Contest results…

Oh, the places your symmetry went!

In August 2007, we asked readers to send photos of places their copies of symmetry have been. Here are three letters with photographic evidence of the magazine's travels.

I am so fascinated by the latest particle physics news (and quips and quotes from the crews), symmetry keeps me stimulated even on otherwise restful vacation days! The Abacos archipelago in northeastern Bahamas is a destination of turquoise water, developed and deserted cays, pastel houses, bougainvillea, sandy beaches, snorkeling reefs, and starfish the size of a human torso. What better means to explore nature and exercise the mind (thereby avoiding the hazard of falling into lethargy from the intense sun and steamy climate) than a boat, a mask and fins, a cool one, and thou? Two friends joined me in January for an excellent excursion on a chartered 31-foot sailboat based in Hope Town, Elbow Cay. Even running aground on sandbars didn't faze us—raid the cooler, put Jimmy Buffett on the stereo, and wait for the tide to rise. Between black holes, sea turtles, and rum punches, our Abacos vacation "sailed" by!
Amber Jones

A beautiful day at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, found me reading my symmetry magazine while taking a break from packing up the CREAM instrument after its recovery from the Ross Ice Shelf, where it came down after a 28-day flight circling high above the Antarctic continent in its quest for answers to questions about the supernova acceleration mechanism of cosmic rays (see http://cosmicray. umd.edu/cream). CREAM was launched on December 19th from the ice shelf near McMurdo Station, and my job since early January was to wait for it to come back down to earth and then go out to pick up the pieces, so to speak. Balloon cosmic-ray experiments are really high-energy experiments, but done in a smaller space and on a smaller budget.

I get symmetry to stay in touch with my earth-bound brethren, and have caught up on several back issues during my wait. The view here is unbeatable. In the photos, you can see the sea crates I have been putting the support equipment and recovered instruments into, and in the background the glacier-covered Ross Island, upon which McMurdo Station is built. I am out on the permanent ice of the shelf itself, in the area where the balloon instruments are prepared and launched. You can see Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano in the world, in the background of the more distant photo, although it was a bit cloudcovered that day. The weather has been pretty poor this year, and I had to wait for two weeks after the instrument came down before a plane was available to go get it.

You can see more of what I have been doing here and going through via my blog at http:// antarctic-scott.blogspot.com.
Scott Nutter

I have been doing science on the Late Show with David Letterman for 18-plus years. The first eight were me alone, but for the last 10 I had kids from the Naperville, Illinois, area doing the science. The Kid Scientists appeared on February 27. I had a picture taken with symmetry and the kids at Dave's desk. I get symmetrymagazine because I "worked" with Fermilab education programs for 20 years with Friends of Fermilab and Marge Bardeen.
Lee Marek

Editor's note: A video clip of part of the February 27 Kid Scientist segment, titled "Magic Carpet Ride," is at www.symmetrymag. org/lateshowclip/.