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IMPORTANT NEWS FROM PHYSICSWEB
From 1 November 2006 you will need to become a member of PhysicsWeb to read some of the articles posted on the site or featured in your e-mail alert. Becoming a member is free, will only take a few moments of your time, and will enable me to deliver more content that is relevant to you.
News
Hubble to get new lease of life Nov 1
The success of recent Shuttle missions has persuaded NASA that it is safe to send astronauts to repair and upgrade the ageing Hubble Space Telescope. Having cancelled all future Shuttle missions to the Hubble on safety grounds following the loss of Columbia in 2003, the agency has now changed its mind and will equip the orbiting observatory with two new instruments. This should keep Hubble operational until about 2013.
Physics World
Cosmology comes of age Nov 1
This year’s Nobel prize is welcome recognition for cosmology
Where passions run deep Nov 1
The puzzle of “singing sand dunes� shows how conflict is central to scientific progress
Physics Legends Nov 1
The history of science is full of mythical stories that we repeat, even when we suspect that they are probably wrong. Robert P Crease recounts several and asks for yours
The troubled song of the sand dunes Nov 1
Matthew Chalmers exposes the fierce controversy behind attempts to explain the mystery of “singing� sand dunes, which provides a rare insight into how physics is done
Cleaning up dark matter Nov 1
An experiment in Italy has found tantalizing but puzzling evidence for axions, one of the leading candidates for dark matter. Giovanni Bignami and Arnaud Dupays explain how a pair of spinning neutron stars should settle the issue once and for all
Smart lenses Nov 1
If you wear glasses and want to protect your eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays when you step outside into the bright sunshine, you can do a number of things. You can switch to a pair of prescription sunglasses or don some clip-on shades. Alternatively, you can invest in a pair of glasses with "photochromatic" lenses, which go dark in strong sunlight.
Drawing conclusions from graphene Nov 1
In a time when cutting-edge scientific research is expensive and complex, it seems absurd that a breakthrough in physics could be achieved with simple adhesive tape. But in 2004, Andre Geim, Kostya Novoselov and co-workers at the University of Manchester in the UK did just that. By delicately cleaving a sample of graphite with sticky tape, they produced something that was long considered impossible: a sheet of crystalline carbon just one atom thick, known as graphene.
Reviews
The primacy of doubt Nov 1
The Last Generation: How Nature Will Take Revenge
for Man-Made Climate Change
Fred Pearce
2006 Eden Books 352pp £12.99pb
The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back –
and How We Can Still Save Humanity
James Lovelock
2006 Allen *** 192pp £16.99/$25.00hb
Seeking anthropic answers Nov 1
The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?
Paul Davies
2006 Allen *** 360pp £22.00hb
Shelf life: Jennifer Ouellette Nov 1
Jennifer Ouellette is a freelance science writer based in Washington, DC. She is the author of the forthcoming The Physics of the Buffyverse.
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