MRS: Welcome to Boston!
Hello from a very pleasant and sunny Boston (Massachussetts, not Lincolnshire). I'm here at the fall meeting of the Materials Research Society.
I have just arrived at the meeting, but check back for regular updates on what's going on in the materials world. I am looking forward in particular to seeing what advances have been made in silicon photovoltaic technologies. Someone here in this meeting must surely be able to improve on efficiencies of converting sunlight into electricity, currently languishing around 11%, which is never going to be enough to wean people away from petrol.
This year could also see materials scientists expanding their horizons beyond the atomic scale tinkering that they are famed for. This evening will be the first plenary session, and it is by atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon. Solomon works for the National Oceanic and Atmopsheric Administration, and is most well known for being one of the first to suggest that CFCs were causing the ozone hole to grow. I am not sure what materials science will be in her lecture, so I am looking forward to finding out. More on that tomorrow.
There are many more materials treats in store, including a debate about how materials science will be able to help push forward a nuclear power renaissance in the US. Some big wigs are taking the floor tomorrow evening for the debate, including the High Commissioner for Atomic Energy for the French Atomic Energy Commission. Materials science mingling with politics - could be interesting...
