The November/December 2025 issue of the CERN Courier is out

Protons and charged hadrons deposit energy most rapidly in the final millimetres before they stop. Pinpoint this "Bragg peak" on tumour cells and cancer can be eliminated while sparing healthy tissues. 100 keV/μm is enough to snap DNA's double helix on both sides. More is overkill. Use heavy ions, and treatments can be particularly precise.

So much for Particle Therapy 101. Progress today depends on matching accelerator solutions to clinical needs. This edition's cover is a reminder of the complexity of the biological side of the equation. At the bottom, strands of DNA unwind inside the membrane of the cell nucleus, and are copied for repair, replication and repackaging by a sea of organelles submerged in cytoplasm (above right). Mitochondria (top left) stand ready to destroy the cell if damage is detected - a key mechanism by which ionising radiation kills cancer. In this edition, a special feature lists the top five facts physicists need to know about radiobiology to work at the cutting edge of particle therapy, while a retrospective on the inspiring life of Joseph Rotblat adds historical colour.

This issue also marks the passing of Herwig Schopper and John Peoples, lab directors whose leadership shaped high-energy physics. Today, the future is being shaped once again. China has fired the starting pistol for a new generation of neutrino experiments. The Circular Electron-Positron Collider now boasts a mature design, though approval is on hold. And Europe's ongoing strategy process has published its physics briefing book - a key resource for deciding CERN's next flagship collider. ECFA chair Paris Sphicas has distilled hundreds of pages of insights into just four for the Courier.

Read the digital edition of this new issue on the CERN Courier website.

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