  With Teragauss magnetic fields, surface gravity sufficiently strong to
significantly modify light paths, central densities higher than that of a
standard nucleus, and rotation periods of only hundredths of a second, young
neutron stars are sites of some of the most extreme physical conditions known
in the Universe. They generate magnetic winds with particles that are
accelerated to energies in excess of a TeV. These winds form
synchrotron-emitting bubbles as the particle stream is eventually decelerated
to match the general expansion caused by the explosion that formed the neutron
stars. The structure of these pulsar wind nebulae allow us to infer properties
of the winds and the pulsating neutron stars themselves. The surfaces of the
the stars radiate energy from the rapidly cooling interiors where the physical
structure is basically unknown because of our imprecise knowledge of the strong
interaction at ultrahigh densities. Here I present a summary of recent
measurements that allow us to infer the birth properties of neutron stars and
to probe the nature of their winds, the physics of their atmospheres, and the
structure of their interiors.
