Leo P. Kadanoff Search and Discovery Experiments find hysteresis and precursors in the stick-slip friction of a granular system. Hipparcos parallax data may reconcile ages of globular clusters and the universe. The number of stars for which we have accurate distances has suddenly grown a hundredfold. It's already affecting estimates of the age of the cosmos.
Infrared laser illustrates another way to achieve gain.
Thanks to an innovative design, researchers have made an infrared semiconductor laser whose wavelength can be electrically tuned. Radio telescope in space maps quasar jet.