This month in Physics Today
Free in our December issue:
Charles Sanders Peirce
and the first absolute measurement standardIn his brilliant but troubled life, Peirce was a pioneer in both metrology and philosophy.
Robert P. Crease
December 2009, page 30
JET gets new wall to prep for ITERAn elaborate, remote-controlled revamping of JET has begun.
Toni Feder
December 2009, page 24
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Physics Today 's feed: Physics Update
A hint of WIMPs?
The cosmologists’ widely accepted “concordance” model asserts that only about 15% of the mass of matter in the cosmos is baryonic—made of protons and neutrons. The “dark matter” that predominates is thought to consist of particles yet unknown. Particle... theory...
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See MoreThe cosmologists’ widely accepted “concordance” model asserts that only about 15% of the mass of matter in the cosmos is baryonic—made of protons and neutrons. The “dark matter” that predominates is thought to consist of particles yet unknown. Particle... theory...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
Reducing the risk of space shuttle disasters
Science News: In a paper to be published in Acta Astronautica, physicist Philip Metzger of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and colleagues describe a technique to plot the paths and determine the densities of worrisome detritus kic...ked up during launch. This method could help flight engineers know inst...
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See MoreScience News: In a paper to be published in Acta Astronautica, physicist Philip Metzger of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and colleagues describe a technique to plot the paths and determine the densities of worrisome detritus kic...ked up during launch. This method could help flight engineers know inst...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
Why didn't the young Earth freeze?
Nature News: Nitrogen now stored in the planetary crust and mantle may have prevented the early Earth from freezing, scientists suggest. The study lends weight to the idea that on geological timescales atmospheric pressure helps to regu...late climate and habitability of Earth-like planets.
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See MoreNature News: Nitrogen now stored in the planetary crust and mantle may have prevented the early Earth from freezing, scientists suggest. The study lends weight to the idea that on geological timescales atmospheric pressure helps to regu...late climate and habitability of Earth-like planets.
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Physics Today 's feed: Politics and Policy
Japan cuts budget while France rises
As the UK science community reels from steep budget cuts, other countries are facing unexpected financial pressures, and in some cases bonuses. The French university sector is expected to receive an €11-billion (US$16-billion) windfa...ll from a government initiative intended to create an 'Ivy Le...
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See MoreAs the UK science community reels from steep budget cuts, other countries are facing unexpected financial pressures, and in some cases bonuses. The French university sector is expected to receive an €11-billion (US$16-billion) windfa...ll from a government initiative intended to create an 'Ivy Le...
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Physics Today 's feed: Physics Update
A template for microwire self-assembly
Several methods exist for growing nanowires, whether attached to a substrate or dispersed in a liquid. Using those wires to make designated electrical connections in a circuit, however, has been difficult. Yves Galerne and his col...leagues at the University of Strasbourg, France, now demonstrate ...
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See MoreSeveral methods exist for growing nanowires, whether attached to a substrate or dispersed in a liquid. Using those wires to make designated electrical connections in a circuit, however, has been difficult. Yves Galerne and his col...leagues at the University of Strasbourg, France, now demonstrate ...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
Rocky planets discovered around nearby stars
Physics Today: Three papers indicate new candidates for rocky Earth-type planets around other star systems. David Charbonneau and colleagues published in Nature the clearest evidence yet for a Earth-type planet only 2.7 times... larger than the Earth. Two nearby stars, similar to the Sun, have bee...
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See MorePhysics Today: Three papers indicate new candidates for rocky Earth-type planets around other star systems. David Charbonneau and colleagues published in Nature the clearest evidence yet for a Earth-type planet only 2.7 times... larger than the Earth. Two nearby stars, similar to the Sun, have bee...
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Physics Today 's feed: Physics Update
Imaging light with electrons
In recent years, notions of the ultrafast, the ultraintense, and the ultrasmall have been recurring themes in physics as those envelopes have been relentlessly pushed to reveal new phenomena. Caltech’s Brett Barwick, David Flannigan, and Ah...med Zewail have combined all three notions into a...
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See MoreIn recent years, notions of the ultrafast, the ultraintense, and the ultrasmall have been recurring themes in physics as those envelopes have been relentlessly pushed to reveal new phenomena. Caltech’s Brett Barwick, David Flannigan, and Ah...med Zewail have combined all three notions into a...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
From game controller to a scientific sensor
Wired.com: Inspired by videos of renowned hacker Johnny Chung Lee who turned the $40 Nintendo Wiimote remote controller into a finger-tracking device and a touchscreen white board, physicist Rolf Hut of Delft University of Tech...nology in the Netherlands has built a Wiimote wind sensor. "It was ju...
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See MoreWired.com: Inspired by videos of renowned hacker Johnny Chung Lee who turned the $40 Nintendo Wiimote remote controller into a finger-tracking device and a touchscreen white board, physicist Rolf Hut of Delft University of Tech...nology in the Netherlands has built a Wiimote wind sensor. "It was ju...
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Physics Today 's feed: We Hear That
LLNL Physicist Omar Hurricane wins prestigious E.O. Lawrence Award
Physicist Omar Hurricane has been named a winner of the Department of Energy's prestigious Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today. Hurricane is being honored for his w...ork in national security and nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration...
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See MorePhysicist Omar Hurricane has been named a winner of the Department of Energy's prestigious Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today. Hurricane is being honored for his w...ork in national security and nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration...
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Physics Today 's feed: Politics and Policy
UK physics budget slashed
One of the UK's leading research councils, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) announced today that it is to drastically cut funding for physics despite an earlier promise by the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in February that "...the downturn is no time to slow down our investment ...
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See MoreOne of the UK's leading research councils, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) announced today that it is to drastically cut funding for physics despite an earlier promise by the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in February that "...the downturn is no time to slow down our investment ...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
Building better nanotubes
ScienceNOW: In the world of nanotechnology, few things get as much billing as nanotubes. Experts say that these cylinders composed of one-molecule-thin sheets could someday be used in everything from superstrong jet engines to cancer cures. Now ...researchers think they've found a way to make large ...
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See MoreScienceNOW: In the world of nanotechnology, few things get as much billing as nanotubes. Experts say that these cylinders composed of one-molecule-thin sheets could someday be used in everything from superstrong jet engines to cancer cures. Now ...researchers think they've found a way to make large ...
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Physics Today 's feed: Physics Update
From polarization entanglement to color entanglement
The strangeness of the quantum world is epitomized by entangled states, whose nonintuitive correlations cannot be mimicked by any classical system. These days experimenters routinely create two-photon states in which... the photons’ polarization is entangled. Now, starting with such a state,...
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See MoreThe strangeness of the quantum world is epitomized by entangled states, whose nonintuitive correlations cannot be mimicked by any classical system. These days experimenters routinely create two-photon states in which... the photons’ polarization is entangled. Now, starting with such a state,...
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Physics Today 's feed: News Picks
Converting sunlight to liquid fuel
Science: Conventional solar technologies produce electricity, but most transportation fuel comes from oil. A new class of solar chemical reactors aims to make liquid fuels from air, water, and sunshine.
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Science: Conventional solar technologies produce electricity, but most transportation fuel comes from oil. A new class of solar chemical reactors aims to make liquid fuels from air, water, and sunshine.
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