The week in physics: B-meson decays; Separating soft x-ray signals; Uncertain future for undergrads

The Week in Physics Separating signals in the soft x-ray sky An analysis of two years of measurements from far beyond Earth’s atmosphere has yielded a comprehensive map of x rays that are generated by solar wind. Laura Fattaruso JUN 02, 2026 Analysis of B-meson decay hints at new physics The measured trajectories of the products of a rare B-meson decay deviate from the predictions of the standard model. Sarah Wells JUN 01, 2026 Undergraduate students grapple with an uncertain future Apprehension about career pathways and research funding dominated the list of concerns expressed by physics and astronomy undergraduates in a recent survey. JUN 04, 2026 From the vault Quarks, atoms, and the 1/N expansion Problems in quantum chromodynamics that are currently impossible to solve may have useful approximate solutions when one assumes that quarks can have a large number, N, of “colors” instead of three. Edward Witten JUL 01, 1980 Snapshots of Oppenheimer Richard J. Fitzgerald JUN 01, 2026 What can physicists do? Koloina Randrianarivony manages financial risk at the World Bank Toni Feder JUN 02, 2026 ADVERTISEMENT Shorten the search for hard-to-fill roles The Physics Today Jobs Network delivers 525+ daily job views among 80k+ monthly active users—all within domain-specific skill sets needed for your technical hires. Reach candidates with deep expertise in research, engineering, and applied science—across academia, industry, and government. Build your hiring strategy! Post a Job Get Job Alerts Browse All Jobs Director, Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) National University of Singapore (Singapore (SG)) View Job Science Support Analysts Space Telescope Science Institute (Baltimore, Maryland) View Job Lecturer in Advanced Photonic Materials University of St Andrews (St Andrews, Fife (GB)) View Job Req 6734 - Data, Compute, Automation, and AI (DCAA), Team Lead SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Menlo Park, California) View Job Chief Executive Officer American Astronomical Society (Washington D.C.) View Job Executive Director of Cal-Bridge University of California, Irvine (Irvine, California) 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. © 2026 American Institute of Physics Physics Today 1 Physics Ellipse College Park, MD 20740 +1 301 209 3100