Issues
From the Editor
Readers’ Forum
Search and Discovery
Foundational theories in topological physics garner Nobel Prize
The laureates bucked conventional wisdom to redefine the meaning of phases and phase transitions in one- and two-dimensional materials.
Chemistry Nobel honors mechanical bonds, molecular machines
The laureates laid the foundations for an emerging array of gadgets at the nanometer scale.
Spiral arms detected around an infant star
The spirals may be long-sought evidence of a gravitational instability predicted by hydrodynamic theory.
A map of Earth’s viscous crust
Issues and Events
President Obama’s science legacy is big on climate change and clean energy
But his space policy underwhelmed, and the combination of a GOP-led Congress and fiscal constraints limited his science budgets.
Turmoil in Turkey hits science
In a time of funding gaps, suspicion, and uncertainty, international interactions are key to keeping up morale and scientific output.
Middle East synchrotron light source is set to start up
SESAME is intended to nurture good science and good relations.
Articles
Exotic forms of silicon
The element’s complex free-energy landscape allows such structural motifs as rings, cages, and channel-like holes to emerge in extreme or unusual conditions.
Physics in 2116
Physics in 2116: Megatelescope releases its first image
With its construction just beginning, the Asteroid Belt Astronomical Telescope has already photographed an exoplanet with unrivaled clarity.
Physics in 2116: Privacy concerns prompt protests in California
The state’s new law mandating neural-network-based screenings has driven workers statewide to vent their anger.
Physics in 2116: African Arrow sees hints of structure in the fabric of space
The cellular nature of space reveals itself in the angular distribution of μ and μ‾ produced at the accelerator.
Physics in 2116: Emergent consciousness decoded
SAMI 9000, one of the world’s most sophisticated artificial intelligences, has allowed human colleagues to probe his brain as he drifts in and out of consciousness.
Books
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
New Products
Obituaries
Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble
Ahmed Hassan Zewail
Annual Index
Quick Study
Elastic-wave propagation and the Coriolis force
Seismic waves and Foucault pendula share intriguing similarities in the way they respond to Earth’s rotation.