Dec 31st, 2008 · The official timekeeper of the U.S. will add a "leap second" to the clock at the end of this year. The extra second realigns precise atomic clocks with a time standard linked to the Earth's rotation. It will be the 24th added since 1972.
Dec 11th, 2008 · President-elect Barack Obama is said to have chosen Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu to be Energy secretary. Chu was one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 for work in cooling and trapping atoms with laser light.
Oct 20th, 2008 · For more than 25 years, Ed Grothus has been a thorn in the side of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, hoarding its debris and criticizing its work. And while some may have hoped he would slow down in his old age, he remains as feisty a rabble-rouser as ever.
Oct 17th, 2008 · Dr. Atomic, an opera by composer John Adams, examines the conditions and attitudes in Los Alamos leading up to the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" atomic test. Much of the libretto is made up of actual statements from scientists and military and government officials.
Oct 7th, 2008 · Chances are you've heard at least one song by the London-based Noah and the Whale. Recently, the folk-rock band had its immutably cheerful tune "5 Years Time" featured in a Saturn SUV commercial. Clapping, whistling and ukulele play joyfully together with choruses capable of inducing a Diabetic coma from all the sugary sweetness. But there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes the world needs an extra dose of sunshine, and the members of Noah and the Whale make that their specialty.
Jul 4th, 2008 · Much of the nuclear weapons industry is top secret, but there are parts of the atomic establishment that a tourist can see.
Jun 12th, 2008 · Nathan Hodge and Sharon Weinberger are nontraditional tourists who explore missile silos, test sites, and bomb shelters. The two just published A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry, which chronicles their travels to nuclear landmarks across ten states and fives countries and considers the state of weaponry policy in today's world.
May 23rd, 2008 · Tiny tubes made of carbon atoms have been among the main ingredients of the nanotech revolution. But researchers have found that when injected into mice, nanotubes could behave in a way similar to the way asbestos fibers behave, forming lesions that lead to cancer.