2012 review: The year in the physical sciences

A compendium of some of the best scientific advances of 2012

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You may have thought that 2011 was the year of amazing physics, but 2012 soundly beats it. Whereas last year threw up intriguing questions, 2012 was a year of answers, some enabled by marvels of engineering.

Beyond Higgs: Deviant decays hint at exotic physics The world's most wanted particle has shown up at last, and surprises in its behaviour could help transcend the limits of the standard model of particle physics

Quantum measurements leave Schrödinger's cat alive Physicists have probed a delicate quantum state without destroying it – the equivalent of taking a peek at the metaphorical cat without killing it