Philip Ball
How Life Really Works
Just as I uncovered a new way to understand life, I got news about my own.
Mirror-Image Life
This biochemist is determined to create a new life form by reversing the shape of molecules.
What Is a Beautiful Experiment?
Finding beauty in science is timeless. But we shouldn’t let it blind us.
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.
ChatGPT Is a Mirror of Our Times
What language AIs make up for in efficiency they lack in humanity.
The Big Thinker
Nick Lane is asking—and answering—the vital questions about life.
The Quantum Theory That Peels Away the Mystery of Measurement
Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog.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 the average time between solar eclipses. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log […]
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.
If Not Darwin, Who?
An alternative history of the great ideas of science.
Authenticity in the Age of the Fake
As science blurs the real and unreal, we are learning to distinguish them in new ways.