Issues
From the Editor
Readers’ Forum
The linear no-threshold theory: Readers weigh in
Search and Discovery
Ocean pressure sensors characterize a slow-slip earthquake
The gauges provide the first detailed measurement of centimeter-scale deformation of the seafloor.
Unmasking the record-setting sulfur hydride superconductor
The material’s conventional nature puts the spotlight back on superconductivity mediated by phonons.
Issues and Events
Texas law sets off debate about guns at universities
Will people ever get used to guns on campus?
Disputed dark-matter result gets put to the test
Despite nearly two decades of scrutiny, nobody has yet explained away—or confirmed—DAMA’s claim of detecting the elusive matter.
The future of astronomy in Hawaii hinges on the Thirty Meter Telescope
Unless permits, leases, and access are resolved in a timely manner, the project will move elsewhere.
National labs are nurturing clean-energy startups
Programs aim to assist scientists in fleshing out their inventions.
US Navy shows off its R&D wares
Shipboard laser and railgun weapons systems and swarming aerial vehicles are among technologies in development.
Articles
Why should physicists study history?
Just as physics is not a list of facts about the world, history is not a list of names and dates. It is a way of thinking that can be powerful and illuminating.
Physics, fracking, fuel, and the future
To contend with the challenges of fueling modern society, the physics community must collaborate with other disciplines and remain broadly engaged in research and education on energy.
Frustration by design
By fabricating magnetic structures into nanoscale arrays, physicists can directly visualize how condensed-matter systems accommodate competing interactions among dipole moments and other degrees of freedom.
Books
New Products
Obituaries
David Bruce Cline
Rudolf Haag
Peter Pitirimovich Sorokin
Quick Study
Bubble blowing by the numbers
Controlled experiments quantify just how fast you have to blow on a soap film to get a bubble to pop out.