Features
Special Issue: Planetary Diversity 
Planets come in a wide variety of types and exhibit a wide range of complex behavior. Still, we can ask--and answer--some fundamental questions about them -- David J. Stevenson, Guest Editor
The Kuiper Belt
The hundreds of objects lying beyond Neptune's orbit provide data that enable scientists to trace the history of the outer planets. They also present an intriguing mystery -- Michael E. Brown
Origin of the Terrestrial Planets and the Earth−Moon System
Increasingly sophisticated computer simulations show how the four solid planets
could have emerged through collisions and accretion. One late, giant collision
with Earth is the likely origin of the Moon -- Robin M. Canup
Probing the Giant Planets
More than a hundred extrasolar giant planets have been discovered in the past few years. To understand how they were formed, we must study in detail the giants closest to us: Jupiter and Saturn -- Tristan Guillot
Water on Mars
Mars is cold enough that its meager water content appears to exist today simply in frozen and gas phases. But as recent evidence suggests, that may not have always been the case -- Bruce M. Jakosky and Michael T. Mellon
A Look at the Galilean Satellites After the Galileo Mission
From volcanic eruptions hotter than those typically found on Earth to ocean sandwiches with water trapped between ice layers, the Galileo mission revealed fascinating phenomena on Jupiter's four largest moons -- Torrence V. Johnson
Departments
Reference Frame
Total relativity: Mach 2004 -- Frank Wilczek
Letters
National Observatories: Contention Continues
US Climate Research Plan May Ask Wrong Question
'Physics of Whatever' Relevant but Not Always Accurate
Ethical Dilemmas of US Antiterrorism Policy
Another Side to Roots of Terrorism
Private Funding Could Cut Red Tape for Homestake
Notes on Hanford Reactor Start-up
New Facilities Expand Protein
Crystallography Opportunities
Search and Discovery
Evidence reported for a "supersolid" phase of helium-4
The most likely explanation for a sharp drop in rotational inertia in crystalline 4He is the onset of superfluid behavior.
Dubna−Livermore collaboration forms two new superheavy elements
The latest additions to the periodic table are element 115 and its daughter,
element 113.
New silicon-based device modulates light at 1 GHz
A team from Intel Corp has made significant progress toward creating a practical Si-based electro-optical modulator.
Issues and Events
DOE Warms to Cold Fusion
Whether outraged or supportive about DOE's planned reevaluation of cold fusion, most scientists remain deeply skeptical that it's real.
French Scientists Take to the Streets to Save Research
Researchers in France have quit the administrative parts of their jobs to show the government and the public the seriousness of their concerns about the country's research enterprise and universities.
Bush Administration Accused of Misusing Science
An independent science group claims to have documented scores of cases of scientific manipulation and abuse throughout the federal government.
Semester Abroad to SOAR in Chile
Hands-on experience with telescopes and immersion in Chilean culture, without getting behind in science studies--that's the rare opportunity that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is offering as many as 15 of its undergraduates this fall.
Magnet Lab Attracts Boebinger
Gregory Boebinger has been tapped to head the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. This month, he moves from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the NHMFL's headquarters in Tallahassee, Florida, to succeed founding director Jack Crow.
US Physics Job Market Holds Steady
Employment patterns for physics and astronomy degree recipients in the US shifted little for the classes of 2000 and 2001, according to the latest report from the American Institute of Physics on recent graduates at all degree levels.
News Notes
Colwell leaves NSF; National lab contracts extended; LBNL director steps down; CERN stamp
Web Watch
Accessibility of Computer Science: A Reflection for Faculty Members; Theses Canada Portal; Dynasonde
Special Report: Bush R&D budget remains focused on war, terrorism, and security in FY 2005; civilian R&D funding flat
The administration is proposing another record-setting R&D budget that is $5.5 billion more than last year. But the entire increase would go to Pentagon weapons systems and homeland security programs.
Meetings
CLEO/IQEC Assembles in the City by the Bay
Books
Isaac Newton, J. Gleick (reviewed by L. Stewart)
Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, A. Zee (reviewed by Z. Bern)
Extreme Ultraviolet Astronomy, M. A. Barstow and J. B. Holberg (reviewed by G. A. Kriss)
Atomic and Electronic Structure of Solids, E. Kaxiras, and Quantum Theory of Solids, E. O'Reilly (reviewed by K. M. Rabe)
New Books
New Products
Focus on Materials
We Hear That
Wolf Foundation Honors Brout, Englert, and Higgs for Physics, Gray for Chemistry
NAS Bestows Awards This Month
APS to Grant Awards at Meeting
OSA Presents Engineering Excellence Awards
AGU Announces Writing Awards
IEEE Names Winner of Top Medal
In Brief
Obituaries
Ilya Prigogine
Vernon Ellsworth Derr
David B. Fossan
Albert Joseph Howard Jr
Elizabeth Ann Johnson
H. Douglas Keith
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