Not enough peasants, not enough economics
Many years ago I read an essay in which the author—I think it might have been Frederik Pohl—complained about historical inaccuracies in sword-and-sorcery novels. Of course, it’s hardly “wrong” in such...
View ArticleBuy neutrinos!
One Sunday morning in spring I took my Airedale terrier puppy, Echo, on a walk from the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, DC, where we live, to the city’s downtown district. As we strolled along...
View ArticleThe death of distance has been exaggerated
Last April, I went to a meeting at Case Western Reserve University. To get there from Cleveland’s airport, I took a commuter train. At first, the view from the train was bleakly urban. But as we neared...
View ArticleZapping zircons
Fans of Physics Today's Facebook page occasionally send me messages, most of which are requests for more information about something to do with physics. The one I received on Monday was no exception. A...
View ArticleFrom bending flames to flying cars
In January 1800 Thomas Young wrote to the secretary of the Royal Society, Edward Whitaker Gray, to outline his recent “experiments and inquiries respecting sound and light,” as he titled the letter....
View ArticlePhysics at San Diego Comic-Con International III
Last week I was among the 140 000-strong throng that attended San Diego Comic-Con International, the annual celebration of superhero comics, science fiction movies, and other artistic renderings of...
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