Issues
Physics Update
Reference Frame
Letters
Hans Bethe: Superlative Scientist, Incomparable Mentor, Humanitarian, Friend
Search and Discovery
Record Gamma-Ray Flare Is Attributed to a Hypermagnetized Neutron Star in Our Galaxy
Magnetars are neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields known in nature or the laboratory. A problematic subclass of gamma-ray bursters may turn out to be extragalactic magnetars in disguise.
Evidence for a Plasma Inside a Sonoluminescing Bubble
The exceptionally bright light emitted by an acoustically vibrated bubble of argon gas in sulfuric acid helps illuminate the extreme conditions within a collapsed bubble.
A String-Theory Calculation of Viscosity Could Have Surprising Applications
A deep connection between strings and gauge symmetries enables theorists to address the dynamics of strongly interacting fluids.
Issues and Events
Accelerator Labs Regroup as Photon Science Surges
X-ray free-electron lasers signal a culture change at two accelerator labs— and offer them a new lease on life.
Nuclear Power Needs Government Incentives, Says Task Force
A high-profile US government task force says it is in the national interest to use nuclear power as a clean and increasingly economical way to meet the growing demand for electricity.
Articles
Runaway Breakdown and the Mysteries of Lightning
The observed electric fields in thunderclouds are generally too weak to initiate the atmosphere’s electrical breakdown. But cosmic rays can play a surprising role in the drama of lightning.
The Uranium Bomb, the Calutron, and the Space-Charge Problem
A participating scientist relates the story of a World War II project dedicated to electromagnetically separating uranium-235 from uranium-238.
An Organic Electronics Primer
Weak intermolecular interactions, low dielectric constants, and the availability of a nearly unlimited number of different molecules determine the scope of organic semiconductors as systems for exploring and exploiting solid-state phenomena.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
An original short story for Physics today