MacArthur Fellows awards announced, seven physical scientists among winnersMacArthur Foundation Awards 24 Grants,

Physics Today : The $500,000 fellowships were announced today by the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation . This years awards include technologist Paul Rothemund whose research focuses on the fabrication of large molecules that reliably self-assemble into complex, arbitrary, programmable shapes; Los Alamos National Laboratory chemist My Hang Huynh who is working at the boundary of organic and inorganic chemistry to devise novel techniques for synthesizing highly energetic compounds. Technologist and co-founder of Squid Labs Saul Griffith who designed while at MIT a unique membrane-based molding system that can produce a variety of common lenses from a single pair of flexible molding surfaces, which could be invaluable to rural communities around the world; University of Maryland environmental geographer Ruth DeFries who uses remotely sensed satellite imagery to explore the relationship between the Earth’s vegetative cover, human modifications of the landscape, and the biochemical processes that regulate the Earth’s habitability; University of Washington, Seattle, Prosthetic engineer Yoky Matsuoka , who creates sophisticated prosthetic devices and designs complementary rehabilitation strategies; Caltech molecular biologist Michael Elowitz who is designing artificial genetic “circuits,” first modeling them computationally and then introducing the elements in vivo to test their activity; and finally, Environmental Engineer Marc Edward s who is is playing a vital role in ensuring the safety of drinking water and in exposing deteriorating water-delivery infrastructure in America’s largest cities.