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Scientific Progress
"Even with my training, I still got insights from the book’s descriptions. That’s how good Carroll is at explaining physics."
About the project The goal of driving more progress across the world—scientifically, politically, economically, socially, etc—is one shared by many. And yet, debates about the best way to maximize progress […]
Oxygen isn't strictly necessary for combustion, but it is ideal. Any advanced (alien) civilization probably uses oxygen to burn things.
What we call "basic research" is actually the most cutting-edge. It underpins knowledge, and without it, technology does not come into being.
The emergence of life in the universe is as certain as the emergence of matter, gravity, and the stars. Life is the universe developing a memory, and our chemical detection system could find it.
John Templeton Foundation
The length of a day oscillates slightly every six years. This was a surprising discovery made last decade. We might now know why.
Scientists have found three new examples of a very exotic form of matter made of quarks. They can yield insights into the early Universe.
On July 4, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the Higgs boson, the missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics.
“It’s a big resource in the way the human genome is a big resource, in that you can go in and do discovery-based research."
The James Webb Space Telescope is about to begin science operations. Here's what astronomers are excited about.
Giant particle accelerators aren't a waste of money. They are essential for understanding the Universe.
A next-generation LHC++ could cost $100 billion. Here's why such a machine could end up being a massive waste of money.
The Standard Model may or may not be in trouble, but particle physics definitely needs saving. Here's what the new LHC can do.
Fermilab's TeVatron just released the best mass measurement of the W-boson, ever. Here's what doesn't add up.
Scientists have known blobs existed for a long time, but how they have behaved over Earth’s history has been an open question.
When we started imaging the Universe with Hubble, every star had four "spikes" coming from it. Here's why Webb will have more.
Knowing that technology would advance in the future, NASA put some moon rock samples into storage without opening them. Now, they have.
The far infrared reveals both the coldest and hottest gas in the Universe, and can teach us what no other wavelength range can.
Life is possible because of asymmetries, such as an imbalance between matter and antimatter and the "handedness" (chirality) of molecules.
As viewed by the MeerKAT telescope, this radio view of the Milky Way blows away every other way we've ever seen our home galaxy.
Developing an awareness of and an appreciation for science is what we all truly need, not what we've been doing.