Culture, history and society
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It’s all kicking off: how much do you know about the science of football?
Kick off the 2026 FIFA World Cup by testing your knowledge of the physics of football
Quiz of the week: New SKA boss Jessica Dempsey did what before becoming an astronomer?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Opinion and reviews
The dark heart of the lithium-ion battery revolution
James Dacey reviews The Elements of Power: a Story of War, Technology and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth by Nicolas Niarchos
Will the demise of the US penny damage science education?
Robert P Crease wonders what the death of the US penny will do to how we teach and learn science
The humanity of machines: the relationship between technology and our bodies
Anita Chandran reviews The Body Digital: a Brief History of Humans and Machines from Cuckoo Clocks to ChatGPT by Vanessa Chang
The future of particle physics: what can the past teach us?
Robert P Crease reports from a conference at CERN on particle physics in the 1980s and 1990s
An illuminating, if imperfect, celebration of friction
Mike Follows reviews Friction: a Biography by Jennifer R Vail
Is our embrace of AI naïve and could it lead to an environmental disaster?
Johan Hansson says it is dangerous to treat artificial intelligence as a magic wand
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
Explore more in culture, history and society
Word flower puzzle no. 5
How many words can you find in this puzzle?
Read article: Word flower puzzle no. 5
Experiment that may or may not disprove Bohmian mechanics continues to spark debate
Is the controversy settled? Only when pigs – and pilot waves – fly, writes Tim Wogan
Read article: Experiment that may or may not disprove Bohmian mechanics continues to spark debate
Quiz of the week: CERN may have made a quark–gluon plasma by colliding which nuclei?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: CERN may have made a quark–gluon plasma by colliding which nuclei?
Quiz of the week: which UK university plans to shed almost 30% of its physics staff?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: which UK university plans to shed almost 30% of its physics staff?
Quiz of the week: what technique may be able to create super-high laser intensities?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: what technique may be able to create super-high laser intensities?
Quiz of the week: what device have physicists used to print ‘structural colours’?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: what device have physicists used to print ‘structural colours’?
Word flower puzzle no. 4
How many words can you find in this puzzle?
Read article: Word flower puzzle no. 4
Quiz of the week: how far can new tiny knotted fibre leap into the air?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: how far can new tiny knotted fibre leap into the air?
Caffeine kick: can you solve our crossword on coffee physics?
Try our quick crossword about the physics of coffee
Read article: Caffeine kick: can you solve our crossword on coffee physics?
In food physics, connection and collaboration are ingredients for a thriving IOP community
Joe McEntee looks at the contributions of the food physics group of the Institute of Physics
Read article: In food physics, connection and collaboration are ingredients for a thriving IOP community
Oppenheimer unfiltered: rare recordings released to the public
Newly released audio interviews reveal a personal, reflective side of Robert Oppenheimer
Read article: Oppenheimer unfiltered: rare recordings released to the public
Quiz of the week: at what temperature did researchers find a new critical point in water?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: at what temperature did researchers find a new critical point in water?
Quiz of the week: how many galaxies and quasars are in the biggest high-res 3D map of our universe?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: how many galaxies and quasars are in the biggest high-res 3D map of our universe?
Word flower puzzle no. 3
How many words can you find in this puzzle?
Read article: Word flower puzzle no. 3
Proteins on manuscript reveal how Renaissance medicines were made
Our podcast guest develops technologies for proteomics
Read article: Proteins on manuscript reveal how Renaissance medicines were made
Michael Frayn on Copenhagen: ‘When I wrote it, I didn’t think it would even be staged’
Chris Sinclair talks to Michael Frayn about a new revival of his classic science play Copenhagen
Read article: Michael Frayn on Copenhagen: ‘When I wrote it, I didn’t think it would even be staged’
Word wave puzzle no.2
Can you guess the physics-related word in this puzzle?
Read article: Word wave puzzle no.2
Quiz of the week: how long will NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon last?
Have you been keeping up to date with physics news? Try our short quiz to find out
Read article: Quiz of the week: how long will NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon last?
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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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