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GCHQ spelt out in Scrabble pieces on a chess board

From ‘rewarding and exciting’ to ‘challenging and overwhelming’: what it means to have a career in intelligence and cyber security

Black and white photo of men and women bent over paperwork at a long wooden table

Uncovering the hidden history of codebreaker Emily Anderson

Kate Gardner reviews Queen of Codes: the Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain’s Greatest Female Codebreaker by Jackie Uí Chionna

Tinker, tailor, physicist, spy?

Was Bruno Pontecorvo a Soviet spy, or just a naive nuclear physicist caught up in a bigger drama? Simone Turchetti weighs up the evidence in Frank Close's n...

Robert Oppenheimer: how cinema has depicted this icon of the nuclear age

Research updates

Artist's impression of gravitational waves from a black-hole binary

Reformulation of general relativity brings it closer to Newtonian physics

Artist's impression of iodopyridine molecule (represented by a ball-and-stick model) being exploded by a bright purple line representing an ultrashort, high-intensity X-ray laser pulse

Zero-point motion of atoms measured directly for the first time

Three-part figure describing characterization of nickelate materials in diamond anvil cells. Part 1 shows a diagram of the sample's location in the diamond anvil cell. Part 2 shows the pressure gradient, magnetic distribution and vibration modes of the sample. Part 3 is a photo of the sample in the anvil.

Quantum sensors reveal ‘smoking gun’ of superconductivity in pressurized bilayer nickelates

Broadband wireless gets even broader thanks to integrated transmitter

Device can process signals at frequencies ranging from below 1 GHz to more than 100 GHz

Desert dust helps freeze clouds in the northern hemisphere

Finding could improve climate models and advance prospects for geoengineering climate via cloud seeding

Radioactive ion beams enable simultaneous treatment and imaging in particle therapy

Researchers demonstrate the first treatment of an animal tumour using radioactive carbon ion beams

Making molecules with superheavy elements could shake up the periodic table

New atom-by-atom technique demonstrated for the first time with nobelium might ensure that elements at the bottom of the table are grouped correctly

Super sticky underwater hydrogels designed using data mining and AI

Researchers combine machine learning with data mining methods to create a record-breaking underwater adhesive hydrogel

Extremely stripped star reveals heavy elements as it explodes

Observation sheds light on the life and death of stars

Jobs hub

Access the latest physics careers advice

Latest news

Errors in A-level physics papers could jeopardize student university admissions, Institute of Physics warns

Rainer Weiss: US gravitational-wave pioneer dies aged 92

Tenured scientists in the US slow down and produce less impactful work, finds study

The latest opinion and reviews

Abstract visualization of two entangled particles connected by a glowing beam of light

Quantum foundations: towards a coherent view of physical reality

Garbage in, garbage out: why the success of AI depends on good data

Honor Powrie looks at the perils and possibilities of AI for physicists

Equations, quarks and a few feathers: more physics than birds

David Norman reviews The Physics of Birds and Birding: the Sounds, Colors and Movements of Birds, and Our Tools for Watching Them by Michael Hurben

Physics World podcasts

Photos of Felix Frohnert and Mario Krenn

Artificial intelligence predicts future directions in quantum science

From a laser lab to The Economist: physicist Jason Palmer on his move to journalism

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Cosmic chemistry: Ewine van Dishoeck shares her zeal for astrochemistry

Explore our two regular podcast series! Physics World Weekly looks at the latest events and headlines in physics, as well as featuring short interviews with scientists and our team of journalists. Physics World Stories takes a more in-depth look at a topic.

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Researchers create glow-in-the-dark succulents that recharge with sunlight

Succulent plants have been infused with afterglow phosphor particles to make them glow in shades of red, green, blue and other colours

Big data helps Gaelic football club achieve promotion following 135-year wait

Astrophysics PhD student from County Armagh in Northern Ireland combined his passion for science with Gaelic football

Why foamy heads on Belgium beers last so long

It’s all to do with the triple-fermentation process

Illustration of Crainio's sensor with a sticker attached to a person's head and a box containing the electronics

Crainio’s Panicos Kyriacou explains how their light-based instrument can help diagnose brain injury

Panicos Kyriacou talks about the development and uses of Crainio's non-invasive sensor to measure intracranial pressure

Graphic showing a red laser beam illuminating a pair of atoms. A screen behind the atoms shows red and black interference fringes

Famous double-slit experiment gets its cleanest test yet

Single ultracold atoms act as slits, stripping away noise and emphasizing the fundamental nature of wave–particle duality

J-PET scanner in the clinic with the research team

Towards quantum PET: harnessing the diagnostic power of positronium imaging

Paweł Moskal from Jagiellonian University talks about positronium imaging with the J-PET scanner and his team’s work in applying quantum entanglement to diagnostics

Optical imaging tool could help diagnose and treat sudden hearing loss

Optical coherence tomography can detect fluid imbalance in the inner ear, which correlates with the severity of a patient’s hearing loss

computer graphic of human skull superimposed with colourful representation of quantum physics

Why quantum technology is driving quantum fundamentals

Hamish Johnston talks to Elise Crull, Artur Ekert and Stephanie Simmons about the links between quantum technology and quantum fundamentals

Set of three images, one showing specks of light in an orderly array against a dark background (the atoms in the material) and two showing different-shaped clouds of fuzzy dots (the atoms alone)

Highest-resolution images ever taken of a single atom reveal new kind of vibrations

Images are the first experimental evidence of long-predicted low-energy atomic vibrations called moiré phasons in twisted 2D materials

William Phillips: why quantum physics is so ‘deliciously weird’

The Nobel-prize-winning physicist William Phillips talks to Margaret Harris about his life and career

Electrochemical loading boosts deuterium fusion in a palladium target

Benchtop accelerator links electrochemistry to fusion science

The Engineering Development Array 2, seen from above. There are three buildings - two white, one blue - at the top of the photo, and white cables stretch out like tendrils from the largest white building into the array. The array resembles a slightly irregular grid of white crosses. The bare ground underneath the array is a deep orange colour and a few scrubby plants can be seen at the periphery.

Starlink satellite emissions interfere with radio astronomy

Largest-ever survey shows new regulations on unintended transmissions are needed, say researchers at Australia’s Curtin University

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

For more than 60 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has applied science and technology to make the world a safer place. Its defining responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent

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Preparation for ISRS certification using RTsafe’s solutions. An overall experience

23 September 2025

Join the audience for a live webinar sponsored by RTsafe. Discover how RTsafe’s solutions can empower your team with the knowledge and confidence needed to achieve ISRS certification

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Stay up to date with the latest international conferences, symposia and exhibitions for interdisciplinary scientists working across academic research and industry

AVS 71st International Symposium & Exhibition

21 — 26 September 2025 | Charlotte, NC, US

The AVS International Symposium and Exhibition addresses cutting edge issues associated with materials, processing, and interfaces in both the research and manufacturing communities. The weeklong symposium fosters a multidisciplinary environment that cuts across traditional boundaries between disciplines, featuring papers from AVS Technical Division, groups, focus topics on emerging technologies and more. An extensive exhibition of related equipment, tools, materials, supplies, chemicals, services, consulting, technical literature and new technologies are showcased during the week.

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