Physics World November 2024

Field work: using statistical physics to study sheep

We’ve all heard the old joke about the physicist approximating a spherical cow in a vacuum. But as Philip Ball explains in this month’s cover feature, physics-based models can help us to understand the behaviour of herds or flocks by reducing individual animals to particles – if not spheres, then at least ovoids. Elsewhere in the issue, find out about the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physics, which went to work on AI and machine learning, and explore the curious glassy materials, known as “Pele’s tears”, that are blasted out by some volcanoes. Plus, learn how quantum sensors can monitor the development of children’s brains.

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