A $3m Special Breakthrough Prize has been awarded to the theory of supergravity but some say that high-profile prizes should not be given to work that is groundless in experiment
Read article: Breakthrough prize criticized for rewarding ‘failed ideas’
Ian Randall reviews All of Physics (Almost) in 15 Equations by Bruno Mansoulié
Read article: Solve for X
The ability that small children suddenly acquire to form complex sentences can be explained by the physics of statistical mechanics
Read article: Language learning in children is like a phase transition
Jane Hesling reviews Weird Math: a Teenage Genius and His Teacher Reveal the Strange Connections Between Math and Everyday Life by David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee
Read article: Strange thinking
David Boyt explains how Lars von Trier's 2011 film Melancholia inspired a real scientific paper on climate in the journal Nonlinearity
Read article: This article is based on fictional events
Better understanding of solid-liquid hybrids could lead to better materials
Read article: Field theory of amorphous solids describes toothpaste, concrete and more
Robert P Crease meets the US statistical physicist famed for his unique scientific meetings
Read article: Joel’s conference
Stephen Wolfram's collection of essays details big ideas and the people who thought of them, although some of the tales are rather partial, says Tony Mann
Read article: Bright ideas and their architects
Guide penguins to their Antarctic feeding grounds and learn about the behaviour of ice sheets in the Ice Flows game
Read article: Web life: Ice Flows
Today's selection of need-to-know updates from the world of physics
Read article: Flash Physics: Asteroid missions, mathematical physicist bags C N R Rao Prize, ultrashort electron emission
