Reviews the work of Weber and his colleagues in their attempts at detecting extraterrestial gravitational waves. Coincidence events recorded by special detectors provide the evidence for the existence of gravitational waves. Bibliography. (LC)

A new instrument called the tunneling microscope has recently been developed that is capable of generating real-space images of surfaces showing atomic structure. Discusses current capabilities, limitations, and the physics involved in the technique. Includes results from a study of silicon crystal surfaces. (JN)

A National Academy of Science report ("Physics Through the 1990's") says that American physics has been a highly diversified and productive enterprise, but continued excellence cannot be taken for granted. Progress in six subfields (elementary particle, nuclear, condensed-matter, atomic/molecular, plasma/fluid, and gravitation/cosmology physics)…

Reports on the possibility of restructuring physics and chemistry departments and merging others at British universities. Suggests modifications of the course content for greater acceptance by students. Concludes that the logic of the committee's recommendations rests in the subsequent ability of certain departments to grow. (RT)

Thermal features of and beneath the surface of a sample can be detected and imaged with a thermal-wave microscope. Various methodologies for the excitation and detection of thermal waves are discussed, and several applications, primarily in microelectronics, are presented. (Author)

Describes the new class of oxide superconductors, the importance of these materials, and the concepts that led to its discovery. Summarizes the discovery itself and its early confirmation. Discusses the observation of a superconductive glass state in percolative samples. (TW)

Discusses the role of semiclassical theory in chemical physics both as a computational method and conceptual framework for interpreting quantum mechanical experiments and calculations. Topics covered include energy wells and eigenvalues, scattering, statistical mechanics and electronically nonadiabiatic processes. (JM)

A series of 12 reports on the Voyager Two experiments in the Uranian system. Reports are included on: (1) imaging science; (2) photometry; (3) infrared; (4) ultraviolet; (5) radio science; (6) magnetic fields; (7) plasma; (8) charged particles; (9) magnetosphere (hot plasma and radiation); (10) radion observations; and (11) plasma waves. An…

Discussed is wavelet theory, which provides ways to rearrange data to reveal features of a physical or mathematical system which might otherwise be hidden. This theory is compared to fourier analysis and the advantages of wavelet theory are stressed. Applications of this technique are suggested. (CW)

This research news article on microelectronics discusses the scientific challenge the integrated circuit industry will have in the next decade, for designing the complicated microcircuits made possible by advancing miniaturization technology. (HM)

Described are chemistry and physics courses at several colleges as applications of the New Liberal Arts program for nonscience majors. The major themes of the program and several examples of this approach are discussed. (CW)

Cites changes to occur on the Medical College Admissions Test to include: a reduction from six to four sections, biology and physics content-specific sections to absorb chemistry, elimination of multiple-choice questions to a problem-solving format, and the inclusion of graded essay questions. (RT)

Describes the history of, and research activities and current problems at Tsukuba Science City, Japan's new municipal complex of research laboratories and educational facilities. About 30 percent of Japan's government research laboratories, as well as Tsukuba University, are located in the complex. (JN)