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KomomakiEvery winter, pine trees on theKEK campus in Tsukuba,Japan, get a treat. Komomaki(woven-straw blankets) arewrapped around the pines a few feet above the ground.During cold weather,Matsukemushi, the larvae ofthe pine moth Dendrolimusspectabilis, creep into theKomomaki. Snug in their blan-kets, the Matsukemushi leavethe pines unharmed. At theend of winter, the Komomaki,now infested with bugs, aretaken out of the trees andburned. In Japan, burningKomomaki are a symbol ofnew spring.Youhei Morita, KEK

Tree skirts protect KEK’s pines from bugs; symmetry causes high demand for

Einstein bears; a new physics center brings CERN closer to the United

States; particle detector slows down physics teacher; Hollywood stars should

check their John Ellis number; celebrating Einstein’s legacy; letters.

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Einstein bearIn honor of the World Year ofPhysics, symmetry featured an Albert Einstein teddy bearon the cover of the Februaryissue. Since then, we havereceived a steady stream ofphone calls and email.Everyone and their mothers(mine included) just had to know where they could gettheir paws on that adorableAlbert Einstein bear.

A Fermilab scientist* lentthe bear to us for the photoshoot, completely unawarethat the cuddly creature wouldbe turned into a teddy divaovernight. Not realizing what a stir this furry fellow wouldcause, I did some detectivework of my own to learn moreof the bear’s history. My find-ings may disappoint you, however, because the bear isno longer manufactured.

Known as “Albeart Einstein,”this VIB (Very Important Bear) was manufactured bythe North American BearCompany from 1987 to 1995.Albeart comes from a long lineof VIBs that include WilliamShakesbear, Bearlyn Monroeand Humphrey Beargart.Because Albeart Einstein wasnot a limited edition, I cannottell you exactly how manybears NABCO manufactured.But I must confess there isnow one less Albeart Einsteinavailable on eBay. Even I couldn’t resist getting my

paws on one of the bears, and I knew that it would be theperfect gift for my mother.Happy Birthday, Mom!Elizabeth Clements

* The Fermilab scientist’s name has beenpurposely omitted for the protection ofthe Albeart Einstein bear, which remainssafely locked in an office.

Fermilab’s “CMSbranch office”The CMS (Compact MuonSolenoid) detector at CERN,in Geneva, Switzerland, and the new CMS offices atFermilab are separated only by the amount of time it takeslight to travel between the two places. On Wilson Hall’s11th floor at Fermilab, com-puter screens run live footageof CMS taken by cameras at CERN, alternating with ani-mations of how the detectorsare assembled.

“The goal in designing thisfloor was to create an openarea for human interaction,formal and informal meetings,and spontaneous communica-tion,” says Kaori Maeshima of Fermilab’s Particle PhysicsDivision and CMS Department.The open crossover area, with bright yellow chairs, clear

fish tank coffee tables, andhigh stools at the Internet bar,has a fresh, welcoming look for visitors as well as locals.

For an experiment with over2000 people involved, creatingbases around the world helpspersonalize the work. Ofcourse, CMS scientists occa-sionally have to travel toSwitzerland. “We’re offeringFrench classes for the CMSpeople who visit CERN,” saysHans Wenzel of Fermilab’sComputing Division and CMSDepartment. “When you visitCERN, it’s quite amazing howmuch the French language is used. Knowing the languageopens up a completely differ-ent world sometimes, for work and other things, such asvisiting small local markets.”

The only aspect that thedesign team (of physicists)seemed to approach too hastilywas the naming of one of the conference rooms. Whileother Fermilab conferencerooms have intriguing namesand designs (such as “BlackHole” and “Hornets’ Nest”),the CMS floor offers a plain

“Round Table.” Perhaps it couldhave been “La Table Ronde.”Lisa Zyga

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signal to background

What’s in the box?In January 2000, Tom Jordanhad just finished up a confer-ence in San Diego, where he had presented one of thenew cosmic ray detectors to QuarkNet teachers. (Today,these detectors are found in more than 200 high schoolphysics classrooms across the United States.) Jordan, ofFermilab’s Education Office,drove to the San Diego airport,preparing to take a red-eyeflight back to Chicago.

Jordan passed through themetal detector as easily as he had in Chicago before theflight out. But when the boxwith the cosmic ray detectorpassed through the x-raymachine on the conveyor belt,the image aroused the secu-rity guard’s suspicions.

