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cover: The human brain consists of nearly 10¹¹ neurons and some 10⁴ times that number of connections, organized into a complex network of local circuits and long-range fiber pathways. The diffusion spectrum image shown here reveals part of that web: The threadlike structures are nerve bundles, each containing thousands of nerve fibers. The brain is just one of countless networks whose behavior scientists seek to understand. For details on their properties and often counterintuitive dynamics, turn to the article by Adilson Motter and Réka Albert on page 43. (Image courtesy of Van Wedeen and Lawrence Wald, MGH-UCLA NIH Human Connectome Project.)

Articles

Select this Article		Networks in motion Adilson E. Motter and Réka Albert


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	+ -	Show Topic Networks that govern communication, growth, herd behavior, and other key processes in nature and society are becoming increasingly amenable to modeling, forecast, and control.

Select this Article		Precious fossils of the infant universe Anna Frebel and Volker Bromm


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	+ -	Show Topic The ancient, metal-poor stars at the outskirts of the Milky Way provide a window on the conditions that governed the universe shortly after the Big Bang.

Select this Article		Solar eruptive events Gordon D. Holman


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	+ -	Show Topic It’s long been known that the Sun plays host to the most energetic explosions in the solar system. But key insights into how they work have only recently become available.

Readers' Forum

Commentary: Too many authors, too few creators

Select this Article FREE		Commentary: Too many authors, too few creators Philip J. Wyatt


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Radioactive toothpaste and reversed helicity

Select this Article FREE		Radioactive toothpaste and reversed helicity Eugen Merzbacher


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Select this Article FREE		Radioactive toothpaste and reversed helicity Bob Esterling


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Select this Article FREE		Radioactive toothpaste and reversed helicity Alfred Scharff Goldhaber


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Preserving quantum nondemolition

Select this Article FREE		Preserving quantum nondemolition Philippe Grangier


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Ocean sensing is influenced by platform

Select this Article FREE		Ocean sensing is influenced by platform Christoph Waldmann


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Memories of volcanic flame in Hawaii

Select this Article FREE		Memories of volcanic flame in Hawaii Jay M. Pasachoff


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Search and Discovery

Select this Article		The triggering and persistence of the Little Ice Age Bertram M. Schwarzschild


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	+ -	Show Topic A mere half century of volcanism seems to have initiated a chill lasting half a millennium.

Select this Article		Inside a sonoluminescing microbubble, hints of a dense plasma Ashley G. Smart


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	+ -	Show Topic Even though the bubble’s surface temperature reaches nearly twice that of the Sun, its estimated ionization fraction—nearly 20%—is still puzzlingly large.

Select this Article		DNA nanobarrel delivers the goods Johanna L. Miller


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Physics Update

Select this Article		How rumors spread Richard Fitzgerald


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Select this Article		A day on Venus just got longer Steven Blau


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Select this Article		Gravity waves and heat in Mars’s atmosphere Charles Day


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Issues and Events

Select this Article FREE		Science endures as conditions in Greece worsen Toni Feder


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	+ -	Show Topic Worry, resignation, and optimism mix among Greek scientists as they deal with salary cuts, ever-changing laws, and pervasive uncertainty.

Select this Article FREE		Computer games take their place in the science classroom Jermey N. A. Matthews


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	+ -	Show Topic A 2011 National Research Council report found emerging but inconclusive evidence that educational science-based games improve learning.

Select this Article FREE		Regional centers extend ICTP work in South and Central America Toni Feder


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News notes

Select this Article		Hats off to Japanese center Toni Feder


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Select this Article		Herschel archives Toni Feder


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Select this Article FREE		Special Report: Modest but uneven R&D increases proposed for FY 2013 David Kramer


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	+ -	Show Topic Uncertainty created by the Budget Control Act of 2011 clouds the outlook for federal science and technology funding. Some Department of Energy physics programs face significant cuts.

Books

Select this Article FREE		The Optics of Life: A Biologist’s Guide to Light in Nature Nicholas Roberts, Reviewer

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Select this Article FREE		War of the Worldviews: Science vs. Spirituality Mark Alford, Reviewer

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Select this Article FREE		An Introduction to Tensors and Group Theory for Physicists Peter Pesic, Reviewer

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Select this Article FREE		Constructing Reality: Quantum Theory and Particle Physics Kannan Jagannathan , Reviewer

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Select this Article FREE		New books


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New Products

Select this Article FREE		Focus on nanoscience and nanotechnology Andreas Mandelis

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Obituaries

Select this Article FREE		Robert Blinc Zvonko Trontelj, Hugo Schmidt, and David C. Ailion


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Select this Article FREE		Herbert Aaron Hauptman Charles M. Weeks


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Quick Study

Select this Article		Exploring the interface between the Sun’s surface and corona Charles C. Kankelborg


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	+ -	Show Topic Nonequilibrium thermodynamics, explosive magnetic field rearrangements, and more contribute to the physics of an atmospheric region that brooks no simple assumptions.