Nature is full of “mistakes,” from improperly
copied genes to animals deceiving each other. Even foundational physics has
shed some of its air of mathematical inevitability, and wrestles with why we
live in a universe that is “right” for life. Is there a “wrong” universe out
there? And how does the scientist negotiate this hall of mirrors, and come out
clutching the Truth?

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Celebrating the Relationship Between Science and Illustration
A conversation with Society of Illustrators executive director Arabelle Liepold -
The Extraordinary, Imperiled Science at the End of the Earth
Firing experts in Antarctica couldn’t come at a worse time -
Breaking a Cycle of Apocalypse
John Larison’s new novel The Ancients suggests some societies are built for cataclysm -
An Earthy Fallen Star
The strange mushroom that puffs life into forests around the world. -
Inside an Exploded Star
Cassiopeia A gets a close-up.