Science News
A Tumultuous Year at the LHC
11.12.2009 Physicist Lisa Randall describes the turbulent first year after the collider's premature celebration.
by Lisa Randall
What Is This... A Hi-Tech Pin Cushion?
Hint: There are a lot fewer of them now than there were a few years ago. 11.18.2009
The Brain: Humanity's Other Basic Instinct: Math
New research suggests that math has evolved its way right into our neurons—and monkeys', too. 11.17.2009
Visual Science: Polishing a Cosmic Spyglass
A tune-up for one of the most sophisticated imaging devices ever made 11.02.2009
What is This? A Bioluminescent Mushroom?
Hint: It's actually not on the ground, nor in the oceans, but up in the sky—way up in the sky. 10.21.2009
Discover Interview: Roger Penrose Says Physics Is Wrong, From String Theory to Quantum Mechanics
One of the greatest thinkers in physics says the human brain—and the universe itself—must function according to some theory we haven't yet discovered. 10.06.2009
Being Stephen Hawking
Former Nature editor John Maddox on one of the most famous scientists of our age 09.29.2009
Slicing Open the Moody Sun
Our star may seem like a model of constancy, but its surface is violently active, rocked by explosions and sun quakes. 09.15.2009
Stephen Hawking Is Making His Comeback
Stephen Hawking, the master of time, space, and black holes, steps back into the spotlight to secure his scientific legacy—and to explain the greatest mystery in physics: the origin of the universe. 09.11.2009
The Universe's Most Powerful Magnets
Nuclear fusion reactors, particle colliders, and other big-science rely on giant magnetic fields. But nature's most powerful magnets blow even our best efforts away. 08.21.2009
Big Picture: 8 Ways Scientists Look at—But Don't Yet See—Dark Matter
Scientists hunt for the unseen matter that glues together the cosmos. But some wonder whether it even exists. 06.22.2009
Darwin Plays Game Theory—and Wins
A computer simulation predicts that ravens should have evolved a behavior called "gang foraging," which is then observed in real ravens. 05.22.2009
10 Obscure Elements That Are More Important Than You'd Think
You know hydrogen and oxygen, helium and carbon. But the periodic table's frequently forgotten residents, rare elements with funny names, show up in many unexpected places. 05.20.2009
The Biocentric Universe Theory: Life Creates Time, Space, and the Cosmos Itself
Stem-cell guru Robert Lanza presents a radical new view of the universe and everything in it. 05.01.2009
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Tunnels
New York has a forgotten one, Texas has a $2 billion wasted one, and Switzerland's building the longest. 04.29.2009
Countdown to Fusion: National Ignition Facility in Pictures
Researchers at Livermore National Lab expect to be producing energy with a controlled, self-sustaining fusion reaction within three years. 04.14.2009
Big Picture: Where Do Old Colliders Go to Die?
After the LHC comes online, old accelerators will stand by, just in case they're necessary, get salvaged for spare parts, or just lie untouched in the ground for years. 04.04.2009
The Man Who Found Quarks and Made Sense of the Universe
Murray Gell-Mann had a smash success with particles, notorious dustups with Feynman, and a missed opportunity with Einstein. 03.17.2009
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Time
The beginning, the end, and the funny habits of our favorite ticking force. 03.12.2009
Metamaterial Revolution: The New Science of Making Anything Disappear
Engineers are working with metamaterials to create super-microscopes, optical computers, and yes, invisibility cloaks. 03.10.2009
The Kilogram Isn't What It Used to Be—It's Lighter
Within a high-security, climate-controlled vault in France, the perfect kilogram is getting ever so slightly less massive—and no one knows why. 03.08.2009
Subscribe to Physics & Math:
