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Physics World December 2023

Physics World December 2023

Prolific polymath: celebrating the contributions of the genius Thomas Young

Born 250 years ago, Thomas Young was one of the most prolific polymaths in history. So says Martin Rees, the UK’s Astronomer Royal, in this month’s cover feature. As he points out, Young will be most familiar to physicists for his work on elasticity and the wave nature of light, but he was a mathematician, physician and language expert too, starting the effort to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. Also in this issue, check out the physics of brain–computer interfaces, enjoy our selection of festive reads, and meet Victoria Grinberg, the self-styled “dentist to the stars”.

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Or you can read selected content from the December 2023 issue of Physics World here

JET tokamak news

Petition to save JET fusion experiment

Man with shaved head covered with electrodes feature

Plug me in: the physics of brain–computer interfaces

Radiation alert warning opinion

A question of does

abstract illustration of particle collision interview

Fusion industry outlines ambitious plans

Large underground tunnel with machinery and cables opinion

The supercollider road not taken

Painting of a man holding callipers up to his own eye feature

Thomas Young: prolific polymath and unassuming genius

Apollo 16 lunar rover, American flag and astronaut on the Moon's surface review

Exploration without exploitation

Victoria Grinberg interview

Sharing a love for astronomy

Depiction of an oil tanker stuck in a canal review

Size matters

Three elder women sit on a bench review

On the origins of inequality

Moiya McTier feature

From scientist to science communicator

A 1938 Afghanistan stamp of Marie Curie lateral thoughts

Nuclear physics – stamped

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