News

 

Welcome to the Institute of Physics news pages. In this section you will find the latest news from both the Institute itself and also from the national and international physics community.

Low Carbon Cars Business Briefing

An ‘orderly progression’ towards decarbonised cars

From improved vehicle efficiency through hybrid cars and, possibly in due course, fully electric or hydrogen cars, the automobile industry faces a huge challenge to decarbonise road transport

 
 
 
Fish and chips
Revolutionary chefs? Not likely, shows physics research

However much the likes of Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay might want to shake up our diets, culinary evolution dictates that our cultural cuisines remain little changed as generations move on, shows new research, published today, Thursday, 10 July, 2008, in the Institute of Physics (IOP)’s New Journal of Physics

 
IOP NEWS
STFC completes its Programmatic Review

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has completed and published the results of its Programmatic Review. Three months of consultation resulted in more than 1,400 submissions being made to STFC from members of the research community

 
 
Cambridge Display Technology
A bright future for plastics – robot ‘skin’, flexible laptops and electric posters

With market analysts predicting a ten fold increase in the value of the organic light emitting display industry, from £1.5 billion to £15.5 billion, by 2014, it is no wonder that scientists and governments alike are keen to advance research into "plastic electronics"

 
The Institute of Physics
Difficulty report tarnishes A-level gold standard, the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society respond

A-level grades and the UCAS point-scoring system, which treats all subjects as equally difficult, have been tarnished by new research, published today, Tuesday, 1 July, which shows that some subjects at A-level are more difficult than others, says the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society

 
 
Dr Mark Lewney
“Kids aren’t intimidated by cutting edge physics,” says physics rock star on tour

As Dr Mark Lewney, presenter of the Institute of Physics (IOP)’s 2008 Schools and College Lecture, prepares to pass the half-year mark in his 35-venue tour of the country with a lecture at the Royal Institution on Tuesday, 1 July, he has reflected upon the success of the tour so far.

 
Inspec
Nanotechnology Journal provides 10 millionth article for Inspec

Inspec, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)’s bibliographic database, now has more than 10 million records and it was a journal article from IOP Publishing’s Nanotechnology that pushed the database over the 10 million mark

 
 
Anton Zeilinger
Newton Medal Winner challenges our understanding of nature

On Tuesday, 17 June, 2008, The Institute of Physics (IOP) held the Newton Lecture, given by the first ever Newton Medal Award winner, Anton Zeilinger

 
IOP NEWS
Institute of Physics responds to the publication of the Government’s response to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee’s Report into Science Budget Allocations

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has now responded to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills (IUSS) Select Committee’s Report into science budget allocations for 2008-11

 
 
Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Four members of the Institute of Physics receive Queen’s Birthday Honours

Four members of the Institute of Physics (IOP) received Birthday Honours from the Queen in recognition of their services to industry, contribution to the advancement of sciences and physics, and for outstanding services to science education

 
Physics Buskers
Physics buskers enjoy a busy weekend

The Institute of Physics (IOP)’s team of physics buskers attended both the Bradford Mela and the East of England Show over the weekend (13-15 June), where visitors of all ages had a go at their physics tricks

 
 
Acoustic cloak
Nuisance noise silenced by an acoustic cloak

Researchers in Spain have proven that metamaterials, materials defined by their unusual man-made cellular structure, can be designed to produce an acoustic cloak - a cloak that can make objects impervious to sound waves, literally diverting sound waves around an object

 
The Wakeham Review
Institute of Physics submits to the Wakeham Review

The Institute of Physics (IOP) has now submitted its response to the RCUK Review of UK Physics

 
 
Synergy between biology and physics drives cell-imaging technology
Synergy between biology and physics drives cell-imaging technology

A new interdisciplinary zeal has seen a number of exciting advances in super-resolution imaging technologies

 
Cyclone-hit Burma
Publishing team climbing because they CARE

A group of staff from IOP Publishing in Bristol are taking part in the CARE 3 Peaks Challenge supported by Computer Weekly to raise at least £6,000 for the leading overseas aid and development agency, CARE International UK

 
 
Meet the robots
UK Robotics can lead the world

Britain’s robotics experts visited the House of Commons on Wednesday, 23 April to show MPs how the UK could become a world leader in ‘professional service robotics’.

