Cover of the July 2026 issue of Physics Today. The cover has a black background with horizontal blue lines, representing audio output, going down the page. The featured stories are "How human hearing is shaping high-end audio," "The energy needs of quantum computers," "Quantum gravity's elusive signatures," and "The pioneering life of Edward Bouchet."
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JUL 01, 2026

Volume 79, Issue 7

On the cover

To deliver a convincing concert-hall experience in your living room, some designers of high-end audio systems are focused on developing equipment that preserves the microsecond temporal structure of sounds. In the human auditory system, such timing details convey a sound’s tonal quality and spatial information; they are thus critical for distinguishing instruments and perceiving the fine acoustic details in a musical performance. See the Quick Study by Milind Kunchur to learn about how the ears’ temporal and information-resolving capabilities pose an extreme technical challenge for audio-system designers. (Photo courtesy of Milind Kunchur.)

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