Articles

Hubble's top five scientific achievementsOn May 19 2009 the Space Shuttle Atlantis released the Hubble Space Telescope back into orbit after a hugely successful servicing mission. To mark the occasion, Mario Livio, one of the scientists involved in the mission and intimately acquainted with Hubble, takes stock of its scientific legacy.
Particle hunting at the LHCIt's hard to avoid CERN these days. Last year's successful switch-on of CERN's Large Hadron Collider, followed by a blow-out which is currently being fixed, sparked wide-spread media coverage, and currently CERN stars in the Tom Hanks movie Angels and Demons. So what goes on at CERN and why the hubbub about the Large Hadron Collider, known as the LHC? Ben Allanach investigates.
Lambda marks the spot — the biggest problem in theoretical physicsThe mathematical maps in theoretical physics have been highly successful in guiding our understanding of the universe at the largest and smallest scales. Linking these two scales together is one of the golden goals of theoretical physics. But, at the very edges of our understanding of these fields, one of the most controversial areas of physics lies where these maps merge: the cosmological constant problem.
Beauty in mathematicsSurein Aziz explores one of the most beautiful equations in mathematics
How maths killed Lehman BrothersHoratio Boedihardjo explains the credit crunch
EditorialAnd the winner is...
Thinking outside the boxSonia Buckley travels through higher dimensions
The expression that (nearly) explained the UniverseSophie Butchart finds mysterious patterns in the solar system
Knitting by numbersLucinda Mathews visualises tricky surfaces
The Carol syndromeJosé-Manuel Rey unveils the curse of attractiveness
Outer space: Are the constants of nature really constant?Are the unchanging features of the Universe really unchanging?
EditorialThese are busy times for Plus. Apart from celebrating our 50th issue by putting together a bumper collection of in-depth articles, news and reviews, we're also working on various special projects, some of which have already gone live, and some of which will reach you over the next few weeks and months. Here's a sneak preview of what's in store for 2009...