Thomas M. Nordlund

2005 World Year of Physics:

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Birmingham-area Events

Physics Enlightens the World. Click to see larger poster.

See http://www.wyp2005.at for international events.

April 18, 2005.

Starting shortly after darkness began in Princeton, NJ, USA, Einstein's last home, a light-signal relay was begun, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death in the form of a light signal propagating around the world. Starting at 7:30 PM (CDT) in Birmingham, Alabama, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at the McWane Science Center, two searchlights were pointed into the sky for 3 hours, to help the relay along a southern route across the United States. See above link for more information on the relay across the oceans, Asia, Africa, Europe, S. America, and Australia.

	Location of Birmingham beacon. The light signal relay starts in Princeton, NJ, Einstein's last home. See bottom diagram.
	View from Campbell Hall, UAB area. Beam appears to end after 100 ft or so, due to low -lying haze. The vertical beam from the McWane Center, located about 1 km away, is dimly visible near the apparent tip of the UAB beam. Handheld photo by Tom Nordlund, Dept. of Physics, UAB
	View from Campbell Hall, UAB area. "10k" searchlight from SkyTracker Southeast near Bartow Arena. B/W photo by Paul Baker, UAB
	View from Red Mountain, near Vulcan Park. Approx. 8:20 PM, CDT Beams from UAB and McWane Center were pointed upward from about 7:30 - 8:30 PM. At 8:34 PM, the UAB beam was lowered to intersect the McWane beam, symbolizing the relay of the signal commemorating the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death. Photo by Paul Baker, Dept. of Physics, UAB.
	View from Red Mountain, near Vulcan Park. Approx. 9:30 PM, CDT. Beams from UAB and McWane Center intersect. Photo by Tom Nordlund, Dept. of Physics, UAB.

Recorded lights signals around the world. Red dots indicate confirmed signals. Relay across the oceans was done through fiber-optic communication cables.

From http://www.wyp2005.at/licht/worldmap.php

Schedule of Events.

Selected 2005 World Year of Physics Events in Birmingham, Alabama area
Date	Event / Location / Contact
April 5-7	Physics for the Third Millennium: II Von Braun Center, Huntsville, AL Ronald.J.Koczor@nasa.gov
April 18	Physics Enlightens the World UAB, Campbell Hall , 1300 University Blvd., & McWane Center, 200 19th St. N, Birmingham www.phy.uab.edu , www.mcwane.org
May 31 - June 10	Physics Workshop for High School Students UAB, Campbell Hall , 1300 University Blvd., & VisionLand, Birmingham www.phy.uab.edu , select “K-12”, select “HS Programs” , nordlund@uab.edu
Sept. 3 - Jan 22 (2006)	Einstein Exhibition McWane Center 200 19th St. N, Birmingham, AL www.mcwane.org , (205) 714-8470 tblackwell@mcwane.org
October (tba)	Einstein Speaker Birmingham (tba)