Uncovering the fundamental laws and constituents of the universe is not just a source of fascination for particle physicists. Engineers, chemists and materials scientists draw similar motivation in meeting the challenging and strange requirements of cutting-edge accelerator and detector technologies. The interdisciplinary materials, metrology and non-destructive testing section at CERN supports projects such as the HL-LHC magnet development with state of-the-art equipment and analysis, and its services are increasingly in demand from projects outside – including the ITER fusion experiment (p37).
Also explored in depth in this issue are the next steps for the AWAKE plasma-wakefield experiment (p25), the new-physics implications of neutrino masses (p29) and a lesser-known approach to quantum gravity called asymptotic safety (p43). Advanced triggers for the HL-LHC experiments (p8), the selection of the SHiP experiment for CERN’s North Area (p7) and DESI’s first cosmology results (p11) are among other highlights, along with the latest LHC results (p15), conference reports (p19), news in brief (p13), opinion (p49), reviews (p52), careers (p55) and more.