News Notes

Quantum computing journal. The journal Quantum Information and Computation (QIC) made its debut last month. Most papers published in this field currently appear in the Los Alamos electronic preprint archives, and in a handful of journals in the physics, mathematics, and computer sciences arenas, says Hoi-Kwong Lo, one of the new journal's managing editors and the chief scientist at MagiQ Technologies Inc in New York City. "It is getting difficult to keep track of all those papers and distinguish the good ones from the bad ones. We hope to bring a diverse community together and broaden the perspectives of researchers." The first issue of QIC, which will appear every two months, focuses on quantum entanglement. The electronic version of the journal will be free until the end of the year and can be accessed online at http://www.rinton.com/journals/ qiconlin_5.html.

Math research prizes. Sergei Gukov, a 24-year-old postdoc studying string theory, just won his salary for the next five years. Gukov is one of four prize fellows named this year by the Clay Math Institute—a three-year-old private foundation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that is perhaps best known for its ongoing offer of $1 million to the first person to solve any of seven historically troubling math problems. Through the fellowships, first offered last year, the institute sponsors scientists for up to five years of research at any location. So far, one winner a year has worked in physics. "Most postdocs have to teach," says Gukov, who will instead focus on research at Harvard University. The winners, who must be under the age of 30, need to have already achieved significant research results, says Arthur Jaffe, the institute's president. "We first and foremost want to encourage the most original researchers."

NAE reelects Wulf. The National Academy of Engineering has reelected William A. Wulf to head the organization for six more years. He took over as interim president in 1997, and has since been on leave from the University of Virginia. Wulf believes that the increasing global population—most of which will end up in new giant cities—will lead to unique engineering challenges in energy, water, waste management, and transportation. "By the time I leave office, I want engineering to do a better job of supplying information on which public policy can be based," he says.

DOD funds space materials center. The University of Chicago has won a $5 million grant over five years from the US Department of Defense to lead the creation of a Center for Materials Chemistry in the Space Environment. The center will search for materials that can survive bombardment by stray oxygen atoms—which make up much of the lower atmosphere and react strongly with many materials—as well as electrons, orbital debris, ions, and ultraviolet radiation. "The current materials being used are still what I would call first-generation space materials that just happen to work at some level," says Chicago physical chemist Steven Sibener, the new center's leader. "We intend to go beyond such fortuitous situations." The center brings together researchers from six universities and is part of the DOD's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, which funds basic research to the tune of $125 million a year.