"Most non-physicists don't appreciate just how rare definitive experiments really are, especially for experiments probing physical phenomena at the boundary of what can be controlled and measured, which is where the greatest interest always lies. The hardest things to measure always tend to be the most open to debate. ... Indeed, it's time we paid closer attention to the real history, rather than folklore history, of how science works. Truth doesn't emerge from experiment fully grown, in one startling leap, but does so much less gracefully, trailing irritating but interesting contradictions along the way."

Our 'research highlights' summarize some of the most interesting, or intriguing, developments reported in the physics literature. This month: gaps filled, an ending foretold, and why breaking up is easy to do...

An ion trap has been built and characterized in which the atom sits on the top of a stylus-like electrode. The design should find application in the construction of efficient light–matter interfaces and field sensors, where good access to the ion is crucial.

Nature Milestones in Spin recounts the major developments, through the twentieth century to the present day, that derive from 'spin' — the idea that elementary particles possess intrinsic angular momentum. Starting from fundamental physics, the story moves through early technological developments to arrive at modern-day 'spintronics'.