Makoto Fujiwara writes that Hänsch and Hall's invention of the "optical frequency comb" has "strong relevance to my research on antihydrogen." He writes, "We all had expected [Hänsch] is going to win the prize one day for one reason or another."

Peter Steinberg writes that Glauber's "simple, but incredibly powerful, approach made possible all that my field has accomplished in the last 20 years. Without it, we'd have no idea how to even start thinking of understanding the geometry of nuclear collisions."

Quantum Diaries Career Week II
If you've ever been curious about a career in physics, just ask a professional! The physicists of Quantum Diaries will answer your questions about what it takes to become one of them during the second ever Quantum Diaries Career Week. Submit your questions at http://www.interactions.org/quantumdiaries/career_week/ starting today. Read their answers at http://blogs.quantumdiaries.org/37/.

Einstein: What's the Big Idea?
The Quantum Diarists are teaming up to bring you a special discussion of Einstein, his accomplishments, and his legacy. Joining them is NOVA Senior Executive Producer Paula Apsell, who will discuss NOVA's new program, Einstein's Big Idea, which will air on PBS on October 11.

We want you to participate in the discussion, too! You can comment directly on any post or submit your comments and questions to the bloggers at http://interactions.org/quantumdiaries/einstein

Some highlights of the discussion so far:

• From NOVA Senior Executive Producer Paula Apsell: Many people have asked me how we managed to keep the needs of the drama from infringing on either scientific or historical truth. My answer: That's what advisors are there to help us do. And we had many, scientists and historians, who gave unstintingly of their time, kept us on the straight and narrow, and also let us know when a bit of latitude would be okay. One example of a question we came up against concerned the equation E=mc² itself. Read more...
• From Peter Steinberg: The underlying message seemed to me to be that important discoveries are actively discovered by a person (vs. being passively "arrived at" by a community consensus). The show is also clearly trying to demonstrate that the talent for scientific discoveries has no preference for any particular type of person or background. Read more...
• From Sandra Leone: The first time I saw the famous E=mc² formula I'm sure it was not in a physics class: no other physics formula whatsoever became so popular and was so spread around (from t-shirts to comics) as this one. The main reason is its beauty and simplicity. Read more...