A Look at the Atomfest

A Look at the AtomfestEvery year at the end of June there is a large gathering in Cambridge, MA, called the Atomfest, which for some people is more important than the yearly scientific conference in Washington, DC. While science conferences are important and all, to me the event that is just as important is the Atomic Bomb Research Paper Contest.It is an interesting topic, as it is about the peace of nations. However, I feel that at the time when we have to do our best to reduce nuclear weapons that this is something worth doing, so there is something else that is really important.The Atomfest in Cambridge is one of the major American gatherings that brings together scientists from all over the country. Some people think that by attending an annual conference for nuclear physicists is just throwing our money away, but these people often don't know much about physics, and some physicists don't even like the term 'nuclear physicist.'When you see the name, I'm sure that you will start t hinking of nuclear researchers for new inventions and research paper topics. But actually we are not just here to invent new devices or research topics. We are here to see the outstanding work in physics.The Atomfest is a four day conference with amazing presentations and a lot of practical experiments in front of all of us. This year the field was from Los Alamos National Laboratories, and that is considered to be a grand success. The lab has had very successful experiments in particle physics, fusion research, and have developed new technologies in nuclear safety.This year's experiments were about how fusion reactors work, about atoms and what they are made of, about uranium fission and what happens with atoms around a radioactive substance. Some of the atomic bombs used for practice are used in this device, and the bomb tests were also included. While this is only a science paper contest, that is actually not very different from a science and engineering competition. For instance , there are different ways that you can go into the contest, but it does give the rest of the field something to do at the end of the day and there is more money in it for the rest of the world.