Just in time for the holidays, the new issue features the ghosts of physics past, present and future and cuts a wide cultural swath, from a Nerdcore rap on the quest for the Higgs boson to a physics-themed opera featuring a pair of lovers in five dimensions.
- You can't can, freeze or pickle data--but can you find some other way to preserve it for future analysis? An international effort is under way.
- The adventures of Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which in its first year has shed light on some of the most explosive events in the universe and opened windows into dark matter and space-time. (Science magazine, btw, has named the telescope one of its top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year.)
- Old physics machines are still chugging away, contributing to projects such as the Large Hadron Collider and the world's first X-ray laser.
- In the Who'd Have Thunk Department: Stain-proof furniture finishes made with particle accelerators.
- Resort owner Deb Wieber says Fermilab seems to be following her around.
- Plus our usual departments, including a Star Wars fan film, astronomical toilet paper, what may be the world's shortest physics report, highlights from our blog, editorial musings, and a one-minute explanation of scintillators. We hope you find it scintillating.
