Stories from September 2009
Time to lift the geoengineering taboo
Hot on the heels of the Royal Society’s Geoengineering the Climate report, September’s Physics World contains feature comment from UK experts stressing the need to start taking geoengineering – deliberate interventions in the climate system to counteract man-made global warming – more seriously
Light at the speed of a bicycle and much more
The speed of light, 300 million metres per second, was long thought an immutable constant and has defined our understanding of matter and energy but recent research in the area of optics and photonics is proving that we can manipulate light to some ingenious and hugely lucrative ends
New group tackles physics communication
Professor Sir William Wakeham, the University of Southampton’s Vice-Chancellor and chair of last year’s RCUK Review into the Health of UK Physics, spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Institute of Physics (IOP)’s new Communicators Group to provoke thought among physics communicators about how best to present physics to the young and the influential
New photo exhibition explores the universe
A new photographic exhibition, Explorers of the Universe, will be showcasing aspects of astronomy at the Royal Albert Hall from 24 September until 2 November 2009 to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s reflect series
CERN boss wants to bid for linear collider
CERN’s director general Rolf-Dieter Heuer will push for the linear collider, the next big experiment in particle physics after the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to be built at the Geneva lab. Heuer made his call to situate the linear collider at CERN in an exclusive video interview with physicsworld.com, which is being relaunched today, Wednesday 16 September
Juno Champions trail blaze for women in physics
Two university physics departments have been recognised by the Institute of Physics (IOP) for efforts made to reduce gender inequality among academic staff. Imperial College London and the University of Warwick contain the first ever physics departments to be recognised as Juno Champions
Institute to stimulate physics A-level take-up
The Institute of Physics (IOP) has been awarded a major contract by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to improve take-up of physics A-level through a network of physics support centres. IOP will work with the Science Learning Centres to build the Stimulating Physics Network
Stop the ringing – a cure for temporary tinnitus
From gig-goers and iPod owners to construction workers and soldiers, most of us have suffered from temporary tinnitus – continued perception of noise that isn’t there – after a loud event
Perfect image without metamaterials…. and a reprieve for silicon chips
Since 2000, Sir John Pendry’s work on metamaterials has been at the vanguard of efforts to create a perfect image – images with perfect resolution that can stem from light being moved in odd directions to create, among other tricks of the light, the illusion of invisibility
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