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.

a painting of a cucumber with a face on it.
Raw food, paleo, gluten-free, detox, and ketogenic: All of these diet fads withered when subjected to scientific scrutiny.
epsilon eridani comet storm
Massive objects like black holes, stars, and rogue planets routinely pass near our Solar System. An ensuing comet storm could destroy us.
a close up of a rock with holes in it.
A next-generation instrument on a delayed rover may be the key to answering the question of life on Mars.
asteroid deliver organics to Earth
When the Universe was first born, the ingredients necessary for life were nowhere to be found. Only our "lucky stars" enabled our existence.
a painting of a blue and yellow ball on a black background.
We can reasonably say that we understand the history of the Universe within one-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. That's not good enough.
a computer generated image of a man's head in a doorway.
Large language models are an impressive advance in AI, but we are far away from achieving human-level capabilities.
sun photographed from space
Some say that the Sun is a green-yellow color, but our human eyes see it as white, or yellow-to-red during sunset. What color is it really?
a bright star surrounded by stars in the sky.
Archaeologists can learn how societies lived by studying what they left behind when they died. Astronomers are doing much the same thing.
a close up of a metal object with a reflection in it.
The researchers rebuked writers, scholars, and public figures for lazily perpetuating the notion of widespread gender bias in academic science.
black hole central singularity
Yes, "the laws of physics break down" at singularities. But something really weird must have happened for black holes to not possess them.
a painting of a bust of a man with a red and blue background.
"In order to seek truth," Rene Descartes once wrote, "it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt, as far as possible, all things."
a man and woman holding a newborn baby
Let us share this miracle with mothers in poor countries.
a large machine
The robot can drive heavy steal beams into the ground at a rate of 1 per 73 seconds, which will help expedite solar farm construction.
A child standing in front of a wall of jellyfish.
Despite a reputation for catastrophe and cat killings, curiosity is a beneficial drive that improves our lives and well-being.
a diagram of the energy storage system.
Old coal mines can be converted into "gravity batteries" by retrofitting them with equipment that raises and lowers giant piles of sand.
stellar remnants black holes planet
The odds are slim, but the consequences would be literally world-ending. There really is a chance of a black hole devouring the Earth.
A diagram showing the structure of an electroweak big bang.
The problem of the electroweak horizon haunts the standard model of cosmology and beckons us to ask how deep a rethink the model may need.
two particles different wavelength speed of light
Contrary to common experience, not everything needs a medium to travel through. Overcoming that assumption removes the need for an aether.
a computer generated image of a balloon and a plant.
We have become the greatest threat to ourselves and to life on this planet. We need a set of agreed-upon safeguards to preserve our future.