Science & Tech

Science & Tech

Explore the discoveries that reveal how the world works, alongside the technologies that extend, reshape, and sometimes challenge what’s possible.

thinking fast slow
People believe that slow and deliberative thinking is inherently superior to fast and intuitive thinking. The truth is more complicated.
John Templeton Foundation
color combinations
Independent of cultural background, people seem to share a sense of what makes certain color combinations aesthetically pleasing.
If there are human-sized creatures walking around on other planets, would we be able to view them directly?
Research shows that octopuses are sentient, emotional creatures.
alien messages
There are pros and cons to sending interstellar messages to aliens that may or may not exist.
heavy neutral atom
Every timekeeping device works via a version of a pendulum — even the atomic clocks that are accurate to nanoseconds.
invisibility cloak
Two types of nanotechnology, metalenses and metamaterials, could soon make Harry Potter's invisibility cloak a reality.
singularity
Singularities frustrate our understanding. But behind every singularity in physics hides a secret door to a new understanding of the world.
crashes
Morbid fatality statistics on digital highway signs seem to distract drivers, thus increasing the number of car crashes.
You can’t control external threats, but you can manage how you prepare and respond to the risk.
extraterrestrial
It didn't look like anything I'd seen before, but I'd be a great fool to consider "aliens" as a reasonable possibility.
nanofabricators
Today, we could use Big Data to radically reform democracy. Tomorrow, we could build nanofabricators and usher in an era of abundance. Is society ready?
nanofabricators
Nanofabricators could quickly synthesize whatever we need, molecule by molecule.
volcano dinosaurs
Volcanic activity caused the end-Triassic mass extinction 200 million years ago. The dinosaurs survived and rose to dominance.
time
We take for granted that time is real. But what if it's only an illusion, and a relative illusion at that? Does time even exist?
The ability is tied to mental health, consciousness, and memory in humans.
A person in a red robe sits outdoors holding an hourglass, surrounded by greenery and a body of water, symbolizing predictions for the future.
What lies in store for humanity? Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku explains how different life will be for your descendants—and maybe your future self, if the timing works out.
John Templeton Foundation
spinlaunch
Spin, spin, spin — fire! The startup’s radical system could make satellite launches cheaper and cleaner.
“We didn’t build anything face-ish into our network [but] managed to segregate themselves without being given a face-specific nudge.”
smell COVID
Shoving platelet-rich plasma up your nose might restore your sense of smell after COVID. But whether it actually works still needs to be sniffed out.