Like everyone else around the world, physicists have been caught up in the COVID-19 outbreak, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization last month. Naturally, all of us will be concerned first and foremost for our own friends and family.
The disease is usually mild, but it can turn nasty – and with lots of people falling ill at once, there will be big pressures on medical systems around the world. It goes without saying that we should all look out for each other, especially older neighbours, colleagues and family members.
And with so many of us under lock-down, what better time to sit back with the latest issue of your favourite physics magazine, now out in print and via the Physics World digital apps for iOS, Android and Web browsers.
The cover feature is by science writer Jon Cartwright, who looks at how physics-based techniques are helping us to understand the virus behind COVID-19 – also available online here.
We’ve created a short video that summarizes the key points: bottom line, we can thank X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy and network theory for understanding the disease and how it spreads.
Remember that if you’re a member of the Institute of Physics, you can read the whole of Physics World magazine every month via our digital apps for iOS, Android and Web browsers. Let us know what you think about the issue on Twitter, Facebook or by e-mailing us at pwld@ioppublishing.org.
For the record, here’s a rundown of what else is in the issue.
• Coronavirus puts physics in turmoil – COVID-19 has hit the international physics community hard, with meetings and conferences cancelled, including the showpiece events of the American Physical Society. Matin Durrani surveys the fall-out from the global pandemic.
• Moving forward together – In the run-up to a pivotal announcement on the future of particle physics in Europe, Tessa Charles urges backers of rival colliders to unite around whichever project gets the go-ahead.
• What would you do? – Robert P Crease examines his responsibility for not exploring one physicist’s treatment of women.
• Shipping carbon-free – Air travel is bad for the environment – but shipping is not that great either. James McKenzie wonders how best to decarbonize sea travel.
• Fighting a pandemic – The latest novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has reached pandemic status. While health workers and governments do their part, scientists are trying to understand the virus and develop vaccines and treatments. Jon Cartwright looks at how physics plays an important role in the fight.
• Life in a carbon-neutral world –Increasing numbers of cities and countries around the globe are pledging to become net carbon neutral within the next few decades. But what will day-to-day life look like in a “net-zero” world? Kate Ravilious looks at the changes that society will need to make.
• The diamond quantum revolution – Diamond is more than just a pretty gem – it has many attractive properties that stretch far beyond its aesthetic appeal. Matthew Markham and Daniel Twitchen from UK firm Element Six explain how this special form of carbon now has many practical quantum applications too.
• Can a machine think? – Susan Curtis reviews The Road to Conscious Machines: the Story of AI by Michael Wooldridge.
• Duck, duck, goose? – Ian Randall reviews At the Edge of Time: Exploring the Mysteries of Our Universe’s First Seconds by Dan Hooper.
Wave power, terahertz physics and bumper careers advice for graduates
• Half a life – Jess Wade reviews the film Radioactive, a biopic about Marie Curie directed by Marjane Satrapi, screenplay by Jack Thorne.
• Going with the flow – Early-career industry physicist Aidan White tells Joe McEntee about his work as a project engineer at TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory, the UK’s designated institute for flow and density measurement.
• Ask me anything – In the latest in our new series of careers-advice articles, we feature Chad Orzel, who is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union, and author of four popular-science books.
• Physics on ice – Rhett Allain uses simple Newtonian mechanics to estimate how far an ice-hockey puck could travel on a low-friction icy surface.
