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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
There’s a point beyond which we cannot go, there are things beyond that we cannot know. But here’s what we expect. “The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it […]
It’s not too late to change course, but we’re headed in the wrong direction faster than ever now. “Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt […]
Did you guess ‘resonance’? Guess again. “At least six lamp posts were snapped off while I watched. A few minutes later, I saw a side girder bulge out. But, though the […]
Want humans to go to the Moon or Mars? Then let’s stop wasting time and resources and go do it! “We had this whole big beautiful place for discovery, and all […]
A live-blog event happened a week ago, but you can catch the entire thing anew here, right now! “We have never observed infinity in nature. Whenever you have infinities in […]
With liquid water, an energy source, and the perfect raw ingredients, Enceladus might be the holy grail we’ve been seeking. This article is written by contributing author Jesse Shanahan. Jesse is […]
And how if you try this with someone shorter than you are, you’ll find it extra convincing! “I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it’s flat to […]
If you think federal funding for science is expensive, wait until you see the cost of not funding it. “For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as […]
What Hubble sees at its best is only a tease for what James Webb will deliver. “With the Hubble telescope and all the other things that are out there, I believe […]
We claim it’s the leftover glow from the Big Bang, but where is this light actually coming from? “We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we […]
If you heard about time crystals, be aware that they do exist. But learn what they mean. “Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time […]
Your theory predicts something novel? How nice. But no one will pay you any mind unless you test it. “He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards […]
There’s a lot to learn about other worlds, but you can’t learn it all without looking up. “One should not need a teleportation device to decide whether a newly discovered object […]
20 years before Sally Ride, Valentina Tereshkova set the bar. She’s still amazing after more than 50 years. “A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop […]
The red planet once wasn’t so different from Earth. Here’s what happened. “Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, you do not need a lot of streamlining. By the time the ship […]
A live-blog event of an incredible public lecture by a scientist on the inside of James Webb’s team. “The [James Webb] telescope is basically designed to answer the big questions in […]
The latest challenger to dark matter’s throne may not be so difficult to knock off, after all. This post was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in […]
You may have heard of Laniakea, but don’t count on it being real. “It’s the gravity that shapes the large scale structure of the universe, even though it is the weakest […]
And England almost burned themselves down as a result. “When Benjamin Franklin inveted the lightning rod, the clergy, both in England and America, with enthusiastic support of George III, condemned it […]
Hydrogen is #1, Helium is #2. Who’s number 3? Hint: it’s not #3 in the periodic table! “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign […]