Hard Science

We are what we are because of genes; we are who we are because of memes. Philosopher Daniel Dennett muses on an idea put forward by Richard Dawkins in 1976.

Creating a race of super soldiers is off the table, too.   

Churchill displays a surprising amount of knowledge on a question that we are still wrestling with. 

Time is this wild fourth dimension in nature, says Bill Nye. We depend on its neat measurements for survival – but subjectively it continues to elude us.

The causes of hit products are themselves uncausable. ‘Hit Makers’ by Derek Thompson explains why we know how to make songs, but not hits.  

The human mind is like a Turing machine, says Daniel Dennett. It’s made up of unthinking cogs – but when combined in the right order, their motion gives rise to consciousness.

Just as the collective ruckus of science deniers hits its peak, Netflix announces a date for ‘Bill Nye Saves the World’, a heroic new show that will answer the most pressing science questions of our era. 

Reading popular science articles is a fun pastime for many people, and can help everybody understand the world of science. But is there a downside to making this information so easy to understand?

Evolutionary biologists generally agree that humans evolved from a bacteria-like ancestor, rather than a viral one. But what if we’re chemically connected?

Physicists finds evidence from just after the Big Bang that supports the controversial holographic universe theory.

Regardless of truth, the best storyteller wins: how else could a quarter of Americans, many struggling financially, ‘relate’ to a billionaire real estate mogul?

Amazon introduces a monthly STEM toy subscription box aimed at kids – because we’re all born curious.

Scientists are planning a Scientists’ March on Washington on April 22 to protest the Trump administration’s anti-science policies.

The spreading of misinformation and doubt has undermined support for climate change. Despite broad consensus from climate scientists that humans are largely responsible for climate change, only 27% of Americans think there is agreement. New research points to a possible way to “vaccinate” against this misinformation. 

Scientists from Harvard University claim to have created metallic hydrogen, a new metal with revolutionary potential applications. 

Reviving the “Lesbian Rule” (which Aristotle wrote about, and was proverbial in Shakespeare’s day) can help us handle a new kind of weaponized-math threat (that Cathy O’Neil calls “Weapons of Math Destruction”).

Physicists propose that violations of a fundamental law of physics in early stages of the universe are responsible for the mysterious dark energy.

A new study may explain why the Australian megafauna went extinct around 45,000 years ago.

Has technology advanced enough that we could stitch together body parts and reanimate the dead? Bill Nye one-ups that old-school Frankenstein vision with newer (and cooler) scientific possibilities.

Your willpower is a muscle that can be trained. Here is a wealth of scientific information to help you understand your behavior and engineer a successful health and weight-loss plan.

Schrodinger’s cat is one of the most famous thought experiments of all time, but what does it mean for science, and what happens to the poor cat?

Astronomers have discovered a new kind of galaxy that raises many questions, and perhaps paves the way for answers about galaxy formation.

How did earlier records get it so wrong, and why do scientists believe they’re right this time?

Astronomers trace the origin of repeating radio bursts from deep space to a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away.

Four-year research concludes there’s a new organ inside the body, creating a new field of science.

The environmental legacy of this generally disgraced President is second to none.

Researchers find more evidence of the link between social media use by young adults and depression.

This is not the outcome you’re looking for.

CERN researchers make a major step in understanding antimatter by trapping antihydrogen atoms and controlling them with lasers.

Physicist Erik Verlinde’s theory successfully predicts the distribution of gravity around 33,000+ galaxies without relying on unobserved “dark matter”.