 
Connect and Catalyse
Institute of Physics responds to launch of innovation strategy

8 May, 2008 sees the launch of the Technology Strategy Board’s (TSB) ‘Connect and Catalyse’ strategy for business innovation in the UK

 
 
Searching the Heavens
Searching the Heavens

A new space mission, due to launch this month, is going to shed light on some of the most extreme astrophysical processes in nature - including pulsars, remnants of supernovae, and supermassive black holes

 
IOP NEWS
STFC completes its Programmatic Review

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has completed and published the results of its Programmatic Review. Three months of consultation resulted in more than 1,400 submissions being made to STFC from members of the research community

 
 
Sunshine. 20th Century Fox
Physics gets top billing at Rio Cinema

The Institute of Physics and Rio Cinema in Dalston, London, have teamed up to highlight the importance of physics with Physics on Film. The cinema is screening a series of five top physics-themed films, like the groundbreaking Sunshine and the retro classic Back to the Future.

 
Climate confusion
UK tabloids contributing to climate complacency

As scientific consensus around human contributions to climate change has grown, it has been misrepresented in our most widely-read UK tabloid newspapers, according to an Institute of Physics Environmental Research Letters’ journal paper, released today, Monday, 28 April.

 
 
Professor Mark Welland
Editor-in-Chief of Nanotechnology appointed new government chief scientific adviser

The Prime Minister yesterday named Professor Mark Welland FRS FREng as the new Chief Scientific Adviser at the Ministry of Defence.

 
Testing the link between cosmic rays and cloud cover
Climate change – research suggests it is not a swindle

New research has dealt a blow to the skeptics who argue that climate change is all due to cosmic rays rather than to man-made greenhouse gases.

 
 
Physics World - March 2008
The bombardier beetle, power venom, and spray technologies

The bombardier beetle is inspiring designers of engines, drug-delivery devices and fire extinguishers to improve spray technologies.

 
The future of computing
The future of computing – carbon nanotubes and superconductors to replace the silicon chip

The future of computing is under the spotlight at the Institute of Physics’ Condensed Matter and Materials Physics conference at the Royal Holloway College of the University of London on 26-28 March.

 
 
Space Communications
Firing photons makes advance in space communication

For the first time, physicists have been able to identify individual returning photons after firing and reflecting them off of a space satellite in orbit almost 1,500 kilometres above the earth.  The experiment has proven the possibility of constructing a quantum channel between Space and Earth.

 
Houses of Parliament
Innovation Nation – Who takes the risk?

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills published the Innovation Nation White Paper to help the UK prosper in a globalised economy.

 
 
Large Hadron Collider
Largest physics experiment ever involves Cambridge pupils

Students from Netherhall School, Cambridge, have teamed up with particle physicists at the University of Cambridge for a programme of practical investigations and research to mark the start of the world’s biggest ever physics experiment - the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

 
The Hercules Beetle
Mystery behind the strongest creature in the world

The strongest creature in the world, the Hercules Beetle, has a colour-changing trick that scientists have long sought to understand.

 
 
Traffic
An accident? Construction work? A bottleneck? No, just too much traffic

A new study from a Japanese research group explains why we’re occasionally caught in traffic jams for no visible reason

 
Warships
Steps towards warship invisibility

Naval warships might look like all-powerful vessels but they are also highly vulnerable to being spotted by the enemy.

 
 
Libby and Dame Mary
Physics career woman awarded £1,000 prize

Libby Heaney a 24 year old female physics graduate picked up a £1,000 prize for the significant contribution she has already made to physics.

 
IOP NEWS
Knowledge transfer exhibition to show Scotland is leading the charge

A knowledge transfer exhibition and conference in Glasgow will show how world-class physics research becomes part of our everyday lives.

 
 
Killer Whale
How is that whale listening?

Researchers have been using computer models to mimic the effects of underwater noise on an unusual whale species.

 
 
 

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Artwork | Image by Fred Swist