James Watson: If people had a longer life, human beings would progress more slowly.    

James Watson: I think we’re all in favor of being alive when we’re alive.  And of course, it's how you define being alive.  

An experimental device has been unveiled in a paper in the journal Nature that promises to be able to keep accurate time for the next 5 billion years. 

It was an amazing discovery that we’re all related, but it was not obvious. It’s not obvious that I’m related to a strawberry, but I am.

Supernova SN 2014J is one of the closest to be seen in recent decades and is now the brightest part of M82 and visible in small telescopes in the evening sky.

Stephen Hawking has proposed a breakthrough theory in a new paper – the idea that black holes can exist without an event horizon. 

Yesterday the first instalment of a promising new documentary tackling conspiracy theories was published. Kirby Ferguson, creator of the rather fabulous documentary: Everything is a Remix, funded the documentary on Kickstarter and […]

Kirk Johnson: It was an amazing discovery that we’re all related, but it was not obvious.  It’s not obvious that I’m related to a strawberry.  

"I don't believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one's aspect to the sun. Hence my optimism."- Virginia Woolf (born on this date in 1882)

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time."- Edith Wharton

The stars, gas and dust of our own galaxy dominates our night sky. But what secrets does the Universe hold beyond that? “Who are we? We find that we live on […]

This map shows that your chances of rising above your birth class vary tremendously depending on where you live.

Good versus Evil will always be the stock and trade of storytelling, especially in comic books. The skill of separating good guys from bad comes early to readers, with the […]

100 years ago, we thought the Milky Way was the full extent of the Universe, containing everything. Now, we know we’re just one of many. But how many? “The human mind […]

The light from an exploding star in the Messier 82 (aka "Cigar") galaxy was first photographed from Earth on January 22nd, 2013. 

To enter adulthood, your brain needs to remodel itself to handle the unsafe and the uncertain. 

Daniel Altman: The power of mobility has diminished enormously, because these days it’s much harder to close the gap with the highest earners. Thanks to rising inequality, the same level of mobility just can’t make as much difference anymore. 

Given all the stars, galaxies and what we know about the laws governing reality, how many planets are there in our observable Universe? “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as […]

During the age of colonialism, Western powers conquered the people of Asia and objectified their women. This is well documented in literature, film, and scholarship: Here the dominant, masculine West; […]

So I differ from many other non-libertarian conservatives by appreciating many of America’s huge national and multinational chain institutions, such as Walmart and Waffle House. I was glad to discover […]