The week in physics: Catch up on our "What can physicists do?" series

The week in physics: 20–24 October What can physicists do? Joyful Mdhluli manages astronomy projects that benefit society Toni Feder What can physicists do? Josiah Schwab evaluates self-driving cars Toni Feder What can physicists do? Interviews offer a glimpse of how physicists get into—and thrive in—myriad nonacademic careers. Toni Feder ADVERTISEMENT Advising undergrads about life after graduation? Turn to the fall issue of the SPS Observer magazine, now available! Packed with real stories from professionals in STEM who have stood where your students do now, this is a great tool to help guide the next generation along their post-graduation journey. Browse highlights from over 70 grad programs, get tips on cover letter writing and interview skills, and much more! Read the issue now. From the vault: October 2012 Alexander Friedmann and the origins of modern cosmology Friedmann, who died young in 1925, deserves to be called the father of Big Bang cosmology. But his seminal contributions have been widely misrepresented and undervalued. Ari Belenkiy You might have missed Magnetic fields facilitate water electrolysis in microgravity The physics behind the levitating frog and a fictional submarine could help future astronauts to breathe easier. Johanna L. Miller From FYI, AIP's science policy news service Commerce moves to take cut of research patents The agency has opened the possibility in a recent funding announcement and threatened to take control of Harvard's patents. Clare Zhang Post a Job Get Job Alerts Browse All Jobs Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Experimental Condensed Matter Physics City College of New York (New York, NY) View Job Assistant Professor of Physics Saginaw Valley State University (University Center, MI) View Job Physics and Astronomy (Quantum Information Science and Engineering), Tenure-Track Faculty Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN) View Job Assistant Professor, Soft Condensed Matter and Biological Physics MIT (Cambridge, MA) View Job Assistant Professor, Physics University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College (Blue Ash, OH) View Job Post-Doctoral Position in Theoretical Nuclear/Hadronic Physics Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) View Job Physics Today is published by the American Institute of Physics. To manage your AIP email preferences and newsletter subscriptions, click here. Or unsubscribe from all AIP emails. © 2025 American Institute of Physics. Physics Today 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740-3842 +1 301 209 3100