K. Blau Steven

The most cited of a scientist’s papers is equally likely to be the first, the last, or one selected at random. Steven K. Blau comments An international research team led by Albert-László Barabási (Northeastern University) has just published a wide-ranging study of how the impact of a scientist’s oeuvre varies over the course of a career.

John Stewart Bell’s famous theorem is a statement about the nature of any theory whose predictions are compatible with those of quantum mechanics: If the theory is governed by hidden variables, unknown parameters that determine the results of measurements, it must also admit action at a distance.

Discovered in 2007, fast radio bursts (FRBs) emit luminous pulses of radio light that last mere milliseconds. To date, astronomers have reported about 20 FRBs but don’t know what causes them. One, identified in 2014 by Laura Spitler and colleagues, stands apart because it has been observed to burst repeatedly (see Physics Today, April 2016, page 22). The source was first detected on 2 November 2012, hence its designation FRB121102.