Scientific Method

Scientific Method

An illustration of a black hole surrounded by countless colorful stars in space, with several green lines indicating orbital paths around the black hole.
We know of stellar mass and supermassive black holes, but intermediate mass ones have long proved elusive. Until now.
Einstein with his class of students in 1896
There are many things that separate science from ideology, politics, philosophy, or religion. Follow these 10 commandments to get it right.
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CERN's NA64 experiment used a high-energy muon beam technique to advance the elusive search for dark matter, offering new hope for solving one of astronomy's greatest mysteries.
Two breathtaking pictures of a galaxy and a star taken by the Hubble telescope, highlighting the beauty and cosmic magnitude that fuels the Hubble tension.
There are two different ways to measure the expansion rate of the Universe, and they don't agree. And no, new measurements don't help.
Stellar explosion
The expanding Universe, in many ways, is the ultimate out-of-equilibrium system. After enough time passes, will we eventually get there?
A diagram of the solar system illustrates the heliosphere, detailing the termination shock, heliopause, and bow shock, along with the paths of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2. This visual representation underscores key aspects of fundamental science in our cosmic neighborhood.
Some think the reason fundamental scientific revolutions are so rare is because of groupthink. It's not; it's hard to mess with success.
A close-up of a metallic conical structure, set against a dark wireframe background. The structure has reflective surfaces and appears to be part of a scientific or industrial apparatus.
Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches. 
LHC insides
CERN's Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle accelerator ever. To go even further, we'll have to overcome something big.
pulse polio day india
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.
CERN_ATLAS_Detector The standard model in physics
With new W-boson, top quark, and Higgs boson measurements, the LHC contradicts earlier Fermilab results. The Standard Model still holds.
A technician in a clean suit inspects a large, segmented, hexagonal mirror inside a circular gray structure.
The JWST's observations of well-developed galaxies early in universal history may coincide with accepted astronomical theory after all.
Colorful interstellar gas and dust form towering pillars in a star-forming region of space.
A deep dive into the chaotic journey of star formation.
A black and white image of a bunch of spheres, symbolizing the multiverse concept discussed by scientists.
In logic, 'reductio ad absurdum' shows how flawed arguments fall apart. Our absurd Universe, however, often defies our intuitive reasoning.
A close up of a fork, endorsed by a Harvard astronomer.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb claimed to track down and find alien spherules on the ocean bottom. Here's the sober truth.
An image of blue glow in the dark, signifying life.
In a recent paper, biologists outlined a three-part hypothesis for how all life as we know it began.
An image of a yellow and purple wave with an unclear origin.
Everything acts like a wave while it propagates, but behaves like a particle whenever it interacts. The origins of this duality go way back.
The letter j on a blue background.
Discrepancies between observations and theory regarding subatomic particles called muons may force scientists to rethink the quantum world.
A choropleth map of the united states displaying median age by county with a color gradient from light to dark blue indicating increasing age ranges following a natural bell curve distribution.
Almost everything we can observe and measure follows what's known as a normal distribution, or a Bell curve. There's a profound reason why.
gaia ESA milky way
For thousands of years, humanity had no idea how far away the stars were. In the 1600s, Newton, Huygens, and Hooke all claimed to get there.
Two men sit closely together, one smiling and the other reclining with a relaxed posture against a dark background.
6mins
Science writer George Musser on the unsung role of friendship in science’s biggest discoveries.
A black background with blue bubbles on it.
Explore how QBism reframes science by placing the observer at the heart of quantum reality.
A black and white photo of a building that has been destroyed in New Jersey.
"I grew up in New Jersey in the 1970s and that experience gave me everything I needed to become a skeptic."
An visualization of dark matter across the universe
The paper does not prove the existence of dark matter, but it mostly eliminates a rival theory called Modified Newtonian Dynamics.
Black outline of an atomic symbol with three intersecting ellipses on a solid blue background.
38mins
Our host Kmele went inside Fermilab, America’s premiere particle accelerator facility, to find out how the smallest particles in the universe can teach us about its biggest mysteries.
Nasa's nebulas and galaxies - exploring parallel universes.
What do ghosts and anomalous galaxy rotation rates have in common? Some sci-fi enthusiasts believe the answer involves "parallel universes."
A blue circle with bokeh lights around it.
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.
A light bulb hanging on a wall with a swirl pattern.
Even if a leading theory of consciousness is wrong, it can still be useful to science.
A man in a suit with white hair and a red tie.
6mins
Humanity is a type 0 civilization. Here’s what types 1, 2, and 3 look like, according to physicist Michio Kaku.
An image of a pink spiral on a black background depicting uncertainty.
If nature were perfectly deterministic, atoms would almost instantly all collapse. Here's how Heisenberg uncertainty saves the atom.
A painting of a group of people around a table with an air pump.
Science and technology were making early modern Europe a better place to live, but at what cost?