Lindsay McKenzie

1 week 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.

1 week 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.

1 week 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.

1 month ago | physicstoday.scitation.org | Lindsay McKenzie |Jacob Taylor |Johanna Miller |Emily Blevins

Following an executive order issued by President Trump in February, multiple government agencies began eliminating science advisory committees. The order, titled “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy,” calls for shutting down specific advisory committees and directs the heads of some agencies and departments to identify additional committees for termination.

Feb 17, 2025 | physicstoday.scitation.org | Witold Nazarewicz |Toni Feder |Lindsay McKenzie

In a time of nuclear escalation, including Russia hinting it might use nuclear weapons, says Karen Hallberg, “the situation is much riskier than anytime during the Cold War, except maybe the Cuban missile crisis.” The threshold of nuclear confrontation is at an all-time low, says the theoretical physicist at the Balseiro Institute in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina. “The Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is closer to midnight than ever.