The SciencesNovember 4, 2014
Higgs Hunter Will Be CERN's First Female Director
Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti will take the reins at the European physics powerhouse in 2016
Stories by Davide Castelvecchi
Davide Castelvecchi is a staff reporter at Nature who has been obsessed with quantum spin for essentially his entire life. Follow him on X @dcastelvecchi
The SciencesMay 30, 2014
9 Exceptional Scientists Receive the 2014 Kavli Prizes
Cosmic inflation, nano-optics, memory and cognition are among the topics to earn recognition
Space & PhysicsFebruary 25, 2014
Einstein's Lost Theory Uncovered
The famous physicist explored the idea of a steady-state universe in 1931
November 10, 2013
Gravity Maps Reveal Why the Moon's Far Side Is Covered with Craters
Heat differences meant impacts left larger, shallower basins on the lunar surface that faces Earth
The SciencesOctober 6, 2013
Paintings Turning Black? Blame Mercury
Salty air and light produce liquid metal from red paint pigment
August 1, 2013
Nanothermometer Takes the Temperature of Living Cells
Quantum effects in tiny diamond crystals can map millikelvin fluctuations
July 23, 2013
Cassini Probe Captures View of Earth from Saturn
Earth is a tiny blue dot in a photograph taken by the probe on July 19 when the sun was eclipsed by the gas giant
ChemistryJune 18, 2013
The Elements Revealed: An Interactive Periodic Table
Gas, liquid or solid, radioactive or stable, reactive or inert, toxic or innocuous, see what makes your favorite element unique
March 14, 2013
Puzzling Super-Dense Space Objects Could Be a New Type of Planet
A simulation created to understand a Kepler mission discovery of wandering ice giants suggests that they could be remnants of bodies like Neptune that came too close to their parent stars
January 1, 2013
Scientists Extend Einstein’s Relativity to the Universe’s First Moments
New calculations extend Einstein's general theory of relativity into the universe's first few moments
HealthNovember 1, 2012
A New Rubberlike Material May Replace Damaged Cartilage
A new kind of hydrogel could open the way to artificial cartilage and other applications
September 1, 2012
Experiments Scientists Would Do if They Lived Indefinitely
What would scientists learn if they could run studies that lasted for hundreds or thousands of years—or more?
TechnologyAugust 1, 2012
Paradoxical Materials Can Expand When Compressed
Paradoxical materials could grow when compressed
The SciencesJune 1, 2012
What Is It?
Honeycomb lattice
May 1, 2012
In Their Prime: Mathematicians Come Closer to Solving Goldbach's Weak Conjecture
A centuries-old conjecture is nearing its solution
The SciencesMay 1, 2012
Is Supersymmetry Dead?
The grand scheme, a stepping-stone to string theory, is still high on physicists' wish lists. But if no solid evidence surfaces soon, it could begin to have a serious PR problem
EnvironmentMarch 1, 2012
Massive Energy Storage Technologies Could Revitalize the Power Grid
If renewable energy is going to take off, we need good ways of storing it for the times when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing
EnvironmentFebruary 27, 2012
How Big a Battery Would It Take to Power All of the U.S.?
Energy storage is the key to deploying wind and solar energy on a vast scale, but exactly how much of it will be required remains to be seen
Space & PhysicsJanuary 8, 2012
The Courage to Be Wrong: Reading the Biography of Stephen Hawking
The SciencesJanuary 1, 2012
Magnetic Sense Shows Many Animals the Way to Go
Animals' magnetic sense is real. Scientists are zeroing in on how it works
The SciencesDecember 28, 2011
Book Review: Our Magnetic Earth, by Ronald Merrill
Space & PhysicsDecember 24, 2011
The Reawakening of X-Ray Delta One
The SciencesDecember 13, 2011
Tantalizing Hints of Elusive Higgs Particle Announced [Update]
The long-sought Higgs boson is tied to the leading theory of how quarks, electrons and other particles get their mass
The SciencesDecember 12, 2011
Waiting for the Higgs, With the Man Who Built the LHC