Physics

Former ANU vice-chancellor and physics laureate Brian Schmidt says loss of research expertise should only be ‘last resort’

Reduction in funding by Science and Technology Facilities Council would be ‘most drastic’ cut to curiosity-driven science ‘in a generation’ warn scientific leaders

Few physical sciences researchers are sharing their results in a way that can be easily used by other scholars, analysis finds

Nobel prizewinner reflects on the early hype over graphene, why Brexit damaged British science, and how geopolitics is harming research

The pioneering French physicist explains why she still lectures and how she kept her Nobel prize news under wraps at the lectern

Nobel laureate says discussing vapid AI answers can help students understand true scientific rigour

Improved settlement for UK’s ‘biggest-ever’ doctoral training investment will deliver fewer funded PhD places than in previous years, UKRI confirms

Dame Athene Donald tells THE about calling out unacceptable behaviour with empathy and reflects on her legacy as outgoing master of Churchill College

Anne L’Huillier is fifth woman to win physics prize, sharing award for research on ultra-quick light emissions with Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz

As scientists pursue groundbreaking discoveries for understanding the universe, ingrained publishing habits appear to leave students contending with outdated theories

The astronomer discusses the discovery of stars that explode as supernovae, having his work replicated in Minecraft and the importance of public understanding to astrophysics

Research by Nobel laureates is now being used for encrypted communications, says Nobel Prize committee

Trials suggest that far from being mutually exclusive, both can play an important role, says Kim Eggleton

The publication of three Nature papers demonstrates that money is no substitute for good ideas, open science and collaboration, says Andrea Morello

A physicist and two philosophers reflect on the value of their respective disciplines

Physics’ royal society aims to be more relevant than ever with focus on skills, education and business

Cait MacPhee praises a rather-too-rapid tour of the frontiers of physical knowledge

Climate change pioneers Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann take share of prize with Sapienza scientist Georgio Parisi

A look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Fears for physics pipeline as 32 researchers relinquish up to A$22m for citing preprints

Hiroshi Amano expresses concern about poor representation of postgraduate degree holders in corporations

Theoretical astrophysicist explains how early home computers nurtured a fascination with the universe, and busts the myth that most stars are single

Australian astrophysicist adapts galaxy modelling techniques to track path of current employment practices

‘The first Black woman on the tenure track in theoretical cosmology’ tells Matthew Reisz about her struggles to reconcile a pristine childhood image of science with the reality she confronts by using selective citation to marginalise racist or sexist scientists

‘I’m the first author, you’re just et al,’ raps Jakub Kubecka on his way to £2,000 prize

‘Confusion’ over UN rules leads event organisers to bar students, experts or groups

Vital lessons can be learned from beer, bread and even batter, scientists say

Astrophysicists in Hong Kong and France say that public perceptions of gender should change and that more should be done to support women in science

Institutions get creative and find ingenious ways to adapt equipment and technological tools to replicate the experience of in-person courses

Award reflects trend towards huge international research teams

Oxford professor Roger Penrose shares top honour with German physicist Reinhard Genzel and US-born Andrea Ghez, only the fourth woman to win prize

UNSW degree, thought to be first of its kind in world, aims to stay ahead of quantum engineering curve and meet surging global demand for skills

Data cleansing project for pandemic patients illustrates the side benefits of astronomy research

Pathological corporate branding is detrimental to the very image universities want to portray to students, says Philip Moriarty

Ocean science’s ‘brute force’ approach is impossible in space. But extraterrestrial necessity may also be the mother of fruitful invention when it comes to probing the alien worlds beneath the terrestrial waves, says Kevin Peter Hand

Astrophysicists’ data analysis and precision measurement expertise harnessed to combat pandemic

Observational astrophysicist opens up on why physics can be ‘unsatisfactory’ and how the coronavirus spotlights a valuable truth about our approach to climate change

Book of the week: Tara Shears enjoys an impassioned hymn to the vocation and insights of the physicist

Rivka Isaacson is thrilled by the bold work produced at the frontiers between art and science

Richard Joyner enjoys an account of a largely neglected phase in the life of the greatest modern physicist 

Nuclear armageddon is the global peril that time forgot. But amid all the concern about environmental degradation, disarmament remains imperative, says Nobel laureate John Polanyi

More Russian universities join top 100 of subject tables 

Figures show that even disciplines with a high share of female technical staff have few women at the top

Conservative mistrust of the existing research funding system demands a re-examination of its uneasy compromises, says John Womersley

Richard Joyner considers a lively overview of all things solar

The REF is a prime example of the sort of elaborate, burdensome process that potentially adds comparatively little value

Nick Norman enjoys a bold attempt to track the past, present and future of energy

Geoffrey Cantor on a pioneering natural philosopher whose conflicts with doctrine became the stuff of myth

Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski tells young scholars to focus on research and ignore ‘shitty job market’

The ‘best’ scientists lack time for peer review, and academics should be rated for ‘worthy’ papers, argues Dan Shechtman

Michael Kosterlitz tells THE how colour blindness shaped his career and why Nobel winners shouldn’t be taken too seriously

Tributes paid to a scientist who narrowly missed a Nobel

Founder of Ligo project reveals some researchers have left over a lack of recognition, exposing wider attribution difficulties for large teams

Wolfgang Ketterle says scientists should aim instead for equilibrium in the longer term, and always keep other interests or hobbies

With such wide disagreements in grading, the research excellence framework’s gravity for careers is unjustifiable, says Philip Moriarty

Cait MacPhee enjoys a fascinating tour of our not-too-local neighbourhood

The Surrey professor and broadcaster explains how science communication can entertain and enlighten

Tony Mann assesses an argument about the role of mathematical beauty as a key to understanding how the universe works

Book of the week: Rivka Isaacson reflects on the ‘aphrodisiac’ effect of crossing disciplines

The author of ‘No Shadow of a Doubt’ on a childhood love of fantasy and science fiction that inspired a career in physics