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Physics Today

@physicstoday.aip.org
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The world's most popular physics magazine. physicstoday.aip.org

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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 15/05/2026
Of note are Oppenheimer’s lengthy reflections on Fermi’s role in the establishment of what one would now term Big Science. "So, although it could have happened in other ways, in fact Fermi was the first person to found modern high energy physical techniques in the laboratory."
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 15/05/2026
Toward the end of the interview, Oppenheimer reflects on his experience teaching in California in the late 1920s and early 1930s. “I found myself entirely in Berkeley and almost entirely at Caltech as the only one who understood what [quantum mechanics] was all about.”
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 15/05/2026
The materials bring him to life in vivid detail. In this clip, Oppenheimer discusses his experience collaborating with Max Born on the paper that presented what is now known as the Born–Oppenheimer approximation.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 23/09/2025
For more Ig Nobel Prize–winning work, see Andrey Geim’s 1998 Physics Today article on levitating a live frog using a 20-tesla magnet. doi.org/10.1063/1.88...
Two images of a live frog levitating above a magnet.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 25/08/2025
From our archives: “The future of the #Higgs boson” by Joseph Lykken and Maria Spiropulu from December 2013 doi.org/10.1063/PT.3... #FromTheVault #PTarchive
From the vault: The future of the Higgs boson, by Joseph Lykken and Maria Spiropulu, December 2013.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 18/08/2025
From our archives: “Analysis of musical‐instrument tones” by Jean‐Claude Risset and Max V. Mathews from February 1969 "With computers we can not only analyse the sound of a musical instrument but also build up a synthesized copy of the sound." doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #FromTheVault #PTarchive
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 11/08/2025
From the archive: “Mass extinctions caused by large bolide impacts,” Luis Alvarez, July 1987 "Evidence indicates that the collision of Earth and a large piece of Solar System debris such as a meteoroid, asteroid or comet caused the great extinctions of 65 million years ago" doi.org/10.1063/1.88...
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 04/08/2025
From our archives: “Flavor SU(3) Symmetries in Particle Physics” by Howard Georgi in April 1988 "Anyone who understands quantum mechanical harmonic oscillators can understand the role and significance of the flavor symmetries of the standard model." doi.org/10.1063/1.88... #FromTheVault
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 28/07/2025
From our archives: “The future of physics” by Freeman Dyson from September 1970 "Many physicists may turn to molecular biophysics, pulsar astronomy and the problems of environmental pollution, just as some turned to radioastronomy and computer technology 25 years ago." doi.org/10.1063/1.30...
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 21/07/2025
From our archives: “Color Perception” by Alan R. Robertson from December 1992 The physical stimulus that causes a color perception can be measured by straightforward physical methods, but predicting the perceived color is much more complex. doi.org/10.1063/1.88... #FromTheVault #ptarchive
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 09/07/2025
From 1939 to 1948, Dorothy Weeks—the first woman to receive a PhD in mathematics from MIT—led a physics summer internship program that was specifically targeted for women. doi.org/10.1063/pt.v...
Two women using an interferometer with a spectrum chart on the wall next to them. One is making notes while the other is adjusting the equipment.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 07/07/2025
From our archives: “Chandrasekhar’s role in 20th-century science” by Freeman Dyson Once the astrophysics community had come to grips with a calculation performed by a 19-year-old student, the heavens could never again be seen as a perfect and tranquil dominion. doi.org/10.1063/1.35...
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 30/06/2025
From our archives: “History of the cyclotron” by M. Stanley Livingston, October 1959 In memory of E. O. Lawrence, two lectures on the history of the cyclotron were presented at the @apsphysics.bsky.social 1959 spring meeting. This article is based on Dr Livingston's talk. doi.org/10.1063/1.30...
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 16/06/2025
“Physics looks at waste management” by David Rose, John Gibbons, & William Fulkerson. Feb 1972 What are the best ways to find out what's in our waste, sort & separate it, return to service anything that can be used again & properly dispose of the remainder? doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #FromTheVault
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 06/06/2025
The success of the D-Day invasion #OTD in 1944 hinged on the Allies’ ability to predict the tides. To perform tidal calculations, the Allies used large mechanical computers that were originally designed by Lord Kelvin. doi.org/10.1063/PT.3... Photo credit: H. R. Seiwell, Mil. Eng. 39, 202 (1947)
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 02/06/2025
From our archives: “The tide predictions for D-Day” by Bruce Parker from September 2011 Based on the physics of Newton and Laplace, the big brass tide-predicting machine designed by Lord Kelvin was crucial for the success of the Normandy invasion in World War II. doi.org/10.1063/PT.3...
