"If we've asked you to review a paper for Nature Physics, what exactly do we want from you?... Start by telling us what you think the paper is about. If you consider the central advance to be significant, why do you consider it so? If its physical insights go substantially beyond present understanding, in what ways do they do so?..."

"Energy is the single most important aspect of modern civilization. It is needed to grow food, build shelter, deliver modern levels of comfort, health, activity and commerce; it is probably even needed to pay bankers' bonuses (although this might also require dark matter). Sustainable Energy — without the hot air is a book about energy — what form it takes, how it is made and where it is used. The question of sustainability is the central issue..."

"In the wake of the recent financial crisis, a number of physicists — especially those with finance experience — have attacked the mathematics of neo-classical theory for dubious assumptions about human rationality, and for reliance on simple notions of equilibrium in modelling economic reality... The question is, what might replace such theories..."

Our 'research highlights' summarize some of the most interesting, or intriguing, developments reported in the physics literature. This month: gluino spotting, harmonic blinking, and photodetecting graphene transistors...