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The physics behind why cutting onions makes us cry

Quantum information or metamaterials: our predictions for this year’s Nobel Prize for Physics

It’s a mug’s game, but we always have a go

The curious history of Nobel prizes: from lighthouses to gravitational waves

In this podcast we also make predictions for this year’s physics award

Opinion and reviews

Two photos: a colour image of a nuclear bomb explosion in a desert, and a black-and-white image of two men in suits peering at debris on the desert floor

Destroyers of the world: the physicists who built nuclear weapons

Relive the two decades when physicists basked in the afterglow of the Standard Model

Leprechauns on tombstones: your favourite physics metaphors revealed

Delving into the scientific mind, astronomy’s happy accidents, lit science experiments at home, the art of NASA: micro reviews of recent books

Condensed natter: Physics World editors give their compressed verdicts on top new books

‘The Trump uncertainty principle’ is destroying the position and momentum of US science

The Trump administration is ripping US science apart, warns Robert P Crease

Harmonious connections: bridging the gap between music and science

Philip Moriarty reviews A Perfect Harmony: Music, Mathematics, and Science by David Darling

No laughing matter: a comic book about the climate crisis

Mike Follows reviews World Without End: an Illustrated Guide to the Climate Crisis by Jean-Marc Jancovici and Christophe Blain

Robert P Crease: ‘I’m yet another victim of the Trump administration’s incompetence’

Robert P Crease discovers why the National Science Foundation killed his grant

Mathematical genius: celebrating the life and work of Emmy Noether

Isabel Rabey reviews Einstein’s Tutor: the Story of Emmy Noether and the Invention of Modern Physics by Lee Philips

illustration of a person sat at a desk using a typewriter

Celebrating the best of Critical Point

Critical Point has appeared in Physics World magazine since May 2000, written by science historian and philosopher Robert P Crease. Enjoy our pick of the best columns, which bring the perspective of an outsider looking in on the “workshop of science”.

Features

Photo of a lighthouse on a small rock in a bay with the coastline clearly visible close behind

Nobel prizes you’ve never heard of: how a Swedish inventor was honoured for a technology that nearly killed him

A photo of the Matterhorn rising above an Alpine landscape. The colours are a little washed out, but do not appear artificially tinted

Nobel prizes you’ve never heard of: how an obscure version of colour photography beat quantum theory to the most prestigious prize in physics

The rise of women in quantum science in India and the legacy of Satyendra Nath Bose

Explore more in culture, history and society

Imagining alien worlds: we explore the science and fiction of exoplanets

Keith Cooper chats about has new book in this podcast

Vint Cerf speaking at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum. He's wearing a grey three-piece suit with a red tie and pocket handkerchief that matches the red conference lanyard around his neck. Behind him are words on a screen

‘Father of the Internet’ Vint Cerf expresses concern about the longevity of digital information

How do we create a digital version of the vellum and clay tablets that successfully preserved information in earlier ages of human history?

Why foamy heads on Belgium beers last so long

It’s all to do with the triple-fermentation process

Black and white photo of Chinese-American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu working in a laboratory

Overlooked pioneers from quantum history

This episode of Physics World Stories explores a new book that restores women to the early history of quantum mechanics

Jumble of balls used in different sports, plus a shuttlecock

‘I left the school buzzing and on a high’

Colin White explains why doing schools outreach put him way outside his comfort zone

mircometre-sized model of the Sorbonne Chapel

Vilnius University physicist creates micron-sized model of the Sorbonne Chapel

The model is 275,000 times smaller than the real Sorbonne Chapel

All the attendees of the Helgoland conference

Helgoland 2025: the inside story of what happened on the ‘quantum island’

Matin Durrani reports from the Helgoland 2025 conference marking 100 years of quantum mechanics

Heisenberg (not) in Helgoland: where two paths diverge

Kevlin Henney imagines what Werner Heisenberg did or didn't do in June 1925

Painting the unseen: visualizing the quantum world

From swirling oil paints to the grin of a Cheshire cat, this Physics World Stories episode brings quantum science to life

Helgoland: leading scientists reflect on 100 years of quantum physics and look to the future

This podcast comes from the birthplace of modern quantum mechanics

Quantum
Blog

Quantum island: why Helgoland is a great spot for fundamental thinking

Matin Durrani explains why delegates at Helgoland 2025 are discussing foundational questions in quantum mechanics

Photo of a metre-long measure made from marble and embedded in the stone wall of a building in Paris. A small plaque to the left of the metre is inscribed with the words "Metre Etalon" and describes its history in French.

The evolution of the metre: How a product of the French Revolution became a mainstay of worldwide scientific collaboration

Physics World corresponding editor Isabelle Dumé reports from a Paris symposium celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Metre Convention

Lynda Williams aka Physics Chanteuse on stage, wearing a black hat with a glowing atom graphic above her head

The Physics Chanteuse: when science hits a high note

Songs, science and satire collide in this month’s Physics World Stories podcast with Lynda Williams

A Martian aurora, how the universe fades away, Heisenberg on holiday, physics of fake coins

Physics World editors talk about what’s new in physics

Neutrons differentiate between real and fake antique coins

Tomography and small-angle scattering reveal tell-tale corrosion

The mechanics behind rose petal shapes revealed

It’s all about geometric frustrations

Alternate quantum realities: what if Heisenberg stayed at home?

Kevlin Henney discusses his new quantum-themed flash fiction and the power of short stories

Grete Hermann: the quantum physicist who challenged Werner Heisenberg and John von Neumann

Sidney Perkowitz pays tribute to the pioneering contributions to quantum physics by Grete Hermann

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Physics World podcast

Explore our two regular podcast series! Physics World Weekly looks at the latest events and headlines in physics, as well as featuring short interviews with scientists and our team of journalists. Physics World Stories takes a more in-depth look at a topic.

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Nuclear power | Conference Europe Nuclear Energy & SMR Conference (ENES 2025) 14—15 October 2025 | Prague, Czechia
Medical physics | Virtual event Virtual International Day of Medical Physics 2025 7 November 2025
Condensed matter | Workshop SCFS25 10—14 November 2025 | Dresden, Germany

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