You might wonder: What does the dripping faucet on the cover of our February issue have to do with particle physics? The answer: Accelerator technology. Invented for high-energy physics experiments, it's been adopted for many uses in medicine and industry, and purifying waste water is one of them. But there are a lot of obstacles along the way to commercializing these applications; our lead feature explores ways to get around this "Valley of Death" between the lab bench and the market.
Also in this issue:
-- Why the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope -- which will plumb a bigger volume of sky than any previous survey, plus generate more data than all previous telescopes combined -- requires the expertise of particle physicists.
-- Whether the folks who build huge accelerators can make those efforts truly international from the get-go.
-- Stunning images from the first Global Particle Physics Photowalk.
-- "Cosmic Gall" -- John Updike's ode to the neutrino -- deconstructed.
-- The OPERA experiment at Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory records its first tau neutrino -- long-sought evidence of neutrino oscillation.
Plus commentary, Explain it in 60 Seconds, environmentally friendly food packaging (yep, it also has a particle physics connection), monkeys, whale talk, samurai swords and more. Here's a link to the full pdf.
