In depth
In depth RSS feedFeatures, opinions and reviews from the world’s top physicists and professional science writers
Features
Recipes for planet formation
Nov 2, 2009 2 comments
Michael R Meyer describes how studies of extrasolar planets are helping us to understand how planetary systems form and evolve
Prince of darkness
Oct 13, 2009 5 comments
Nuclear astrophysicist Alex Murphy shares his views on the nature of dark matter and gets excited over the forthcoming restart of the ZEPLIN III detector
Wrong but useful
Oct 1, 2009 12 comments
Gavin Schmidt explains how climate models are becoming an essential tool for politicians and policymakers
The road to sustainability
Oct 1, 2009 1 comment
"Sustainability" is the hottest topic in energy research today, but what does it actually mean? George Crabtree and John Sarrao describe what makes a technology sustainable, and outline the materials-science challenges standing between us and clean, long-lasting energy
Of gluons, atoms and strings
Sep 1, 2009
An unusual alliance between physicists who study ultrahot plasmas and ultracold atoms is yielding intriguing results – and may even lead to an experimental test for string theory, as Barbara Jacak reveals
Opinion
Elspeth Drayson: life in the fast lane
Nov 11, 2009 1 comment
Elspeth Drayson, co-owner of motor-racing team Drayson Racing, talks about her route from physics to the pit-lane
Vitaly Ginzburg: a life in physics
Nov 3, 2009 9 comments
Vitaly Ginzburg – one of the most prominent Russian theoretical physicists of the 20th century – talks exclusively about his achievements in physics, his distrust of the church's growing role in Russian society and how the hydrogen bomb saved his life.
How to publish a scientific comment
Nov 2, 2009 4 comments
Rick Trebino relives the time he tried – and failed – to have a comment published in a scientific journal
The lure of synchrotrons
Nov 2, 2009 1 comment
Robert P Crease asks how sound are the arguments that the next generation of synchrotron sources are an essential tool for meeting the energy challenge?
Human spaceflight: science or spectacle?
Nov 2, 2009 2 comments
The big debate: David Clements and Ian Crawford spar over whether human spaceflight is worth the effort
Reviews
Web life: Colliding Particles
Nov 2, 2009 2 comments
Short films to get you ready for the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider
A very good Englishman
Nov 2, 2009
Graham Farmelo examines the letters of nuclear theorist Rudolf Peierls
Sustainability made simple
Oct 1, 2009
Niall MacKay and Roger Edgar assess what the UK government's new climate adviser has to say on energy