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Print edition: December 2008
Features
A feast of visualization
As physics enters the age of the petabyte, pioneering methods of visualization are fast changing the way we understand and disseminate science. Opening this special issue, Physics World presents a gallery of stunning images from New Journal of Physics
Seeing the quantum world
Barry Sanders explains how state-of-the-art animations are taking over the role of classic quantum-mechanical Gedanken experiments to help visualize the complexities and challenges of the new quantum technologies
A picture of the cosmos
The recently completed Sloan Digital Sky Survey produced digital images of galaxies, quasars and other distant cosmic objects covering one-fifth of the entire sky. Mark SubbaRao and Miguel Aragon-Calvo explain how astronomers are using these data to create accurate maps of the universe
Thinking outside the cube
The discovery that many complex systems are actually well structured networks has not only changed the landscape of physics, but also how we visualize patterns in science, explains César A Hidalgo
Quanta
Obama goes nano
Tennis for two, anyone?
Paris heads to space
Create your own universe
Frontiers
Tevatron reveals new particles, maybe
Galaxy survey casts doubt on cold dark matter
Astronomers snap alien worlds
X-rays from sticky tape
Bendy wires could power mobile phones
News & Analysis
Italian protesters win concessions
SESAME seeks cash to open its doors
Hopes rise for antimatter mission aboard space shuttle
The life of NASA's Phoenix: highlights of its mission to Mars
US company unveils plans for mini nuclear reactors
Road map points US to beyond the Moon
'World class' aim for new optics lab
Condensed-matter physicist to head DESY
High-school physics students on the rise
Telescope to clean up echo of Big Bang
LHC on the mend after accident
Physics of medicine centre launches
Cosmic-ray observatory is inaugurated
The price of free papers
Developing new minds
Editorial
Seeing is believing
Access all areas
Forum
Free for all
Critical Point
Shifty constants
Do some constants need fixing? Robert P Crease relays your suggestions, though he finds that concerns over SI units arouse still more passion
Feedback
Coke is not it
Mesoscopic mapping
The origins of 'plasma'
Independent thinking
Financial crimes and punishments
Reviews
Wars of the holographic world
Hubble's unsung heroes
Physics books crossword
The remarkable life of Abdus Salam
Bend it like Beckett
Did you know that...?
Coffee-table astrophysics
Lonely bears and the cosmos
Mostly harmless irresponsibility
Astronomy down under
A gem of a formula
Puzzles from a mathemagician
Careers
Space to explore
A career in space technology offers great scope for creativity and the chance to build something new. It can even make you relatively popular at parties, as Kevin Middleton describes
Gong for graphene
MacArthur Fellows announced
Mathematical physicists wanted
Movers and shakers
