Nonequilibrium Patterns in Granular Mixing and Segregation
Granular flows that mix different species exhibit a surprisingly diverse repertoire of striking and beautiful behaviors. Better understanding of the mixing process should help in predicting whether a given flow will mix—or segregate—its constituents.
— Troy Shinbrot and Fernando J. Muzzio
Atmospheric Infrasound
The search for ways to monitor compliance with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has sparked renewed interest in sounds with frequencies too low for humans to hear — Alfred J. Bedard Jr and Thomas M. Georges
Liquid Crystals and Carbon Materials
The macroscopic properties of carbon materials are determined by their structure at the nanometer length scale, and there is great potential to tailor their structure during the liquid-crystal phase of the synthesizing process —Robert H. Hurt and Zhong-Ying Chen
Physics Update
Reference Frame
What's wrong with this elegance? —N. David Mermin
Letters
Search and Discovery
Learning about high-Tc superconductors from their imperfections . . . Experiments reveal how heat is mixed into cold dense water in the abyssal ocean . . . A photon-activated switch detects single far-infrared photons . . . Survey halves estimated population of big near-Earth asteroids
Washington Reports
Clinton celebrates an ‘era of unparalleled promise’ powered by technology and driven by science . . . Washington briefings: R&D tax credit extended five years; It’s rescission time for federal agencies; US eases export controls on fastest computers; Tax break for theSpallation Neutron Source
Physics Community
Remaining ITER partners settle on an outline design for a downsized fusion reactor . . .Nick Hitchon is better known for being in the “Up” movies than for his physics . . .Recovery continues in physics job market . . . In Brief . . . Bachelor’s degree production holds steady in physics
Web Watch
Opinion
Quantum theory needs no ‘interpretation’ — Christopher A. Fuchs and Asher Peres
Books
The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, I. Newton, translated by I. B. Cohen, A. Whitman and J. Budenz (reviewed by A. E. Shapiro) . . . Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, L. Bergström andA. Goobar (reviewed by A. J. Albrecht) . . . Howard Aiken: Portrait ofa Computer Pioneer, I. B. Cohen and Makin’ Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer, edited by I. B. Cohen and G. W. Welch (reviewed byA. E. Brenner) . . . Computational Physics, J. M. Thijssen (reviewed byA. F. Wright) . . . Statistical Methods in Quantum Optics 1: Master Equations and Fokker–Planck Equations, H. J. Carmichael (reviewed byM. O. Scully)
New Products
Focus on test and measurement
We Hear That
Obituaries
John Wainwright Evans Jr . . . Kenneth Alan Johnson . . . Jose Roberto Manzano
Information Exchange