“I thought for a minuteabout how to explain what itwas,” says Jordan. “So I said it was a device that detectssubatomic particles that movethrough our atmosphere.”Jordan showed the guard thetwo scintillating plastic coun-ters, phototubes and readoutelectronics. “Then the guardcalled up her supervisor on thephone and told him that ‘someguy wants to know if he canbring his atmosphere protectoron the plane.’ But I wasn’tgoing to correct her because I wanted to get home.”Lisa Zyga

3.4 degrees of John EllisHow is John Ellis, physicist atCERN, similar to Rod Steiger,actor from such films as On

the Waterfront and ThePawnbroker?

Maybe you’ve played themovie trivia game revolvingaround “Kevin Bacon num-bers,” which connects actorsvia movies they have appearedin together, or heard of “Erdösnumbers” in mathematicswhich use co-authorship ofresearch papers for the samepurpose.

The Oracle of Bacon web-site has found the “best” center of the movie world, andit isn’t Kevin Bacon. The bestconnected actor, who can be linked to all other actors in the shortest average numberof movies, is Rod Steiger, fol-lowed closely by ChristopherLee and Dennis Hopper. Forthese three actors, it takes anaverage of about 2.7 movies to link to any other actor inHollywood, and it never takesmore than 8.

Who is the analog in theo-retical High Energy Physics?In spires there are over 50,000distinct authors, but the bestconnected is John Ellis. Theaverage “Ellis number” is about 3.4, with no authorbeing more than 10 papersaway from John Ellis. Followingclose behind are VernonBarger of the University ofWisconsin, Madison, and Keith Olive of the University of Minnesota with averagenumbers of 3.6. The average

See the Erdös Number Project at Oakland University(www.oakland.edu/enp/) and the Oracle of Baconat the University of Virginia (www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle/) for more information. John Ellis (left) is a Quantum Diarist during the World Year of Physics: www.quantumdiaries.org/bios/john_ellis.htmlP

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connectedness of the top 50cited HEP theorists is about 4.

As in Hollywood, beingwell-connected doesn’t makeyou good or bad at what youdo, but it is interesting thatthese folks seem to havespread their collaborationaround more than others. Ellis,especially, is notable for thenumber of papers he has published (over 400, with over200 different co-authors), ondiverse topics within the field,so it is perhaps not surprisingthat he should head this list.Travis Brooks, SLAC

Einstein and the violin

“I often think about music. I day-dream about music. I see my life in the form of music.”

Albert Einstein

Fans of classical music are infor a special treat during theWorld Year of Physics. In cele-bration of Albert Einstein’s

scientific achievements and hislove of violin music, OxfordUniversity physicist Brian Foster(above left) and acclaimed violinist Jack Liebeck are em-

barking on a world tour, givinglectures and concerts.

In their Superstrings pro-gram, Foster describesEinstein’s groundbreaking con-tributions to modern physicsand presents the latest effortsto explain the structure of the universe in terms of super-string theory; Liebeck demon-strates superstring conceptson his violin, and he performspieces by J.S. Bach as well as music specifically writtenfor the World Year of Physicsby composers Emily Hall andAnna Meredith. In a secondprogram of the tour, Liebeck—who has played in concertoswith many of the world’s leading orchestras includingthe London Philharmonic—performs recitals accompaniedby leading pianists.

From Europe to Asia toNorth America, the tour coversalmost every continent. In the United States, the tour willmake stops at Fermilab,Jefferson Lab, and StanfordLinear Accelerator Center, aswell as numerous universities.Information on tour dates is at www.jackliebeck.com/superstrings.htmKurt Riesselmann

Letters

Running vs. trottingI noticed a small inaccuracy in the March 2005 article “X-rayBlaze on an Invisible World.” Horse people among your readers will instantly recognize that the horse in the photo-graph “Sallie Gardner” is running, not trotting. There arehorses that race at the trot, but that breed of horse is calledStandardbred, not Thoroughbred, and they pull a sulky; they are not ridden.

To resolve the inaccuracy in the article, you need to changeonly the references to trotting in a few places.

When those changes are made, horse people will continuereading without stopping to argue.Sandra P. Arthur, Cincinnati, Ohio

Heather Rock Woods responds: Indeed the image does showa horse galloping, not trotting. However, Stanford andMuybridge’s first photographs were actually taken of horsestrotting (pulling a sulky, with its wheels rolling over wires to activate the cameras). We did not have access to those images for this article. Much controversy and many urbanmyths surround the story of Stanford and Muybridge. Readerswho want to know more are urged to consult Muybridge: Manin Motion by Robert Bartlett Haas, Muybridge’s biographer.

Letters can be submitted via letters@symmetrymagazine.org

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