Improvements in sources, detectors, models and data analysis have produced a flood of neutron‐cross‐section information. Drifting farther and farther apart in the flood are measurers of cross sections and designers of neutron devices. The result has been two sciences instead of one.
NEEDS FOR MICROSCOPIC neutron data in nuclearenergy applications have continued to expand over the years. The last two decades have seen steady and at times dramatic progress in the detail and extent to which neutron cross sections can be measured or calculated. Pulsed neutron sources, with associated time‐of‐flight techniques, now dominate almost all energy ranges from fractions of an electron volt to many millions of electron volts. Concurrently, improved detectors such as large liquid scintillator tanks have been developed, and on‐line computers have been designed to manage and analyze experiments involving many parameters.
Research exchanges between US and Soviet scientists during the second half of the 20th century may be instructive for navigating today’s debates on scientific collaboration.
The Eisenhower administration dismissed the director of the National Bureau of Standards in 1953. Suspecting political interference with the agency’s research, scientists fought back—and won.
Alternative undergraduate physics courses expand access to students and address socioeconomic barriers that prevent many of them from entering physics and engineering fields. The courses also help all students develop quantitative skills.
Defying the often-perceived incompatibility between the two subjects, some physicists are using poetry to communicate science and to explore the human side of their work.
Positron emission tomography’s ability to image the body’s biochemistry, not just its anatomy, makes it a powerful tool for detecting diseases.
September 01, 2025 12:00 AM
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Physics Today - The Week in Physics
The Week in Physics" is likely a reference to the regular updates or summaries of new physics research, such as those found in publications like Physics Today from AIP Publishing or on news aggregators like Phys.org.
