A tongue-in-cheek e-mail exchange with 1973 Nobel Prize winner Brian Josephson shows that for some laureates, scientific rigour extends to ordinary life, too
Read article: How to rotate your mattress like a physics Nobel prizewinner
Researchers have looked at how tea scum breaks apart when stirred
Read article: Physicists reveal the mechanics of tea scum
Everesting involves a cyclist riding up and down a given hill multiple times until the ascent totals the elevation of Mount Everest – or 8848 m
Read article: The physics of cycling’s ‘Everesting’ challenge revealed
A paper cut “sweet spot” just happens to be close to the thickness of paper in print magazines
Read article: Researchers cut to the chase on the physics of paper cuts
Variable pendulum describes how energy is pumped into the system
Read article: Pumping on a half-pipe: physicists model a skateboarding skill
Neutrons are rumours and people are uranium isotopes in new model
Read article: Rumours spread like nuclear fission, say physicists
Symbiotic relationship is explored by physicists
Read article: Clams and algae collaborate to harvest sunlight very efficiently
Given a full bowl of pistachios, what size container do you need for the leftover shells?
Read article: Can you solve this pistachio packing problem?
Study on starlings is the first to measure birds’ energy use directly rather than inferring it from other measurements
Read article: Birds save up to 25% of their energy when they follow a leader
Condensed natter: Physics World editors give their compressed verdicts on top new books
Read article: A love of triangles, the physics of spin, volcanic science and Pascal’s papers: micro reviews of the best recent books
