Issues

For six years before he retired last year, David Mermin taught quantum computation to Cornell University students of computer science. Google “CS483” for his lecture notes, where everything that he says can easily be shown is shown easily.

The solar system oscillates through the Milky Way's midplane with a period of about 60 million years. That cyclic excursion might be causing periodic fivefold increases in Earth's exposure to extragalactic cosmic rays.

Analysis of the time-resolved disorder in hydrocarbon molecules indicates that heat propagates ballistically.

Three-dimensional mapping of starling flocks could shed light not only on the birds' collective behavior but also on a broad range of other aggregate systems.

High-intensity beams of rare particles could give Fermilab a vibrant scientific program if delays in the International Linear Collider spell a dry period for the lab.

Controlling the production of debris is crucial to the sustainable use of space. But even without additional launches, let alone antisatellite tests, the amount of debris orbiting Earth will continue to increase far into the future.

Icy solids in Earth's permafrost and deep ocean basins store an enormous reservoir of natural gas. That reservoir, and scientists' efforts to synthesize related molecular-storage compounds, may help solve our energy problems.

The field of surface physics is evolving to include molecular-scale studies of nanoparticle surfaces, as well as single-crystal surfaces in contact with liquids or high-pressure gases.

The simplest wavelet transform is based on sums and differences of nearby points in a function. A variety of sophisticated variations allow signals and images to be effectively compressed, cleaned, and analyzed.