¡Viva la Física!

Mexico’s World Year of Physics 2005 celebrations are meant to show the public how important physics is to daily life. But many of the events are particularly aimed at the nation’s youth. Thus it was appropriate that Mexico’s official WYP inauguration kicked off in January with a set by the rock band ¡Que Payasos! (What Clowns!). Some 700 invitees, mostly local high-school students, attended the event, held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s campus in Mexico City. (The university, along with the Mexican Physical Society, covered expenses for Physics Today’s attendance at the inauguration.) Assisting the guests to their seats were ushers dressed as Albert Einstein (top photo). The event featured comic actor Andrés Bustamante playing Dr. Chunga, who hosted a number of classic physics demonstrations; in the bottom photo, Chunga and some of his assistants prepare to show, with plastic tubes, how vibrating air causes sound.

Follow-up activities at the Mexico City campus will include a year-long series of free lectures, mostly by Mexican scientists, intended for general audiences. Other events are planned throughout the nation. For example, a physics fair will tour the country after its initial run this November in the capital.

Those who cannot attend Mexico’s WYP events in person can catch the spirit of the celebration by purchasing national lottery tickets. They’re printed with a portrait of Einstein and the WYP logo.