Like witchcraft, “racecraft” refers to a kind of magical thinking — one that treats race as if it were scientifically meaningful.
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Fermilab’s TeVatron just released the best mass measurement of the W-boson, ever. Here’s what doesn’t add up.
Nostalgia is a happy remembrance of the past, yet it also leaves us feeling sad. Perhaps ironically, it can serve as a painkiller.
The great hope is that beyond the indirect, astrophysical evidence we have today, we’ll someday detect it directly. But what if we can’t?
Safety through technology is no bad thing—Nietzsche himself sought doctors and medicines throughout his life—but it can become pathological.
The laws of physics state that you can’t create or destroy matter without also creating or destroying an equal amount of antimatter. So how are we here?
If you want to understand what the Universe is, how it began, evolved, and will eventually end, astrophysics is the only way to go.
The strangest thing about trying to predict the future is that our only clues lie in the past.
From before the Big Bang to the present day, the Universe goes through many eras. Dark energy heralds the final one.
Scientists put the most mysterious force in the Universe to the ultimate test. When it comes to the Universe, it’s easy to make the incorrect assumption that what we see is […]
Empty, intergalactic space is just 2.725 K: not even three degrees above absolute zero. But the Boomerang Nebula is even colder.
Earth is actively broadcasting and actively searching for intelligent civilizations. But could our technology even detect ourselves?
Despite billions of years of life on Earth, humans first arose only ~300,000 years ago. It took all that time to make our arrival possible.
“The pulsar sort of consumes the thing that recycled it, just as the spider eats its mate.”
U.S. nuclear power plants are built to survive external attacks. Even missiles or a commercial aircraft strike would not cause a meltdown or radiation leak.
To Fred Hoyle, the Big Bang was nothing more than a creationist myth. 75 years later, it’s cemented as the beginning of our Universe.
After more than two decades of precision measurements, we’ve now reached the “gold standard” for how the pieces don’t fit.
Hoarders know their habits are abnormal, and yet they cannot help themselves. Maybe you can help them.
Mindfulness, detachment, selecting off-time activities with care: Here are evidence-based strategies to achieve healthy work-life balance.
Has all this happened before, and will all this happen once again? There are only a few questions, when we ask them, that force us to reckon with the fundamental nature […]
Take a trip through these master-crafted fantasy societies and ask yourself: Could I actually live there?
A wild, compelling idea without a direct, practical test, the Multiverse is highly controversial. But its supporting pillars sure are stable.
Research shows that spending more time on social media is associated with body image issues in boys and young men.
Gradualism rejects the idea of a “bright line” in the abortion debate.
Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need. And everyone is getting wealthier.
People who visit Florence seem strangely susceptible to Stendhal syndrome, which is blamed on an overwhelming sense of awe.
Researchers dramatically improve the accuracy of a number that connects fundamental forces.
If dark energy gets stronger with time, our fate could be an utter catastrophe. When it comes to the entire Universe, one of the biggest existential questions we’re capable of […]
At a fundamental level, nobody knows whether gravity is truly quantum in nature. A novel experiment strongly hints that it is.
Popular media often frame scientists as having a cold, sterile view of the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth.