2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/180725The experimental and theoretical status of the ``near perfect fluid'' at RHIC is discussed. While the hydrodynamic paradigm for understanding collisions at RHIC is well-established, there remain many important open questions to address in order to understand its relevance and scope. It is also a crucial issue to understand how the early equilibration is achieved, requiring insight into the active degrees of freedom at early times.10 Pages, 13 Figures, submitted to the proceedings of the Second Meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics, Nashville, TN, October 22-24, 2006Nuclear Experimenttext