Last week, Cassini plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere. Here are the top 6 things we learned from it while it was alive. “Being a scientist and staring immensity and eternity in the […]
Search Results
You searched for: sun
Before Hawking, black holes were just static points in the background of space. His greatest scientific legacy taught us just how dynamic they are. In 1915, Albert Einstein published his General […]
This list of 10 non-winners is 50% women, but 100% outrageous. In science, advances often come in great leaps. In hindsight, it’s easy to identify perhaps hundreds of small steps […]
Do these five experiments right in your own living room, and explore some of the most baffling phenomena in all of nature. It’s a revolutionary idea that the Universe is made […]
Cartesian vortices are *so* 17-th century.
Some people like going to bed early in the evening and waking up at the crack of dawn. Others are most alive after the Sun has set, preferring the darkness […]
How much free will do you actually have? This week’s Comment of the Week is fantastic and raises an interesting debate. What do you think?
Perhaps moving the entire planet into a different orbit could help us avoid the boiling of the oceans. It’s unorthodox, but not entirely off-the-wall, says astrophysicist Ethan Siegel.
In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, leading to a revolution in astronomy. But for many purposes, Earth is still the best place to be. When you think about what’s […]
The most elusive naked-eye planet is downright impossible to view for billions of us on Earth. “I long ago abandoned the notion of a life without storms, or a world without […]
If you want to go where no one has gone before, you have to make the investment. Here’s what last week’s launch means. If you want to send humans to Mars, […]
This isn’t an XZibit joke; it’s a real scientific question. And the answer may be that it’s possible after all. “People who work every day are kind of scared of things […]
It’s so much more than mass-energy equivalence; it’s the key to unlocking the quantum Universe. For hundreds of years, there was an immutable law of physics that was never challenged: […]
Congress refused the majority of Trump’s proposed cuts to NASA’s budget. But many uncertainties remain. On March 21st, 2018, both branches of Congress passed the United States’ Consolidated Appropriations Act, […]
New studies shed light on how Neanderthal DNA is affecting the appearance and behavior of modern humans.
Just because a distant body has ice doesn’t mean it’ll ever have liquid water.
Brown dwarfs are the ultimate failed stars, but they might not remain as failed forever. “[Brown dwarfs] appear to live a more exciting life than we presumed. They are too big […]
There are a slew of Earth Science missions that NASA has planned for the future. We need all of them (and more) for a thriving planet. When most people think of […]
65 million years, an impact wiped out 30% of all life on Earth. Could another one be imminent? “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” […]
One of astronomy’s most iconic sights in an artifact of faulty optics. Here’s how a new, great design will overcome it. When you look out at the greatest images of the […]
The Universe may defy our intuition, but that’s what science is for! If you take a look out at the Universe, and in every direction you look, you see objects rushing […]
New research on Uranus’ magnetosphere could help scientists learn about distant systems, and refine the ways they search for alien life.
They’re 3 billion light years away, but their collision can lead to answers to really big questions.
That number is far bigger than anyone expected, but physics doesn’t lie. “Our first priority was making sure we weren’t fooling ourselves.” –Keith Riles, LIGO team member How many black holes are […]
A physicist demonstrates how life may be a predictable product of thermodynamics.
This discovery finally points to the source of Earth’s precious heavy elements, also proves Einstein correct in more ways than one.
Astronomers make the first direct observation of a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
This was the first direct measurement of gravitational waves ever, as predicted by Einstein.
Is life worse or better than non-existence? And if it is, who is judging? Welcome to anti-natalism, a small but lively corner of philosophy.
“Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapy both hold out hope for a more flexible ego, one that does not pit the individual against everyone else in a futile attempt to gain total surety.”