Donna Strickland on her life-changing Nobel prize, previewing Black in Physics Week, nuclear fusion in stars

21 Oct 2021 Hamish Johnston

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, the Canadian Nobel laureate and laser physicist Donna Strickland talks about how winning the prize in 2018 was a life-changing event.

Sunday, 24 October, is the start of Black in Physics Week and Physics World is celebrating by publishing a series of essays from outstanding Black physicists on the theme of “burnout and how to avoid it”. The atomic, molecular and optical physicist Garrett Williams of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign joins us to talk about his experiences of burnout and what strategies he uses to mitigate its effects.

Also on the podcast is astrophysicist Zach Meisel of Ohio University, who shares his knowledge of the nuclear processes that power the Sun and other stars. He also previews future studies of stellar burning that will use the next generation of nuclear and astrophysical experiments.

Zach Meisel and colleagues have written a white paper that looks to the future of research into stellar burning. It has been accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics and is called “The status and future of direct nuclear reaction measurements for stellar burning”.

from physicsworld.com 21/10/2021