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Tushna Commissariat and Sarah Tesh outline what’s on offer in Physics World Careers 2024 – your comprehensive, free-to-read, 106-page guide that has all the help you’ll need to fuel your career in physics Countless options Some physicists will go into academia, but others will join commerce and industry, bringing cutting-edge, physics-based technology to consumers. Others will become engineers, patent officers or teachers. Or they might find themselves working in the worlds of IT, finance or publishing. From green energy to data science, there is a world of opportunity out there. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/theromb) Making decisions about your career can be an exciting process,…

MIT geologists have found that tectonic activity gives rise to smectite, a type of clay that can sequester a surprising amount of organic carbon within its microscopic folds (shown here), over millions of years. (Courtesy: Anthony Priestas, Boston University) Geologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have discovered a connection between two important theories of Earth’s long-term climate history. The first is that exposure of fast-weathering rocks called ophiolites correlates with the climate getting colder. The second is that as mountains erode into the sea, carbon becomes buried under the water. Both phenomena can cause large-scale…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton beam therapy are two powerful techniques of medical physics. The former gives us real-time images of internal structures of the body, and the latter can deliver a high dose of radiation to a tumour while reducing the damage to surrounding healthy tissue. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, the medical physicist Aswin Hoffmann talks about a research initiative in Germany that is combining the two techniques to achieve high-precision radiation therapy. The work is being done at the Center for Innovation in Radiation Oncology (OncoRay) in Dresden and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.…

Ripples in space: LISA will consist of three identical satellites placed in an equilateral triangle in space, with each side of the triangle being 2.5 million kilometers – more than six times the distance between the Earth and the Moon (courtesy: EADS Astrium). The European Space Agency (ESA) has formally approved the start of construction for its space-based gravitational-wave mission. Work on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will begin in January 2025 once an industry partner has been chosen to build the craft. LISA, which is estimated to cost €1.5bn, is expected to launch in 2035 and operate for…

Big-science facilities are often associated with fundamental research. You might picture scientists hunting for elementary particles, or searching to understand the nature of dark matter. But some facilities – especially high-energy physics labs – are also turning their focus to practical applications of quantum physics. The opportunities for science, industry and society are vast. That’s the theme of a new special issue of Physics World called “Big Science, Quantum Advantage”. Free-to-access now, the issue profiles some of the latest developments in Europe, the US and China. Watch this short video to discover more.

Growing up, I often thought of my mother as a collector of people. She collected people the way other people collect things. So it was never just us five—my parents and their three girls. Instead, people appeared, staying for various periods and disappearing: the live-in helpers; teens and young women my mother helped through some difficulty or family crisis; boarders who lived in our home and attended a neighborhood high school or community college; the gardener’s children who spent weekends and summer holidays with us and who my sisters and I helped with reading and math, much the same way…

The first page of Hisham Matar’s latest novel is so emotionally perplexing, so masterfully crafted that I promptly screenshot and sent it to several reader friends. My Friends begins with the end. Two old friends are parting ways, and we are left wondering about the weight on their chests, all the unsaid. Khaled, the narrator, is a young Libyan who moves to the U.K. to attend college, but taking part in anti-Qaddafi protests in London dramatically alters the course of his life. Fellow student Mustafa and older writer Hosam, both also Libyans, become companions in his forced exile. The narrative…

Around 15 years ago my friend Erik interrupted me while I was talking about my workday to say, “Stop being boring.” He was always a bit brash and maybe my feelings were a little hurt, but it became lore, a story I told about him. With time and distance, I can see that he was right. I have historically conceived of myself as my job. For years I was a property manager, and after work I would talk about tenants and owners and vendors, describing phone calls and apartments in detail to friends over drinks. Then I was a graduate…

Her Baby Is a Stranger She Doesn’t Want to Know Mario Giannone Share article The Box Where Baby Slept by Mario Giannone Mirna caught Piss Pants hanging around her car when she returned from the superstore. His pants were soaked as usual, but it was hard to tell if the stains were old or from a more recent incident. For as long as Mirna had been living out of her car in the parking lot of the abandoned Spring River Shopping Center, Piss Pants had been sneaking over to wave at Mirna’s baby. The baby wailed at the strange man.…

