PHYSICS TODAY June 2021 • Volume 74, Number 6 a Publication of the American Institute of Physics
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Weber and Christoph Zechner Liquid droplets act as microreactors. Can they also serve as a control mechanism for cellular biochemistry? 44 Accelerating progress in climate science 38 Tapio Schneider, Nadir Jeevanjee, and Robert Socolow Interdisciplinary teams that integrate theory, data, and computing can now produce urgently needed, action-oriented climate science. ON THE COVER: This optical micrograph shows a cross section of finger- like projections, known as villi, from the uppermost part of a mammalian intestine. The inner surface of the intestine renews itself every three to five days as epithelial cells migrate from the bottom to the top of the villi, where they are shed into the intestine and discarded. For more on collective cell migration in living tissue, turn to the article by Ricard Alert and Xavier Trepat 44 on page 30. (Image by Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library.) PHYSICS TODAY (ISSN 0031-9228, coden PHTOAD) volume 74, number 6. Published monthly by the American Institute of Recently on Physics, 1305 Walt Whitman Rd, Suite 300, Melville, NY 11747-4300. Periodicals postage paid at Huntington Station, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: PHYSICS Send address changes to PHYSICS TODAY, American Institute of Physics, 1305 Walt Whitman Rd, Suite 300, Melville, NY 11747-4300. Views expressed in PHYSICS TODAY and on its BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY LANELL WILLIAMS JENNIFER JO PIZZA/NOAA website are those of the authors and TODAY not necessarily those of AIP or any of Moving for muons Equity in science Arctic research its member societies. ONLINE The much-anticipated result Women of color often face David Kennedy was Copyright © 2021, American Institute of Physics. Single from the Muon g – 2 discouragement and hostile recently appointed chair copies of individual articles may be made for private use experiment (see page 14) environments in STEM. of the US Arctic Research or research. 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In all such cases, specific written voyage and the subsequent which is devoted to lenges faced by its ecosys- permission from AIP must be obtained. Send requests for work that enabled the increasing representation tem and the Indigenous permission to AIP Office of Rights and Permissions, 1305 recent muon measurement. in STEM PhD programs. people who live there. Walt Whitman Rd, Suite 300, Melville, NY 11747-4300; physicstoday.org/Jun2021a physicstoday.org/Jun2021b physicstoday.org/Jun2021c phone +1 516 576-2268; email [email protected]. JUNE 2021 | PHYSICS TODAY 5 pt_contents0621_Contents 5/17/2021 12:08 PM Page 6 Editor-in-chief Charles Day [email protected] PHYSICS TODAY Managing editor www.physicstoday.org Richard J. Fitzgerald [email protected] Art and production Donna Padian, art director DEPARTMENTS Freddie A. Pagani, graphic designer Cynthia B. Cummings, photographer 8 From the editor Nathan Cromer Editors Ryan Dahn [email protected] 10 Readers’ forum Toni Feder [email protected] Letters Heather M. Hill [email protected] David Kramer [email protected] Alex Lopatka [email protected] 14 Search & discovery Christine Middleton [email protected] Muon measurements embolden the search for new physics Johanna L. Miller [email protected] • Polarized light shows hot gas swirling around a galactic Gayle G. Parraway [email protected] 14 R. Mark Wilson [email protected] core • A European snowstorm is linked to climate change Online Paul K.