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Since 2003 there has been an explosion in the observation of new hadronic states that cannot be classified by the well-tested quark model of mesons (quark-antiquark) and baryons (three quarks or antiquarks). The properties of these states indicate that they are combinations of four, five, or more, quarks and antiquarks, making them manifestly exotic. A recent high-profile example was the discovery of two pentaquark candidates by the LHCb collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). No scientific consensus has yet emerged to explain the exotic hadron spectrum, demanding a new set of experimental observations that will feed the development of theoretical models to describe the dynamics of multiquark states. In this Discovery book we will take you on a tour of quantum chromodynamics, explain about the latest research into the physics of exotic hadrons and describe the exciting opportunities that are offered by the next generation of particle physics experiments.

Just over 95% of our Universe comes in the shrouded form of dark energy and dark matter that we can neither explain nor directly detect. Together, these two dark entities play out a cosmic battle of epic proportions, with the gravity of dark matter slowly pulling structures in the Universe together, and dark energy fuelling the Universe's accelerated expansion, making it ever harder for those structures to grow. In this book we will explore this dark enigma and introduce the cosmologist's toolkit of observations and techniques that allow us to confront different theories on the dark Universe. I'll explain why I believe that, to truly understand the dark Universe, we will need some new physics that will forever change our cosmic view.

Each of the tens of trillions of cells making up your body contains about two metres of DNA, which need to fit within the 10 microns container that is its nucleus--roughly a tenth of the diameter of a human hair. How is the DNA arranged in such a tight spot? A liver and a brain cell contain exactly the same genetic material, as they come from the same egg cell, yet they work very differently, because the patterns of genes that are on and off in the two is completely distinct. How is this at all possible? Biophysicists have found general principles that are beginning to answer these and similar questions. In this ebook we explore some of these principles, and describe a selection of topics where physicists have contributed to our current understanding of DNA and chromosomes.