DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Hong Qin and Ahmed Diallo. (Photos by Elle Starkman)
Hong Qin and Ahmed Diallo, physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), received the Lab s outstanding research awards for 2020 for their work in plasma physics to push forward advancements in fusion energy.
Qin received the Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and Technology Development for the recent development of structure-preserving algorithms for plasma physics. Diallo was named PPPL Distinguished Research Fellow for his groundbreaking studies of tokamak edge plasma dynamics and his development and utilization of novel plasma diagnostics. Each prize includes a $7,500 cash award. Steve Cowley, Laboratory director, presented the awards in a ceremony Dec. 18.
DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Aerial shot of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which collapsed on Dec. 1. (University of Central Florida/National Science Foundation)
The legendary radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed on Dec. 1, sending shock waves throughout the astronomy and astrophysics communities. The telescope, the world s most powerful radar that was used by scientists for almost six decades to send beams to and receive signals from outer space to elucidate the ways of the universe, also is cemented in the history of the U.S. Department of Energy s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).
It was at Arecibo in 1974 that Russell Hulse, a University of Massachusetts graduate student, along with his advisor, James Taylor, discovered the first binary pulsar - a pulsar comprised of two stars in very close proximity that rotate around each other. Hulse was a physicist at PPPL from 1977 to 2007 and Taylor became a Princeton physicist. Th