of articles related to Einstein and his legacy.

Astronomy and Astrophysics for the Public

Meteors Shower - Geminid

No, the Geminid meteor shower that took place on 13-14 December 2004 is not a project of the World Year of Physics, but the organized meteor watch can surely be considered as such. The meteor shower lasted all night (at the rate of 150 meteors per hour). This year visibility conditions were especially good since the meteor shower occurred on the night of the new moon (first night of the month of Tevet), thus, the moonlight did not obstruct visibility. To achieve optimal visibility conditions, the Astronomy Club of Tel Aviv University traveled to the Ramon Crater for an activity that began already in the afternoon hours and lasted the whole night. Around 700 astronomy fans attended the observation at Henyon Be’erot inside the Crater. The Israeli Astronomical Association also organized an observation at Nahal Barak with around 200 participants.

The “Astronomy for Everyone Club“ of Young@Science held an activity at the Weizmann Institute facilitated by an Institute-wide blackout to improve visibility conditions. 300 people attended the gazing event.

For further astronomy activities during 2005 (including Perseid, Leonid and the Geminid meteor showers in December) look for coming notices at the website of the Astronomy Association http://www.astronomy.org.il , the website of the Astronomy Club http://wise-obs.tau.ac.il/astroclub , the website of Young@Science www.weizmann.ac.il/young and in other places.

International Events

“Physics for Tomorrow” - The Launch Conference of the International Year of Physics in Paris

A delegation of 6 young people will leave for the launch event that will take place at the Unesco Center in Paris, January 13-15, 2005. The delegation includes young people who participated in physics Olympiads, the Physics Tournament (“The Safes”) of Young@Science at Weizmann Institute of Science, and more.

Information on the conference can be found in the website http:///www.wyp2005.org/unesco and http://physyear.weizmann.ac.il.

[For high school students]

Youth Competitions

The 10^th Shalheveth Freier Physics Tournament (“The Safes”) of Young@Science at Weizmann Institute of Science

This year Young@Science is organizing the 10^th Shalheveth Freier Physics Tournament (“The Safes”). To mark the Year of Physics and the completion of the first decade of the tournament, a special celebratory ceremony will be held. The tournament itself will take place on 19 April, 2005 and the ceremony will take place the next day, 20 April, 2005. There will be an exhibition of all the 2005 “safes” on the day of the ceremony that will be open to the public. A record of over 60 “safes” from dozens of schools in Israel and several “safes” from foreign countries (Canada and Britain) are expected. You are invited! More details can be found at Young@Science website www.weizmann.ac.il/young

[High school students]

Competition events at Hemda School

Hemda School at Tel Aviv is conducting a series of competitions on subjects that touch on physics in honor of the World Year of Physics. Walking on water, egg dropping, building watches, and participating in other challenging activities are offered to the participants of the competitions.

Details can be found on Hemda website www.hemda.org.il