Electron microscopes are used to uncover the structure of proteins, like that of the COVID-19 spike protein used to develop vaccines. For nearly a century, scientists have known that phase shifting an electron beam could improve the method. They’ve finally found a reliable way to do it. #lasers

Ultrabright laser brings details of proteins into focus

For nearly a century, scientists have known that phase shifting an electron beam could radically improve electron microscopy. They’ve finally found a reliable way to do it.

physicstoday.aip.org

Uncertainties in funding and visas are complicating international students’ US experiences and leading some to go elsewhere.

The US is losing appeal for international students

Uncertainties in funding and visas are complicating international students’ US experiences and leading some to go elsewhere.

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Unable to solve his family’s two-body problem, Sam Waldman turned down a faculty position. He went to work at SpaceX and then founded Neutralino Space Ventures, a startup that modifies computers and imagers for space telescopes.

Sam Waldman builds instruments for space telescopes

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Anna Quider parlayed her science background and her policy experience into forming a consulting firm that helps the research community navigate federal policy and other challenges.

Q&A: Anna Quider advises the STEM community on federal policy

A love of science and ease in communicating led her to start a consulting firm that aims to broaden opportunities in science and technology.

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For the first time, researchers have characterized the atmosphere of an exoplanet closely orbiting a white dwarf and used the data to predict how the planet survived the shutdown of its star.

Life beyond stellar death for an unusual exoplanet

Researchers have characterized the atmosphere of a massive gas planet closely orbiting a white dwarf to better understand how it survived the shutdown of its star.

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Atmospheric rivers move huge volumes of water across the globe, bringing long rainy days and sometimes causing major floods. Serena Scholz and Juan Lora explain how these rivers in the sky form and how climate change could extend their reach.

Rivers in the sky

Atmospheric rivers transport huge volumes of water great distances across the globe, and climate change could extend their reach.

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At the nonprofit @activatefellows.bsky.social, Dan Recht helps scientists and engineers commercialize technology and develop as entrepreneurs.

Dan Recht helps scientists commercialize technologies

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Researchers don’t need to do science engagement alone. As @jbarder.bsky.social writes, working with professionals makes the job easier, more effective, and can lead to better science. https://physicstoday.aip.org/features/when-it-comes-to-science-engagement-hire-a-professional

When it comes to science engagement, hire a professional

Researchers don't need to do science engagement alone. Working with professionals makes the job easier and more effective and can lead to better science.

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The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary by unveiling five new galleries on 1 July. The new exhibitions are part of a museum-wide renovation that began in 2018 and that will conclude with the opening of two more galleries this fall.

Air and Space Museum celebrates 50 years with revamped galleries

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Even a small nuclear conflict could cause irreversible damage to global climate and food systems—but analysts considering the consequences of nuclear war often ignore those risks. #nuclearweapons

Willful ignorance of the global impact of nuclear war

Even a limited nuclear war could disrupt the climate, ecosystems, and global food supplies. Nuclear strategies and decisions should be required to factor in those potential consequences.

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Increased emissions from wildfires in the past decade have reversed earlier progress made in decreasing US surface-level ozone pollution, a new analysis finds.

Wildfire emissions reverse declines in US surface ozone levels

A dataset of daily ozone concentrations with high spatial resolution enables researchers to identify the reversal.

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The quantum world is full of counterintuitive phenomena. Using a vortex to scatter standing waves in water, researchers showed how classical fluids can serve as laboratories for visualizing quantum effects that may be much harder to observe in quantum systems. #BackScatter #quantum

A classical analogue for quantum effects

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Evidence from erosion rates at sites worldwide suggests that active faults can cause long-term damage to rock up to 100 km away. #geoscience #physics

Fault movement may affect erosion as far as 100 km away

Land that has been damaged by the cumulative activity of faults may be more susceptible to geomorphological changes, like landslides.

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Konrad Schwenke transitioned from computational soft-matter physics to financial crime consulting. He works to prevent and detect fraud. #whatcanphysicistsdo

Konrad Schwenke keeps banks honest

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In a dream job that combines her technical knowledge and policy interests, Ankita Gangotra coordinates a UN initiative to decarbonize cement, steel, and concrete.

Ankita Gangotra works to decarbonize cement, steel, and concrete

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Chip-scale gyroscopes are used to stabilize drones, measure movement in GPS-enabled devices, and help smartphones track users’ steps throughout the day. New research shows how a tweak to the gyroscopes’ design could improve their sensitivity. #GPS #gyroscopes

Chip-scale gyroscopes get a sensitivity boost

By tweaking a standard microscale gyroscope, researchers were able to significantly amplify the signals used to measure rotation.

