Lindsay McKenzie

3 weeks ago | physicstoday.scitation.org | Ryan Dahn |Lindsay McKenzie |Peter Turchi |Peter W. Milonni

For insect-scale flapping-wing robots, landing is perhaps the most dangerous portion of flight. Close to the ground, the wings generate unpredictable air vortices that often cause hard or crash landings. The rigid, single-segment legs that researchers typically use on the robots struggle to reliably cope with the collision forces generated during landings, which can easily damage fragile components such as the wings or the piezoelectric or electromagnetic actuators that power the devices.

3 weeks ago | physicstoday.scitation.org | Jenessa Duncombe |Lindsay McKenzie |Peter Turchi |Peter W. Milonni

Because of recent federal cuts to science, about 600 fewer first-year physics and astronomy graduate students are expected to enroll in the US this fall compared with the fall 2024 semester. The estimate, from a new report from the American Institute of Physics (AIP; publisher of Physics Today), is based on survey responses from the chairs of 115 physics and astronomy departments in the US in April 2025.

3 weeks ago | pubs.aip.org | Lindsay McKenzie |Peter Turchi |Peter W. Milonni |Eun-Joo Ahn

Gauge theories use the mathematics of symmetries to explore how subatomic particles behave. The theories have been used to predict the existence of elementary particles, including the Higgs boson, well before they’ve been observed and to unfurl details about the first few seconds of the universe’s existence. To this day, researchers in cosmology and particle physics benefit from Benjamin Whisoh Lee’s contributions to the development and dissemination of gauge theories.

3 weeks ago | physicstoday.scitation.org | Toni Feder |Lindsay McKenzie |Peter Turchi |Peter W. Milonni

“You can’t be a pilot—it’s dangerous.” That’s what Ari Jain’s mom told him when he was a small child and wanted to become one. So, instead of flying planes, he decided in middle school he would design them. Says Jain, “The passion never went away.” Jain earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering. Now he’s working on his doctorate at Georgia Tech and expects to graduate in December 2026.

3 weeks ago | pubs.aip.org | David Kaiser |Lindsay McKenzie |Peter Turchi |Peter W. Milonni

My fascination with quantum entanglement began in high school, when I stumbled upon a cheap paperback of physicist Fritjof Capra’s The Tao of Physics.1 The book had first been published in 1975; by the time I found the copy in a used bookstore about a decade later, it had long since become an international bestseller. I was immediately captivated by the book’s discussion of bizarre-sounding features of quantum theory and the subtle dance of subatomic particles.