Feature: A Bumper Crop of Physics Plates
In our October/November issue, we asked readers to share stories and photographs of physics-related license plates. Here are the responses.
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Editorial:
Positive News for Particle PhysicsWith a new plan and the backing of the Department of Energy and Congress, the future of high-energy physics in the United States is now looking much more positive than it did in the first half of 2008.
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Commentary:
Seth Zenz"As a physics graduate student and Wikipedia editor and administrator, I argue that Wikipedia's rules for reliable sourcing of articles are stronger than is often believed, and that academics can play a very positive role in improving and expanding Wikipedia."
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Departments:
Signal to BackgroundPhysicist turns bicycle pro; the fastest way to stuff an airplane; trashy hot rod steals the show; making dark matter sing; Faraday Cup cartoons; trumpets blast for GLAST; letters; where your symmetry magazines have been.
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Feature:
New Tools Forge New FrontiersUS particle physics is pushing forward on three frontiers. Each has a unique approach to making discoveries, and only by pursuing all three can scientists address key questions about the laws of nature and the cosmos.
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Feature:
Bonnie and the ArgoNeuTsInspired by heroes of Greek mythology, physicists are on a quest to find a cheaper, more efficient way to capture neutrinos—one of the strangest and most fascinating particles in the universe. Liquid-argon detectors may hold the key to discovering whether neutrinos are the reason that stars, planets, and people exist.
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Day in the Life:
Mr. FreezeHis mind drifts to freezing fog, explosions shooting a ball 16 stories high, and children gasping in awe. A mischievous twinkle enters his eye. The studious physicist and computer expert has morphed into a charismatic showman.
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Deconstruction:
COUPP Bubble ChamberScientists retool a classic technology for a modern quest: the search for dark matter.
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Essay:
Elizabeth Wade"The cyclotron was an artifact of an age before the atomic bomb when excitement, wonder, and hope outweighed the fear that is so familiar today. It was an artifact of decades of tunnel spelunking, Columbia's most public secret. It was an artifact of my college experience, bringing me closer to the people who shared my first Columbia adventure and setting the tone for all the rest that followed."
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Logbook:
Z BosonIn May 1983, physicists working on the UA1 detector for the Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator at CERN made the first definitive observations of the Z boson.
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Explain it in 60 Seconds:
Z BosonThe Z boson is a heavy particle that is one of the carriers of the weak force. Its discovery completed the Standard Model of particle physics and allowed physicists to probe the characters and interactions of many of the other fundamental particles.
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Battered or shiny, personalized license plates are a whimsical part of physics culture. On one level they're inside jokes, told with a wink to those in the know; on another, an invitation to approach and learn more. In response to a call from symmetry, readers sent dozens of their favorites. "It's a memento from one of the most intense times I've been through," one wrote. "It's a treasure from that great time."
Cosmic Rays
Dec 2005/Jan 2006
Enrico Fermi's notebook of December 1948 contains the genesis of his theory of cosmic rays. ...
Particle Event
Jun/Jul 2007
A particle event is a particle collision or interaction that is observed by some type of particle detector....
