The year in Back Scatter 2025

DEC 22, 2025

Browse a dozen of the captivating science images that Physics Today highlighted this year.

Physics Today

Found on the last page of each Physics Today issue, Back Scatter spotlights a photo, illustration, or infographic that captured the attention of the editors. This year’s Back Scatter images featured a deformed squash ball, the fluid dynamics of a hand clap, a comet’s (anti-) tail, and more. Hover over (or, for mobile, tap on) any of the images below to learn more, and then click on the displayed title to get a full description.

To submit candidate images for Back Scatter, visit our contact page.

Preventing particle leaks in fusion reactors

September — Fingerprinting a supernova explosion

The ingredients for an unbeatable squash shot

A mouse-cortex snapshot at subcellular resolution

(Image credits, from top left: Yu Yang; Motion Scope; Tiffany Cheng; Stefano Spagna; Yicong Fu; Harvard Robotics Lab/Christian Chan; Max Ruth/University of Texas at Austin; Tilo Arnhold, TROPOS; ESO/P. Das et al. and K. Noll et al.; Zenit Research Lab/Brown University; Chengbo Liu laser-induced ultrasound lab, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology; Binyu Wang, courtesy of AAPT.)