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October 2012

Volume 65, Issue 10

cover: This issue of Physics Today takes two different looks at science and elections. In the Quick Study on page 74, Santo Fortunato and Claudio Castellano apply some methods of statistical mechanics to so-called proportional elections in a number of countries and uncover some surprisingly universal results. With the US presidential election looming, David Kramer, on page 22, reports on the candidates' views and records related to science. (Cover design by Donna Padian.)

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Articles

Select this Article		Superfluid helium interferometers Yuki Sato and Richard Packard


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	+ -	Show Topic Emerging devices for measuring quantum phase offer a possible new window into phenomena far outside condensed-matter physics.

Select this Article		Alexander Friedmann and the origins of modern cosmology Ari Belenkiy


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	+ -	Show Topic Friedmann, who died young in 1925, deserves to be called the father of Big Bang cosmology. But his seminal contributions have been widely misrepresented and undervalued.

Select this Article		The birth and death of star clusters in the Milky Way Steven W. Stahler


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	+ -	Show Topic Simple though admittedly speculative considerations explain why most of our galaxy’s stellar nurseries are highly fragile but a few survive for a remarkably long time.

Readers' Forum

Marietta Blau in the history of cosmic rays

Select this Article FREE		Marietta Blau in the history of cosmic rays Ruth Lewin Sime


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Select this Article FREE		Marietta Blau in the history of cosmic rays Per Carlson


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Early telephone credit claims

Select this Article FREE		Early telephone credit claims Roberto Molteni


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Select this Article FREE		Early telephone credit claims Patrick Boucher


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Questioning mantle plumes

Select this Article FREE		Questioning mantle plumes Don L. Anderson


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Low-energy tools underlie high-energy physics

Select this Article FREE		Low-energy tools underlie high-energy physics John F. Waymouth


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Reading to the end of the last glacial epoch

Select this Article FREE		Reading to the end of the last glacial epoch John Harte


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Answers: In memory of Niels Bohr

Select this Article FREE		Answers: In memory of Niels Bohr Naomi Pasachoff


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Search and Discovery

Select this Article		The Sun’s oblateness appears to be constant Bertram M. Schwarzschild


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	+ -	Show Topic A precision measurement finds its equatorial bulge somewhat smaller than expected and seemingly unaffected by the solar cycle.

Select this Article		Flow geometry controls viscous fingering R. Mark Wilson


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	+ -	Show Topic A gradient in channel depth can suppress the instability that occurs when a less viscous fluid invades a more viscous one.

Select this Article		Exotic chimera dynamics glimpsed in experiments Ashley G. Smart


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	+ -	Show Topic In such a state, synchrony and asynchrony coexist among coupled oscillators.

Select this Article		A mysterious player on the atmospheric stage Johanna L. Miller


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	+ -	Show Topic The unidentified molecule’s reaction with sulfur dioxide has implications for climate and human health.

Physics Update

Select this Article		Hearing chemical compounds in real time Richard J. Fitzgerald


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Select this Article		Earth’s natural quasicrystals came from outer space Steven K. Blau


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Select this Article		Less trade, quieter seas Charles Day


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Select this Article		Cloud simulations improving in climate models Stephen G. Benka


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Issues and Events

Select this Article FREE		Obama, Romney agree on support for basic research, but little else David Kramer


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	+ -	Show Topic The GOP challenger would halt federal funding for technology commercialization. Both candidates have given short shrift to climate change.

Select this Article		Robots headed out to sea David Kramer


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Select this Article FREE		South Korea invests big in basic research Toni Feder


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	+ -	Show Topic Internationalizing the science community, encouraging creativity, and becoming a world research leader are the aims of an initiative in a country better known for its industry than for its science.

Select this Article		Ignition effort may be slowed as Livermore facility misses milestone David Kramer


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News Notes

Select this Article		Physics graduates at work Toni Feder


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Books

Select this Article FREE		Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe Francis Sullivan, Reviewer


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Select this Article FREE		Fundamentals of Nonlinear Optics Aristides Marcano, Reviewer


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Select this Article FREE		Radioactivity: A History of a Mysterious Science Ellen Bales, Reviewer


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Select this Article FREE		Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times Lynnette D. Madsen, Reviewer


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Select this Article FREE		New books


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New Products

Select this Article FREE		Focus on vacuum and cryogenics Andreas Mandelis


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Obituaries

Select this Article FREE		Albert Warner Overhauser Gabriele F. Giuliani and Samuel A. Werner


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Select this Article FREE		Frank Sherwood Rowland Stephen O. Andersen and Marco Gonzalez


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Select this Article FREE		Sallie Ann Watkins Mary Kay Hemenway and Dwight E. Neuenschwander


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Quick Study

Select this Article FREE		Physics peeks into the ballot box Santo Fortunato and Claudio Castellano


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	+ -	Show Topic In different countries and over time, electoral features such as statistics of candidates’ performance and turnout rates show universal behaviors. Are voters as predictable as atoms?