## Viewpoints

### Time Trials for Fundamental Constants

November 17, 2014

Single-ion clocks yield new limits on how much the proton-to-electron mass ratio and the fine structure constant change over time.

### New Light Shed on Dark Photons

November 10, 2014

A search for a photonlike particle that could be related to dark matter has come up empty, putting new constraints on models that imagine a dark form of electromagnetism.

### Pushing on a Nonlinear Material

November 3, 2014

Experiments on a model “soil” give new insight into the elasticity of nonlinear materials.

### Arrow of Time Emerges in a Gravitational System

October 29, 2014

Study of masses interacting via gravity challenges the idea that special initial conditions are needed to give time a direction.

## Synopses

### Beer Forms Sudsy Surprise

November 20, 2014

An investigation of the pub prank “beer tapping” provides a better understanding of gas-driven eruptions that occur in carbonated beverages, as well as in volcanic environments.

### Magnetoresistance That Doesn’t Stop

November 19, 2014

A near perfect balance between electrons and holes explains why ${\text{WTe}}_{2}$’s huge magnetoresistence doesn’t saturate at high fields, reaching 13 million percent at 60 tesla.

### Quantum Search Gets an Update

November 18, 2014

A well-known quantum search method, called Grover’s algorithm, has been modified to handle a wider variety of search problems.

### Unraveling the Vortex

November 17, 2014

The destruction of a magnetic vortex in a permalloy chip is imaged in real time.

## Focus

### Using Plasma to Manipulate Light

November 14, 2014

The polarization of an intense laser beam can theoretically be controlled by mixing it with a second beam in a plasma.

### Fluid Jet Acquires Wings

November 7, 2014

A high-speed jet of certain fluids will form multiple wings, or archlike structures, when hitting a solid surface.

## Notes from the Editors

### Blue Was the Hardest Color

October 13, 2014

The winners of the 2014 Physics Nobel Prize solved several major engineering problems over a period of decades before finally producing a useful blue LED.