September 19, 2023• Physics 16, 160 The Linac Coherent Light Source, an x-ray free-electron laser at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, lights up for the first time after an upgrade that should allow it to deliver up to one million x-ray pulses per second. G. Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory G.

Photo by Andrew George on Unsplash The intellectual exchange between Einstein and Bohr on quantum theory remains one of the most momentous and well-documented dialogues in the history of physics. They were two towering figures in 20th-century physics, and their debates primarily revolved around the interpretation of quantum mechanics. At the core of their disagreement were differing views on determinism, realism, and the nature of measurement in quantum systems

Two scientists have won a $100,000 prize for describing both the structure and a way to detect mysterious black hole photon spheres. These enigmatic structures form at the edges of black holes, and could reveal the underlying physics that govern the most extreme objects in the cosmos. Alexandru Lupsasca, of Vanderbilt University, and Michael Johnson, of Harvard University, won the New Horizon Prize in Physics "for elucidating the sub-structure and universal characteristics of black hole photon rings, and their proposed detection by next-generation interferometric experiments." The New Horizons award is given each year to early career researchers by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, and the prize money is donated by tech billionaires Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.