Invited Speakers
What if the Moon Didn´t Exist and Other Alternative Worlds
By Neil F. Comins
Exploring "What if …?" scenarios has the power to give us deeper insights into Earth as it is, along with understanding of how it is different from similar planets whose astronomical environments differ from ours. In this talk, I will explain some of the history of the Earth and then alter that history to see what the Earth would be like under new conditions. That process will also take us into the realm of some common misconceptions people have about astronomy. Besides considering what the Earth would be like if the Moon had never existed, I will also consider what would happen if the Moon were orbiting in the opposite direction to how the Earth rotates.
How the Large Hadron Collider will soon change our view of the Universe
By Mark C. Kruse
The Large Hadron Collider, at the CERN facility in Geneva, Switzerland, started colliding beams of protons in 2010 at an unprecedented center of mass energy of 7 TeV. Although not yet running at full capacity, the experiments analyzing the proton-proton collision data have already produced an impressive array of physics results. In 2011 the LHC is expected to produce at least an order of magnitude more data, opening up the possibility of discovering new physics beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics and fundamentally changing our understanding of the Universe. I will review the LHC itself and the experiments that analyze its data, show some recent results that have come from the LHC, and discuss prospects for the next year or so.
Prizes and Awards
As is usually the case at our meetings, prizes will be awarded for the best
- undergraduate student ($100) paper or poster
- best graduate student paper or poster ($100) and
- best pedagogical ($150 toward travel expenses to present a similar paper at a national meeting) paper.
All papers and posters are eligible for the Best Pedagogical Award.
E-mail addresses
If you did not receive an e-mail message about this meeting and you have access to e-mail, please send a note to John Hubisz at hubisz@unity.ncsu.edu with your correct e-mail address.
Election
There will be an election at this meeting and nominations for Vice-President, Section Representative, and High School Representative should be sent to me as soon as possible.
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