Philip Ball

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    When Reality Came Undone

    100 years ago, a circle of physicists shook the foundation of science. It’s still trembling.

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    How Life Really Works

    Just as I uncovered a new way to understand life, I got news about my own.

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    Mirror-Image Life

    This biochemist is determined to create a new life form by reversing the shape of molecules.

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    What Is a Beautiful Experiment?

    Finding beauty in science is timeless. But we shouldn’t let it blind us.

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    The Day Oppenheimer Feared He Might Blow Up the World

    The story behind the scare that an atomic bomb would ignite the atmosphere into a fireball.

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    ChatGPT Is a Mirror of Our Times

    What language AIs make up for in efficiency they lack in humanity.

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    The Big Thinker

    Nick Lane is asking—and answering—the vital questions about life.

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    The Quantum Theory That Peels Away the Mystery of Measurement

    Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Imagine if all our scientific theories and models told us only about averages: if the best weather forecasts could only give you the average daily amount of rain expected over the next month, or if astronomers could only predict […]

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    The Fifth Force of Physics Is Hanging by a Thread

    As scientists chase tantalizing hints of a new force, modern physics hangs in the balance.

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    If Not Darwin, Who?

    An alternative history of the great ideas of science.