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 07/05/2025
Hidden behind a fog of galactic gas, Sagittarius A* proved a tricky imaging target for the @ehtelescope.bsky.social team. doi.org/10.1063/PT.6... #BlackHoleWeek #Astronomy
Black hole week graphic with text reading: A portrait of the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way by Andrew Grant
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 06/05/2025
Roger Penrose proved that black holes could and should form in the universe. The topological picture he used in that proof has become foundational to general relativity. doi.org/10.1063/PT.3... #BlackHoleWeek #Astronomy #Physics #NobelPrize
Black hole week graphic reading: The theory of black hole formation shares the nobel prize in physics by Heather M. Hill
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 05/05/2025
@drbecky.bsky.social aims to shrink the gender imbalance in the viewership of her astronomy videos. doi.org/10.1063/pt.w... #BlackHoleWeek ⚛️🔭
A graphic for black hole week, overlay text reading Q&A: Rebecca Smethurst, black hole researcher and YouTube star by Hannah H. Means
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 05/05/2025
From our archives: “Introducing the black hole” by Remo Ruffini and John A. Wheeler According to present cosmology, certain stars end their careers in a total gravitational collapse that transcends the ordinary laws of physics. doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #FromTheVault #PTarchive #BlackHoleWeek 🔭⚛️
An illustration of a black hole with text reading: From the vault: January 1971
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 01/05/2025
Our May issue is here! Learn about threats to the dark and quiet sky, seismic data that reveal groundwater health, and the future of ocean sciences in the US. Plus, enjoy a poem about physics! pubs.aip.org/physicstoday... 📸: Pexels/Pixabay ⚛️🔭 #PhysicsToday #oceanography #seismology #poetry
May cover of magazine, featuring ocean waves fading into mist
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 28/04/2025
From our archives: “What is the Lithosphere?” by John C. Maxwell from September, 1985 doi.org/10.1063/1.88... #FromTheVault #PTarchive #EarthScience
An illustration of Earth's layers, with text overlay reading: From the Vault, September 1985
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 24/04/2025
Celebrate the 35th anniversary of Hubble's launch with a data visualization that charts the positions in the sky of the Hubble Space Telescope’s plethora of cosmic targets. 🔭⚛️ #Hubble35
A data visualization of 20 years of Hubble targets
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 21/04/2025
From our archives: Hubble’s 30-year legacy by Nadieh Bremer and Andrew Grant from April 2020 doi.org/10.1063/PT.6... #Hubble35 #FromTheVault #PTarchives #astronomy #HST
A labeled star field with text overlay reading: From the vault, April 2020, Hubble's 30-year legacy by Nadieh Bremer and Andrew Grant.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 14/04/2025
Fom our archives: “The nuclear‐powered rocket feasible?” by H. S. Seifert from May, 1949. doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #FromTheVault #PTarchive
An old image with overlay text that reads: From the Vault, May 1949
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 11/04/2025
Window shades made of renewable cellulose bend in response to changing humidity levels. doi.org/10.1063/pt.cukf.hdrh #PhysicsToday ⚛️🧪
Photo of novel window shades. Text overlay reads "Responsive window shades inspired by pine cones; photo courtesy of Tiffany Cheng"
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 07/04/2025
From our archives: Given that microscopic physical lows are reversible, why do all macroscopic events have a preferred time direction? Boltzmann's thoughts on this question have withstood the test of time. doi.org/10.1063/1.88... #FromTheVault #PTarchive ⚛️🧪
From the vault: Boltzmann's Entropy and Time's Arrow by Joel L. Lebowitz from September, 1993
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 01/04/2025
Learn about the highest-energy neutrino ever detected, collective behaviors in dense crowds of people, and myths that have distorted the history of modern quantum mechanics. Plus, read about jobs in quantum industries that don’t require quantum skills. #PhysicsToday ⚛️🧪🔭 pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
Cover of April magazine
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 31/03/2025
From our archives: “The emergence of rheology” by Hershel Markovitz from April, 1968. doi.org/10.1063/1.3034918 #FromTheVault #PTarchive ⚛️
“The emergence of rheology” by Hershel Markovitz from April, 1968.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 28/03/2025
Today, seasoned astronomers need just a few seconds to find a gravitational lens in an astronomical image. Want to try your hand at spotting a lens as quickly as a professional can? Let us know how you did in the replies. doi.org/10.1063/pt.z... 🔭⚛️
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 24/03/2025
From our archives: Optics and information theory by Richard K. McDonald from July 1961 Modern optical technology is being revolutionized through the use of the statistical methods of information theory in problems involving light‐gathering processes. doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #FromTheVault #PTarchive
Text overlay reading From the vault, July 1961. Optics and information theory by Richard K McDonald
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 17/03/2025
From our archives: In an informal discussion that grew out of a recent talk to physics teachers in Chicago, the codiscoverer of CP asymmetry recalls the circumstances of the observation and discusses its implications. doi.org/10.1063/1.29... #FromTheVault #PTarchive ⚛️🔭
