Physicists, in fact all of us, love extremes. We're captivated by the search for the longest, highest, quickest, smallest or brightest. There's something intrinsically appealing about pushing boundaries to break records and establish new limits for what's physically possible.
Reaching new extremes is healthy for science too, driving researchers to outperform their rivals to be the 'first' in their field. This kind of work at the frontiers of science also makes for great stories, which is why we're highlighting a 'triple-feature' of stories this month.
The quest for the blackest black!
For many years, NASA used a black paint that reflects just 3.5% of incoming light, daubing it in the Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments to cut out stray light. But when NASA scientist John Hagopian discovered a way of growing carbon nanotubes with a much better reflectivity of 0.5%, the battle for the blackest substance was only just beginning. This is a story that perhaps plays to that most human of uncertainties - when we stare into the void, is something there, or not?
Living on the edge of existence...
Physics techniques are increasingly being used to study tough life forms living in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. Perhaps most impressive of these 'extremophiles' is Deinococcus radiodurans, which seems able to survive everything you can possibly imagine: low temperatures, low pressures, low waters levels and low pH. It can even withstand a dose of ionising radiation 1000 times high than the lethal limit for a human...
It came from the deep...
Hiding in the depths of space lies a special kind of star. First proposed in the 1990s, 'magnetars' are a special kind of neutron star that are the strongest magnets in the universe. Only 23 have so far been discovered, but with a magnetic field nearly a billion times stronger than that ever created in the lab, these magnetars have overwhelmed some of the most powerful space telescopes.
Also in this month's Physics World:
- Cooking Bacon - why scientist and statesman Francis Bacon still remains so vilified
- Ant-Man and the quantum realm -- how one physicist ended up as Hollywood consultant
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Notes for editors:
Please mention Physics World as the source of these items and, if publishing online, please include a hyperlink to: http://physicsworld.com1. Physics World is the international monthly magazine published by the Institute of Physics. For further information or details of its editorial programme, please contact the editor, Dr Matin Durrani, tel +44 (0)117 930 1002. The magazine's website physicsworld.com is updated regularly and contains daily physics news and regular audio and video content. Visit http://physicsworld.com.
2. For picture and a copy of the article reviewed here contact Steve Pritchard, IOP Publishing Senior Press Officer, tel +44 (0) 117 930 1032, e-mail steve.pritchard@iop.org
3. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society. We are a charitable organisation with a worldwide membership of more than 50,000, working together to advance physics education, research and application. We engage with policymakers and the general public to develop awareness and understanding of the value of physics and, through IOP Publishing, we are world leaders in professional scientific communications.
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Physics World