The National Office asked, and SPS chapters delivered! More than 120 photos were entered in the SPS Fall 2013 Photo Contest. A panel of distinguished judges at the American Center for Physics, home to SPS and four professional scientific societies, narrowed the entries down to 10, which were put to a public vote on the SPS Facebook page. The top five are pictured here—congratulations to all the winners! Too see all 10 finalists, along with photos from each participating chapter, go to www.spsnational.org/programs/2013-photo-contest/.

1st Place: Phone Book Tug-of-War - Colorado Mesa University

Two phone books were interlaced, each page on top of another, creating enough friction between pages to withstand the forces of physics and engineering students in a tug-of-war competition (see the inset for a close-up of the interlaced phone books). Photo by Joseph Howerton.

2nd Place: Family Weekend - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

A crowd gathers around the SPS table during Family Weekend. Josue San Emeterio, the build team leader, explains the chaotic double pendulum to a young scientist. Photo by Kelsie Larson.

3rd Place: SPS Demo Night - Washington University in St. Louis

Photo courtesy of Washington University in St. Louis.

4th Place: Angular Momentum - University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

A young physicist learns about conservation of angular momentum using a giant bike wheel gyroscope. Photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.

5th Place: SPS Poster Session - University of Louisville

Poster presentations at an SPS zone 8 meeting. Photo by Austin Lassell.