From the vault: “CP symmetry violation” by James W. Cronin and Margaret Stautberg Greenwood from July, 1982
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 10/03/2025
Vera Rubin has been selected to be featured on the back of a quarter. She is the first astronomer to be honored this way. Read about her research on the Andromeda galaxy and how it led to the discovery of dark matter in this article written by Rubin herself. doi.org/10.1063/1.24... 🔭 #WomenInStem
A black and white photo of Vera Rubin measuring spectra
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 10/03/2025
From our archives: "The status of women in the professions" by Lise Meitner from August 1960. doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #PTarchives #FromTheVault ⚛️
"The status of women in the professions" by Lise Meitner from August 1960
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 03/03/2025
Our March issue is here! Learn about gravitational lenses, the changing length of the day, and ballistic cucumber seeds. 📸: Image from ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li. #PhysicsToday ⚛️🔭 pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
March issue cover, showcasing a gravitational lens and surrounding galaxies.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 03/03/2025
From our archives: "The origin of the Earth" by Thornton Page from October 1948. doi.org/10.1063/1.30... #PTarchives #FromTheVault #astronomy
Text overlay on an image reading From the Vault: "The origin of the Earth" by Thornton Page from October 1948.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 18/02/2025
From our archives: "What it took to be a NASA computer" by Melinda Baldwin, from January 2017. 🔭 doi.org/10.1063/PT.5... #FromTheVault #PTarchives #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackInPhysics #WomenInSTEM
Photo with text reading From the vault, January 2017, What it took to be a NASA computer by Melinda S. Baldwin.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 10/02/2025
From our archives: "Fewer than 100 African American women have received PhDs in physics. AAWIP lists their names and provides resources for students, job seekers, and departments." doi.org/10.1063/PT.6... #FromTheVault #PTarchive #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackInPhysics
Text over an image of women posing for a photo. Text reads: From the vault. May 2019. Celebrating and supporting African American women in physics" by Jami Valentine Miller
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 03/02/2025
From our archives: The life and work of Elmer Samuel Imes Although the second African American to receive a physics PhD in the US faced obstacles because of his race, he blazed trails in spectroscopy and pedagogy. doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4042 #FromTheVault #PTarchives #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackInPhysics
A photo of Elmer Samuel Imes with an overlay reading From the vault, October 2018, The life and work of Elmer Samuel Imes, Ronald E. Mickens.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 03/02/2025
Our February issue is here! Learn about gauge invariance in statistical mechanics, the vast stashes of hydrogen hidden underground, and lessons from ephemeral nuclei. Plus, discover an unusual use for office tape. pubs.aip.org/physicstoday... 📸: Florian Sammüller #PhysicsToday #Physics
Magazine cover of latest Physics Today issue
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 27/01/2025
From our archives: "The history of the Stern–Gerlach experiment reveals how persistence, accident, and luck can sometimes combine in just the right ways." doi.org/10.1063/1.16... #PTarchives #FromTheVault
Photo with text overlay reading "Stern and Gerlach: How a bad cigar helped reorient atomic physics" by Bretislav Friedrich and Dudley Herschbach from December 2003.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 21/01/2025
From our archives: "At first almost ignored and unread, Sadi Carnot's analysis of heat engines—published 150 years ago—contained ideas and methods that were to be developed later by Clausius and Thomson." doi.org/10.1063/1.31... #FromTheVault #PTarchive
Image with text showing "Carnot's contribution to thermodynamics" by Martin J. Klein, published in August 1974.
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 13/01/2025
From our archives: "On science in a small country" by Iwan Rhys Morus, published in December 2018. "Wales tends to fall by the wayside in narratives about the history of science, but its stories complicate and enrich our picture of science’s past and future." lnkd.in/eRGz5dhb #FromTheVault#PTarchive
Decorative image of photo from old manuscript
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 08/01/2025
Take a look back at 2024 with some of our most popular stories from the year. Did you have a favorite piece that didn’t make the list? Let us know! doi.org/10.1063/pt.p... #PhysicsToday #Physics #ICYMI
A collage of magazine covers
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 23/12/2024
Chinese American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu earned the nicknames First Lady of Physics and Queen of Nuclear Research because of her groundbreaking work in particle physics. Learn about her: doi.org/10.1063/pt.o... #WomeninSTEM #Physics #PhysicsToday
Photo of Chien-Shiung Wu assembling an electro-static generator
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Physics Today @physicstoday.aip.org · 02/12/2024
Our December issue is here! Learn about Chien-Shiung Wu’s groundbreaking particle-physics experiments, the science behind this year’s Nobel Prizes, and mysterious structures deep within Earth’s mantle. pubs.aip.org/physicstoday... #PhysicsToday #NobelPrize
Cover of magazine issue, showing Chien-Shiung Wu.
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