Issues
From the Editor
Readers’ Forum
Search and Discovery
The most energetic supernova conceivable?
Astrophysical theories strain to accommodate a cosmic explosion observed months ago.
A resonant circuit accelerates spontaneous spin-flip transitions
Reducing the radiative transition’s time constant from thousands of years to a fraction of a second could benefit quantum information schemes.
Issues and Events
What went wrong with the Los Alamos contract?
Before the $2.2 billion annual contract to run the lab ends in 2017, DOE must decide whether a new management model is needed.
Seeking to bridge Europe’s impending neutron gap
Europe’s primacy in neutron scattering depends on maintaining a network of local and international facilities.
Safeguarding nuclear material may be losing urgency
Since 2014 just one nation has rid itself of all weapons-usable materials.
Articles
Ultrasound-mediated drug delivery
Thanks to advances in transducer technology and imaging-based guidance systems and the expanding body of research on the therapeutic benefits, ultrasound techniques are poised to improve the treatment of cancer and other diseases in the clinic.
Is the melting Arctic changing midlatitude weather?
According to model simulations, a warming Arctic can shift the circulation patterns of the polar jet stream and bring frigid air southward. But has it?
The fertile physics of chemical gardens
Many a child has enjoyed watching the gardens grow; many a physicist has puzzled over the transformation of self-organized, nonequilibrium patterns into permanent structures.
Books
Tunnel Visions: The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider
New Products
Obituaries
Guido Altarelli
Benjamin Lax
Quick Study
The vocal microphone: Technology and practice
Evolving technologies for converting acoustic pressure into an electrical signal have driven changes in the performance practice and sound of pop singers.