Science & Tech

Science & Tech

Explore the discoveries that reveal how the world works, alongside the technologies that extend, reshape, and sometimes challenge what’s possible.

Two images of the Sombrero Galaxy reveal its beauty: one with a bluish hue showcasing visible details, and the other with a reddish hue highlighting a different spectrum. Captured by JWST, these images offer an unmatched view of this spiral galaxy's complex structure.
One of the most promising dark matter candidates is light particles, like axions. With JWST, we can rule out many of those options already.
Laser guide star
Astronomers see spiral and elliptical nebulae nearly everywhere, except by the Milky Way's plane. We didn't know why until the 20th century.
warp field stars
Perhaps the most well-known equation in all of physics is Einstein's E = mc². Does mass or energy increase, then, near the speed of light?
An astronaut stands proudly on the moon's surface near scientific equipment and a lunar lander, as the American flag waves in the background, symbolizing a pioneering USA nation.
We've wasted our time and resources ideologically policing and punishing each other for far too long. Here's a better route to prosperity.
Pipette approaching a petri dish containing a shimmering dark substance on a purple gradient background.
“I want to change the way we think about the past altogether,” says Dr. Betül Kaçar, an astrobiologist who studies the origin of life.
anitmatter annihilation
From the tiniest subatomic scales to the grandest cosmic structures of all, everything that exists depends on two things: charge and mass.
Open book with a four-pane window logo on the left page and an illustrated portrait of a man on the right page, reminiscent of Pasteur's quadrant. Background is light green.
Groundbreaking invention does not always translate to commercial benefits. The challenges that faced Microsoft Research help explain why.
A spacecraft with a large reflective dish orbits above Earth, exploring the starry galaxy and cosmic backdrop. Its mission? To map galaxies and teach us what the CMB can't, unlocking cosmic mysteries.
The CMB gives us critical information about our cosmic past. But it doesn't give us everything, and galaxy mapping can fill in a key gap.
Hexagonal map showing Europe, parts of Asia, and North Africa in varying shades of green and gray, with clusters of red and purple indicating specific regions.
"Gyroscope-on-a-chip" technology could soon enable us to navigate over long distances without GPS.
A galaxy with bright stars and swirling clouds of dust creates the largest galactic mosaic, set against a dark space backdrop.
The full extent of the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest large galaxy to our own, has been entirely imaged with Hubble's exquisite cameras.
Man peering through a glass container with measurement markings, focused expression, blurred foreground.
“Can we push these cells to do something other than what they normally do?" asks developmental biologist Michael Levin. "Can they build something completely different?”
MACS J0717 galaxy cluster dark matter
Dark matter doesn't absorb or emit light, but it gravitates. Instead of something exotic and novel, could it just be dark, normal matter?
Group of people in a formal setting, with a man holding a large book, others standing nearby, and photographers capturing the scene. There is a large portrait and flags in the background.
We're all entitled to our own opinions, no matter how ill-informed they are. But facts are facts; we can't just choose the ones we prefer.
jwst
Asteroid 2024 YR4, which could devastate a city's worth of humans, has gone from 1.2% to 2.3% to 2.6% to 3.1% chances of impact. Here's why.
Abstract black and white artwork consisting of scattered and fragmented geometric shapes on a plain background.
A brief guide to habits that separate deep understanding from superficial knowledge — and how to cultivate them.
Illustration of a fiery star with a rocky exoplanet transiting in front, set against a starry background—a scene reminiscent of what the JWST might reveal as the exoplanet begins to vaporize from intense heat.
At extremely close distances to their stars, even rocky planets can be completely disintegrated. We've just caught our first one in action.
A spiral galaxy with a luminous core, surrounded by swirling arms and smaller galaxies, forms a mesmerizing bullseye ring galaxy, set against a backdrop of stars in space.
Ring galaxies are rare, but we think we know how they form. A new, early-stage version, the Bullseye galaxy, provides a new testing ground.
A collection of differently colored skull replicas arranged in three rows on a black background.
New research challenges old assumptions about the evolution of the human brain.
Image of Pluto and its moon Charon in space. Pluto shows distinct surface features with areas of varying colors, while Charon appears smaller with a darker, smoother surface.
Here in our Solar System, terrestrial bodies get moons from gravitational capture or collisions. The Pluto-Charon system? It was both.