April 2015 (Volume 24, Number 4)

New Director of ARPA-E on Transformative Technology
Ellen Williams, recently confirmed director of ARPA-E, shares her thoughts about the future of energy research.

Breeding a Better Robot
Researchers are developing new ways for machines to mimic how living things learn.

Manufacturing Revolution May Mean Trouble for National Security
Additive manufacturing is poised to change how everything from car parts to nuclear weapons are built.

Planning Africa’s First Synchrotron
Scientists from across Africa have come together to start planning for the first Synchrotron on the continent.

National Academies Studies Institutional Influences on Ethics
A study by the National Academies is looking to fundamentally reevaluate how institutions address and deal with ethics.

Programmable Materials
Researchers are developing new ways to manipulate elastic materials to give them novel mechanical characteristics.

Physicists Look at Animal Behavior
The physics of burrowing worms, swimming bacteria and diving birds were all the subject of talks at the annual March Meeting.

What Makes a Physicist?
Recent research shows that the field is continuing to struggle with diversity.

NSF and Congress Seek Rapprochement
Recent interactions between the National Science Foundation and the House Science Committee seem to indicate an easing of long-standing tensions.

Sole Physicist in Congress Prepares to Defend Science
Representative Bill Foster (D-Ill.), formerly a scientist at Fermilab, will join the House Science Committee.

APS March Meeting: Know When to Fold 'em
Researchers show how origami can inspire new devices at the APS March Meeting 2015.

Members in the Media
As quoted in other publications…

This Month in Physics History
April 28, 1926: Schroedinger Describes “Wave Mechanics” in Letter to Einstein

Education Corner
APS Educational programs and publications

International News
Ukrainian Scientists Need Our Help

Washington Dispatch
Updates for the APS Office of Public Affairs

The Back Page
Reflections on the Fifth International Conference on Women in Physics