In January 2020, Bookshop.org was created as an online retail alternative to Amazon. Since then, the platform has raised more than $29 million for local bookstores. The books we feature on the site link directly to Bookshop, with 10% of the profit from each sale going to support our mission as a literary nonprofit.  In celebration of Bookshop’s 4th anniversary, we’ve decided to look back at the 10 most purchased books on our website. The books that our readers bought are a diverse mix, spanning countries such as Chile, India, and Ireland and genres including graphic novels, political histories, and…

Every five weeks or so, I look over at her and whine, “I think I wanna go on T.” Usually, we’re in the car; I’m driving. Sometimes we’re walking out of the grocery store. Occasionally she finds me in the bathroom, stuck in front of the sink, squinting at my chin. A year ago, this announcement would make her tense up: her shoulders might have jumped half an inch toward her ears and the trace of blue in her neck would spasm like a fish quivering under a thin sheet of ice. Then I had top surgery. After ferrying me…

In the U.S., immigrant and citizen migrant farm laborers work behind the scenes every day to ensure the planting, harvest, and shipment of the food and other agricultural products we rely on. Their work is an essential part of our daily lives—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—but their voices don’t usually get a seat at our tables.  We had the great honor of co-editing a portfolio of writing and art from twenty-seven contributors with roots in the farmworker community. It was recently published in print and online in The Common magazine, and a celebration with farmworker readers was held at Skylight Books…

Be a Woman, Be Yourself, Be Miserable B Back at his place, he showed me pictures of his ex-girlfriend, and I talked to him about Lars. Back home, I just lay in my room alone and masturbated, content with my mediocrity. Bad metaphor, humans as machines. Bah. Bakery in Berlin. Basically it’s a crazy year, that’s what Claire said, this is going to be a crazy year. Be a pro, Lemons said. Be a woman. Be an individual, he suggested. Be bald-faced and strange. Be calm. Be cautious with your money. Be clean and attractive. Be comfortable and assured and…

Kiley Reid’s sophomore novel, Come and Get It, centers around the fictional Belgrade dormitory at the University of Arkansas. Millie comes back to be a resident’s advisor for a group of transfer and scholarship students, including the problematic suite of Tyler, Peyton, and Kennedy. Kennedy, who transferred from Iowa after a traumatic incident, seeks the friendship and attention of Tyler and Peyton. Meanwhile, Agatha, a visiting professor, secretly observes the girls’ relationships and how they spend their money after striking up a relationship with Millie. All this leads to a series of pranks, revenge, and the breakdown of stability in…

“The Great Blue” by Kim Drew Wright I’m gliding on my back atop a paddleboard, up the silent creek that swindles away from the Chesapeake Bay, becoming smaller, muddier, filled with creatures I can’t see but hear rustling in the marsh grass, slinking into the water with trepidatious splunks. Herons fly overhead, their great necks curved in a protective S, as if they are aware of the dangers of this world. I curl further into myself, the fear rising up from my gut until I turn with shaky arms to head back into open water. We’ve rented a house with…

In an exclusive interview with TMZ, esteemed legal experts Alan Dershowitz and former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins have brought new insights into the NXIVM case, a complex legal drama that has drawn national attention and raised significant questions about the integrity and fairness of the legal system. They are contesting the primary evidence leading to the conviction of Keith Raniere, the leader of the once-prominent self-help group NXIVM, suggesting a new twist in the ongoing saga. Central to their argument is a startling allegation: key photographic evidence, crucial to the case, may have been tampered with. This claim, supported by…

Jason Poncio’s new single “Never Run” (Remixed) is now available worldwide. Jason Poncio, originating from Houston Texas, has been doing music for over 20 years and his newest single is quickly making its way to being his most catchable song yet. “Never Run” (Remixed) has hit 200K plays on Spotify alone within the first few days. Quickly gaining global popularity in the UK, France, Spain, Canada and yes, even the United States. “Never Run” (Remixed) is an updated version of his song he originally did on his first album and re-released on his Commemorative album called “Timeline 20” where he…

Detroit in the 1920s proved to be the Paris of the West for many—including Catherine McIntosh and Robert Sage. These two law school students are as passionate about each other as they are their dreams. From a poor family in the neighborhood of Corktown, Catherine learned early on, the necessity of being resilient. She becomes one of the first women in Detroit to obtain a law degree. Bob, the ‘battling barrister,’ boxes in order to pay for law school. Despite his gruff and tough-boy personality, he is a friend to all: judges, cops, and even a couple members of the…