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The squeaking of sneakers is the unofficial soundtrack of a basketball game. With a high-speed camera and a microphone, researchers shed light on the process responsible for the familiar sound. #acoustics #sneakers #basketball

A peek into the physics of squeaky sneakers

When rubber-soled shoes skid on a hardwood floor, slip pulses travel between the two surfaces at high speeds to produce the familiar sound.

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An engineered pandemic. Nuclear war. Climate change. AI gone awry. Multidisciplinary teams seek to reduce the likelihood of—and bolster preparedness for—those and other global catastrophes. #existentialrisk

Multidisciplinary teams seek ways to mitigate existential threats

Nuclear winter, climate change, bioterrorism, AI. Those and other threats are growing in potential impact. What can we do?

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I've got a new article up with @physicstoday.aip.org , on ways people have detected high-energy particles with their eyes. This piece was a long time coming, and it's a fun one: physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-his...

The history of eyeballs as particle detectors

Some physicists at the early cyclotrons used their vision to locate high-energy particles. Since then, medical researchers have gained a better understanding of how particles can interact with the hum...

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Cosmic rays can be a window into exciting experiments in physics, astrophysics, and atmospheric science. Cheap, easy-to-use muon detectors are bringing cosmic-ray studies to high schools and colleges worldwide.

As quantum computing continues to rapidly develop, some researchers are advocating for studies of its eventual energy demands. #quantum #physics #quantumcomputing

How much electricity does a quantum computer need?

The question is attracting attention amid rising energy use by classical computing data centers.

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In an era of phones, AI, and digital distractions, high school physics teacher Alice Flarend sees opportunity in getting students talking and helping them engage critically with science and technology. #Q&A #STEM #physicseducation

Q&A: Alice Flarend teaches teens to think out loud

The seasoned high school physics teacher challenges students to engage in an increasingly distracted world.

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If @cern.bsky.social can come up with the requisite billions in the next two-and-a-half years, the Future Circular Collider is a go. #particlephysics

If CERN can come up with the requisite billions, the Future Circular Collider is a go

Europe’s particle physicists choose a 91 km electron–positron collider as the next global flagship project.

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Gravity is unique among the known fundamental forces: There is currently no experimental result that requires a quantum theory of gravity. Markus Aspelmeyer and @fourform.bsky.social explore what’s needed to identify elusive signatures and finally connect gravity to quantum mechanics.

The elusive signatures of quantum gravity

To go beyond classical models and tie our understanding of gravity to the quantum world, experiments are needed.

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If the largest Jovian moon Ganymede coalesced at a cooler temperature than previously thought, that may explain some of its unique properties. #astronomy https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/slow-forming-core-could-have-fueled-ganymedes-dynamo

Slow-forming core could have fueled Ganymede's dynamo

Coalescing at a relatively low temperature may have helped the moon become the only one in the solar system to develop a magnetic field.

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Edward Alexander Bouchet, the first African American to receive his PhD, completed his physics degree 150 years ago at @yale.edu. Ronald Mickens provides an overview of his career, which was pathbreaking yet circumscribed by racism. #histSTM #BlackinPhysics

The pioneering life of Edward Alexander Bouchet

The first African American physicist to earn a PhD made the best of a difficult career path.

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The top two challenges that physics and astronomy undergrads say they are facing are research funding availability and uncertainty about the viability of physics and astronomy as careers. A decade's worth of surveys shows how student concerns have substantially shifted. #physics #astronomy

Undergraduate students grapple with an uncertain future

Apprehension about career pathways and research funding dominated the list of concerns expressed by physics and astronomy undergraduates in a recent survey.

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New CERN analysis of so-called penguin decay may waddle particle physicists closer to finding a crack in the standard model. #physics #standardmodel

Analysis of B-meson decay hints at new physics

The measured trajectories of the products of a rare B-meson decay deviate from the predictions of the standard model.

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If you'd like to know more about John Trump, check out a brief profile I wrote on him in @physicstoday.aip.org a decade ago now. And for more on his many peers in the World War II milieu, check out my book, Rational Action.

A profile of John Trump, Donald's oft-mentioned scientist uncle

The president’s uncle was an MIT physicist and engineer who made his mark in the development of high-voltage generators, World War II radar, and cancer therapies.

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Astronomers observe the universe in x rays to study distant phenomena such as supernova remnants, but local x-ray sources can contaminate the signal. A new analysis of data from the eROSITA telescope helps to separate x-ray signals generated within the solar system from those generated beyond.

Separating signals in the soft x-ray sky

An analysis of two years of measurements from far beyond Earth’s atmosphere has yielded a comprehensive map of x rays that are generated by solar wind.

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