Particle physics faces its next great decision—and its next frontier
After decades of debate, the scientific case is clear for Europe’s Future Circular Collider, a colossal successor to the Large Hadron Collider. But transforming this megaproject from vision to reality is far from guaranteed
The surprising science history behind New York City’s ticker-tape parades
On Thursday Knicks fans are flocking to Manhattan for a ticker-tape parade. But where did ticker tape even come from?
When science is under siege, history offers a playbook
It’s a complicated time to be a young scientist in America. Lessons from history can tell us what the future might hold
Edison may not have been the first to record the human voice, new evidence suggests
Could a predecessor to the phonograph have appeared a century earlier?
Pluto and the folly of planethood
The problem with Pluto isn’t its planetary or nonplanetary status—it’s our insistence on declaring the world must be one or the other
Nuclear war may keep humanity from finding a ‘theory of everything,’ top physicist says
After winning a Breakthrough Prize, the world’s most lucrative science award, theoretical physicist David Gross is using the moment to warn of nuclear war’s existential threat—and how we can escape it
Artemis II reveals why humans still love the moon
The triumph of NASA’s first crewed lunar mission in a half-century is a reminder of what the moon really means for Earth—and why we’re going back
New fundamental physics measurement deepens quantum mystery
A new calculation helps narrow down the mass of the W boson, one of the heaviest fundamental particles in the universe
NASA’s Artemis II launched on first crewed moon mission of the 21st century
A daring 10-day voyage took four astronauts on a loop around the moon and set the stage for future forays to the lunar surface
Agnes Pockels’ pioneering work was unfairly dismissed by tropes about women’s domestic roles
Agnes Pockels achievements in surface science have long been overshadowed by a popular and likely untrue story that she became interested in the subject while doing the dishes
Modern rocketry turns 100—and NASA says the best is yet to come
A century after Robert Goddard’s first-ever launch of a liquid-fueled rocket, two NASA experts weigh in on what his legacy still holds for spaceflight’s future
Why did the public forget Katharine Burr Blodgett’s brilliant legacy?
We trace the final chapter of Katharine Burr Blodgett’s career, her retirement from GE and her disappearance from public memory