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September 2008 Issue Cover

On the cover:
This issue features the work of physicist and photographer David Kirkby, whose photographs of ordinary objects aim to give people insights into physics. Here, a Koosh ball—a jiggly, squishy rubber toy—represents dark energy, the invisible force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.

September 2008:
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Contents
Editorial: Bring on the Protons
Rarely has there been so much media buzz for a science experiment that hasn't actually started. Interest in the LHC is at fever pitch.
Commentary: Monica Dunford
Blogging is a heaven-sent forum for physicists. Yet for those of us who belong to large experimental collaborations, the freeform style of blogging conflicts with procedures set in place for the careful review and publication of scientific results.
Signal to Background
Ping-pong champ gets a physics roast; diving blind through crusty pipes; cup biters of Fermilab; the strongwoman and the quark; cowed again; napkin contest; letters.
Life at the LHC Reaches Fever Pitch
As the big collider ramps up, four physicists talk about working late, finding time to play, and staying connected to family and friends.
Mapping the Digital Divide
Physicist Les Cottrell is the meteorologist of Internet weather. His project tests the strength of Internet connections around the world—and finds Africa lagging farther and farther behind.
JLab's New Director
For Hugh Montgomery, the leap from particle physics to nuclear physics is shorter than you might think.
Gallery: David Kirkby
It’s a snail shell! It's a Koosh ball! It’s physics! A physicist-photographer finds cosmic meaning in everyday things.
Day in the Life: the LHC Express
When scientists transformed two train cars into a mockup of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, thousands of people came along for the ride.
Essay: William S. Higgins
Like everyone in his profession, John W. Campbell, Jr., editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine, kept a watchful eye on new developments in nuclear physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Any scientific news might provide an idea for a science fiction story. In 1941, antimatter caught his attention.
Logbook: Contraterrene Matter
"Collision Orbit," published in July 1942, was among the first science fiction stories to explore contraterrene matter, today better known as antimatter.
Explain it in 60 Seconds: Neutrino Masses
Neutrino masses are extremely difficult to measure. Physicists think the origins of neutrino masses are closely tied to subatomic processes that took place right after the big bang. Determining which neutrino types are heaviest and lightest— the neutrino mass ordering—is a first step toward revealing these processes.
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symmetry Breaking

New facility makes accelerator cavities easy as pie
February 4, 2010
Brookhaven National Laboratory has invested in a new, private facility to treat the superconducting cavities within a few miles of the site. The new facility is top of the line, located almost next door, and shows the power of joining government and private industry.
Confirmed: Hubble 3D will be awesome
February 3, 2010
The upcoming <i>Hubble 3D</i> IMAX movie including footage shot during a manned space mission last year is deserving of the adjective "awesome," says our <i>symmetry</i> correspondent, based on a preview screening in New York.
New MINOS results “strongly disfavor” sterile neutrino, neutrino decay
February 2, 2010
In the search for a better understanding of neutrinos, the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, MINOS, recently put forth results that help rule out a theorized fourth neutrino and strengthen the case against the hypothesis of neutrino decay. MINOS cospokesperson Robert Plunkett says the results “really start to close the loop” on some major theories that neutrino experiments set out to investigate.
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On the Cover
Issue Cover

This issue features the work of physicist and photographer David Kirkby, whose photographs of ordinary objects aim to give people insights into physics. Here, a Koosh ball—a jiggly, squishy rubber toy—represents dark energy, the invisible force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.

PDF View Issue PDF

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Quarks are fundamental building blocks of matter. They are most commonly found inside protons and neutrons...

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