Features
Life's Universal Scaling Laws
Biological systems have evolved branching networks that transport a variety of resources. We argue that common properties of those networks allow for a quantitative theory of structure, organization, and dynamics of living systems—Geoffrey B. West and James H. Brown
I. I. Rabi and the Birth of CERN
CERN was created in part to help restore a great European scientific tradition. But the establishment of a European laboratory also advanced US scientific and foreign policy aims—John Krige
A TeV Linear Collider
An accelerator capable of colliding electrons with positrons at energies approaching a trillion electron volts tops the particle physicists' wish list. It would have to be 30 kilometers long—Ian Hinchliffe and Marco Battaglia
Departments
Physics Update
Letters 
Publish−or−Perish Perspectives: Dividing
Coauthors, Valuing Referees, Taming Expectations
Seeking Answers From Cold Fusion Review
Questionable Questions in Analysis and Synthesis
Shapley and Hubble: Different Views Brought Galaxies Into Focus
More on Numerical Lattice QCD
Fascinating Pluto
Search & Discovery
Magnetic Resonance Force Microscope Locates a Single Electron Spin Inside a Glass Slab 
Similar patterns of spin fluctuations and charge ordering in different compounds suggests that these features are intrinsic to the cuprates.
Removing Nodes in a Network Can Protect Against Cascading Failures
Can a mathematical idealization of network behavior be adapted to real systems?
New Experiments Highlight Universal Behavior in Copper Oxide Superconductors Similar patterns of spin fluctuations and charge ordering in different compounds suggests that these features are intrinsic to the cuprates
Issues & Events
Court Rules Against 10 000−Year Radiation Safety Standard at Yucca Mountain 
Saying the Environmental Protection Agency "unabashedly" ignored a National Academy of Sciences report on future radiation levels at the facility, a US appeals court sends the radioactive waste problem back to Congress.
Frankfurt Honors Hans Bethe
The Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany has unveiled a newly commissioned painting by Bavarian artist Jürgen Jaumann, to coincide with an honorary doctorate bestowed on Bethe this summer.
US Physics Teachers Volunteer in AIDS−Ravaged Zambia 
With a small grant and a good idea, a group of Virginia physics teachers is working in a remote area of Zambia to prevent physics education from becoming a victim of the AIDS pandemic.
Los Alamos Halts Work in Wake of Apparent Security Breach
Blaming the 7 July disappearance of two classified computer disks on a few employees flouting rules, on 15 July Los Alamos National Laboratory Director G. Peter Nanos called for a complete stand-down, or work stoppage, at the lab.
South Korea Hosts Physics Olympiad
Thirty−one competitors earned gold medals at the 35th International Physics Olympiad, which was held in Pohang, South Korea, in July.
Web Watch
FITS Liberator; HiTempThermo; European Neutron Portal; European Muon Portal.
Books
Einstein's Clocks, Poincaré's Maps: Empires of Time, P. Galison (reviewed by R. M. Wald) 
Masters of Theory: Cambridge and the Rise of Mathematical Physics, A. Warwick (reviewed by E. Garber)
Principles of the Quantum Control of Molecular Processes, M. Shapiro and P. Brumer (reviewed by P. H. Bucksbaum)
Ink Sandwiches, Electric Worms and 37 Other Experiments for Saturday Science, N. A. Downie (reviewed by C. Waltham)
Ultra-High Energy Particle Astrophysics, S. Yoshida (reviewed by S. Westerhoff)
Introduction to Nanotechnology, C. P. Poole Jr and F. J. Owens (reviewed by R. S. Averback)
Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy, T. C. Weekes (reviewed by M. Baring)
New Books 
New Products
Focus on magnetics 
We Hear That
OSA Recognizes Contributions to Optical Science
In Brief
Obituaries
Arthur Robert von Hippel
Anthony Houghton
Hideo Kubo
Job Opportunities |