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History Of Science
It's deceptively tricky to distinguish living systems from non-living systems. Physics may be key to solving the problem.
Taught in every introductory physics class for centuries, the parabola is only an imperfect approximation for the true path of a projectile.
Researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory recently created the heaviest exotic antimatter hypernucleus ever observed.
More than any other equation in physics, E = mc² is recognizable and profound. But what do we actually learn about reality from it?
The Michelson-Morley experiment of 1887, despite expectations, revealed a null result: no effect. The implications were revolutionary.
A perfect map is as useless as it is impossible to create.
Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.
It’s not a gambit. It’s not fraud. It’s not driven by opinion, prejudice, or bias. It's not unchallengeable. And it's more than facts alone.
With new W-boson, top quark, and Higgs boson measurements, the LHC contradicts earlier Fermilab results. The Standard Model still holds.
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Physicist Sean Carroll on entropy, complexity, and the origins of life:
Lord Kelvin is thought to have said there was nothing new to discover in physics. His real view was the opposite.
In logic, 'reductio ad absurdum' shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.
Physicists just can't leave an incomplete theory alone; they try to repair it. When nature is kind, it can lead to a major breakthrough.
Everything acts like a wave while it propagates, but behaves like a particle whenever it interacts. The origins of this duality go way back.
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Science writer George Musser on the unsung role of friendship in science’s biggest discoveries.
Roger Babson wanted a “partial insulator, reflector, or absorber of gravity” — something, anything, that would stop or dampen it.
All matter particles can act as waves, and massless light waves show particle-like behavior. Can gravitational waves also be particle-like?
The second law of thermodynamics is an inviolable law of reality. Here's what everyone should know about closed, open, and isolated systems.
From ancient Greek cosmology to today's mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, explore the relentless quest to understand the Universe's invisible forces.
From unexplained tracks in a balloon-borne experiment to cosmic rays on Earth, the unstable muon was particle physics' biggest surprise.
If nature were perfectly deterministic, atoms would almost instantly all collapse. Here's how Heisenberg uncertainty saves the atom.
How can you maximize the amount of love and happiness in your life? One of history's greatest scientists found the answer: with math.
It is easy to mock Nobel Laureates who go astray, but eccentricity often accompanies brilliance. We should have some sympathy.
6mins
A physicist discusses the boundaries of reality and experimentation.
Alchemy had its golden age in the 17th century, when it counted Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle among its adherents.
John Templeton Foundation
Scientists can make substantial progress without fully understanding exactly what they're doing.
Science fiction met nuclear fission when Hungarian physicist Leó Szilárd pondered the explosive potential of nuclear energy.
Philosophy is often seen as little more than armchair speculation. This is a shame, as philosophy often has helped science reach new heights.
If you've found yourself befuddled by extraordinary scientific-sounding claims, you're not alone. But this centuries-old lesson can help.
From the present day all the way to less than 400 million years after the Big Bang, we're seeing how the Universe grew up like never before.