Physics

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Aurélien Barrau

[short_description] The search for a quantum theory of gravitation is seen as one of the most difficult and important problems in theoretical physics. Might black holes provide a key? Aurélien Barrau makes their case.

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Between Two Evils

Mikhail Shifman

[short_description] When scientists fled to the USSR to escape Nazism, the Western press followed in detail with the information at hand. But the reality was much worse than they could have imagined.

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Evolution in Revolution

Denis Noble

[short_description] With The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life, Paul Davies joins the distinguished company of physicists who have contributed to fundamental biology.

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Sights Unseen

Renaud Bachelot

[short_description] Can we make mice see the invisible? Renaud Bachelot reviews new developments in the emergent field of nano-optics and nanophotonics—particularly, results which explore making infrared visible to mice.

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The Yang–Mills Model

Sheldon Lee Glashow

[short_description] A great master of theoretical physics reviews the development of the first and greatest non-abelian gauge theory and its role in the construction of the Standard Model of particle physics.

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Hot Wired

Brian Miller & Jeremy England

[short_description] Jeremy England argues that descendants of the Crooks fluctuation theorem play a role in explaining life’s origin. Brian Miller is equally persuaded that these theorems are of little relevance.

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Reflections on Project Orion

Jeremy Bernstein

[short_description] How might nuclear bombs propel a spaceship? Very carefully. Jeremy Bernstein recalls studying this problem with Freeman Dyson. Dyson’s previously unpublished remarks on the project are included.

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Apollo 11 and Fundamental Science

Álvaro De Rújula

[short_description] Over the years, some commentators have unkindly suggested that the only interesting spin-off from the entire Apollo enterprise was the development of Moon Boots. This is simply not the case.

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The Good Soldier

David Berlinski

[short_description] Whether about free will, consciousness, or what is fundamental in the universe, David Berlinski finds Brian Greene to be gabbling and inexact. Berlinski reviews Greene’s book Until the End of Time.

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From Conception to Kamchatka

Joshua Socolar

[short_description] In The Second Kind of Impossible, Paul Steinhardt tells the story of his first encounters with quasicrystals and his subsequent decades-long search for a naturally formed example.

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In Praise of a Great Contrarian

Lawrence Krauss

[short_description] Freeman Dyson died on February 28, 2020, at the age of 96. In this tribute, Lawrence Krauss recounts his friendship with Dyson and celebrates his life, achievements, and influence in physics.

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The Discovery of Nuclear Fission

Jeremy Bernstein

[short_description] When a Nobel Prize was awarded in 1944 for the discovery of nuclear fission, Lise Meitner should have been among the winners. Jeremy Bernstein reflects on Meitner’s life and accomplishments.

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