Physics World visit to Mexico kicks off

By Matin Durrani in Mexico City

I don’t know about you, but my trick whenever flying halfway across the world is to shoehorn myself as fast as possible into the new time zone I’m in. Having travelled from the UK to Mexico City with my colleague James Dacey yesterday, that tactic seems to have worked…so far. After staying up till midnight following a mini-feast of fabulous spicy tacos at a nearby restaurant while a thunderstorm broke, I woke up on cue at 7 a.m. as dawn broke in one of the biggest urban areas in the world.

We’re both here to gather material for a Physics World special report on physics in Mexico, which is due out in September. Following fast on the heels of recent reports on India, Brazil, Korea, India (again), Japan and China, the report will shine a light on some of the exciting physics research going on in the country and highlight some of the challenges and opportunities the country’s physicists face, too.

We’ve organized a packed programme of meetings, visits and trips over the next six days in both Mexico City and Puebla, and we’ll be keeping you updated on this blog. I must, though, express thanks to Jaime Urrutia Fucugauchi, current president of the Mexican Physical Society, who has been extremely helpful in fixing up our programme. In particular, he’s arranged interviews with the director of the CONACYT funding agency, Enrique Cabrero Mendoza, who is effectively also the Mexican science minister, and Francesco Bolívar Zapata, who acts as science adviser to the country’s president.

So, stay tuned to find out what James and I will be up to over the coming week as we hope to update you each day, time permitting. If you want to get in touch, you can contact me via e-mail (matin.durrani@iop.org) or Twitter (@MatinDurrani).

We’re also going to be documenting our trip through a video diary, the first of which you can watch below.