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Science and Tech
A new podcast, to cover an incredible story of why we can exist at all. “Already in my original paper I stressed the circumstance that I was unable to give a […]
How the Universe’s expansion rate continues to baffle us. “In expanding the field of knowledge we but increase the horizon of ignorance.” –Henry Miller It’s the most fundamental law of special […]
The smart money is still on LIGO, but there sure looks like something funny is happening if the new group is correct. This article was contributed by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine […]
Now we know, on every scale. “There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is but motion, and can never be without […]
Never heard of SKA, the square kilometer array? Once it starts taking data, you’ll never forget it. “Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for […]
Gravitational waves and electromagnetic ones don’t need to go together. But physics says it’s possible; what do the observations say? “The black holes collide in complete darkness. None of the […]
Some say it’s more than all of humanity emits in a year. But people say a lot of things. What does the science say? “One volcano puts out more toxic gases — one […]
Every star must eventually run out of fuel and die… but did you know the galaxy itself will come to an end someday? “Unless one says goodbye to what one loves, […]
Constant? Not-a-constant? Or is there a fundamental flaw in the way we’re doing business? This article was written by Sabine Hossenfelder. Sabine is a theoretical physicist specialized in quantum gravity […]
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 […]
The oddest star known in the galaxy is dimming again, and this time it might give up some of its secrets! “As far as I can tell, every telescope that can […]
If the LHC can’t produce new fundamental particles, the collisions coming from it still a chance to teach us something incredible. “It was quite the most incredible event that has […]
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 […]
The aptly named ‘Fireworks galaxy’ just had its tenth supernova in the past century, setting a record. Learn how to see it! “When a massive star explodes at the end of […]
Past or present, if there’s ever been any life at all, it changes everything. “They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially ‘colonized’ it. So technically, I colonized […]
One of inflation’s co-founders lashes out against the community. But is there a scientific leg to stand on? “…an understanding of the infinite tree of universes seems to be needed in […]
The 20th century held some incredible advances across all the science. But astrophysics’ best days are yet to come. “When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up […]
Could there be a massive, giant planet beyond Neptune? Here’s what the science says… for now. “Finding out that something you have just discovered is considered all but impossible is one […]
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 […]
Even if you have a problem with the messenger, you still need to heed the message. “Whether humans are responsible for the bulk of climate change is going to be left […]
We’ve discovered some behemoths, but one outclasses them all. “There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.” –Paul Gauguin […]
You might think that it should be all black, but then how would we see it? “It is conceptually interesting, if not astrophysically very important, to calculate the precise apparent shape […]
Sometimes, designing a careful experiment and measuring absolutely no effect can be the most important result of all. “It appears, from all that precedes, reasonably certain that if there be any […]
Wanting there to be something beyond the standard model may be influencing what we actually investigate. “In recent years several new particles have been discovered which are currently assumed to […]
Was it really a low-entropy state? And what does that mean for the second law of thermodynamics? “Entropy shakes its angry fist at you for being clever enough to organize […]
You lose whether you use protons or electrons in your collider, for different reasons. Could the unstable muon solve both problems? “It does not matter how slowly you go as […]
Its 18 large, segmented golden mirrors aren’t even the whole story. But how much gold is really in there? “Hey, if our eyes could access the infrared part of the light […]
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 […]
We’ve never seen an event horizon, nor directly imaged a black hole. Thanks to a worldwide effort, victory may at last be in sight. “Never look down to test the ground […]