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Celebrating Women in Science Day 2026 at CERN
Every year, on 11 February, CERN celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In an effort to amplify diverse voices in STEM, six women scientists from CERN open up about their careers and the lessons they hope to pass on to the next generation. Francesca is an Italian biomedical engineer pursuing her PhD at CERN, working in the robotics team of the Beams Department. She’s currently working on the MARCHESE project, in affiliation with Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, focusing on contactless monitoring of physiological parameters. Despite choosing a scientific career and often volunteering in scientific outreach initiatives, Francesca continues to nurture her passion for the humanities and arts. “I firmly believe that collaboration and inclusion are the right paths to improve the world together. I’m driven by a strong curiosity about everything around me.” Berare is a Turkish experimental physicist who worked with the ATLAS experiment during her MSc and PhD on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. During her PhD, she became a Support Scientist for the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition, which marked the beginning of her journey combining research with science communication. She now works for both BL4S and ELISA, the mini proton accelerator at CERN’s Science Gateway. She fondly remembers the moment when the BL4S 2022 winners arrived at the experimental zone: “I felt incredibly lucky to share my passion with young, curious and really passionate people. We spent two weeks of beam time together watching their ideas turn into reality. All the intricate details of running an experiment, we accomplished them as a team.” Mia is a Canadian research fellow in the Accelerator Systems Department, working on beam developments for fundamental physics with radioactive molecules. Mia pursued a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering before moving to Vancouver for a master’s degree in engineering physics. Her interest in radioactive ion beam production brought her to CERN, where she studied actinide beams for three years as a PhD student in the Marie Curie European Training network “LISA” (Laser Ionisation and Spectroscopy of Actinides) at ISOLDE – a facility at CERN where scientists study the properties of atomic nuclei, with further applications in fundamental studies, astrophysics, and material and life sciences. Laura is a German mechanical engineer at CERN working on research and development to produce cavities for future accelerators. She studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich. She joined CERN four years ago as a technical student for her master’s thesis and continued as a fellow working on collimators. Laura says that “as a child, I took part in girls’ day initiatives, which sparked my fascination for astrophysics and engineering. Later, it felt natural for me to give something back by organising workshops for young students to make STEM seem less intimidating and more accessible.” She particularly enjoys being close to the CERN Main Workshop and understanding how design ideas become real components. Paraskevi is a Greek physicist working at CERN’s HiRadMat (High-Radiation to Materials) facility, designed to deliver high-intensity beams to an irradiation area where material samples, as well as accelerator component assemblies, can be tested. She studied physics at NKUA, specialising in nuclear and particle physics, and is now pursuing her PhD at HiRadMat in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, studying novel materials for high-intensity beam diagnostics. “Continuous learning is one of my biggest motivators, and I am looking forward to exploring the limits of our knowledge on beam-material interactions,” says Paraskevi. Silvia is a Spanish physicist and deputy project manager for the Muon Drift Tube of the CMS detector, a general-purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). She started her career at CERN more than 20 years ago as a technical student, working on prototypes of the first dipoles for the LHC. “My first motivation came in high school, from my teacher,” says Silvia about what made her pursue a career in STEM. “My favourite part about my job is learning. You can learn something new every day.” In parallel to this initiative, like every year since 2017, from 2 to 6 February 66 women scientists and engineers visited schools in Geneva, Switzerland, and in the Haute-Savoie and Ain regions of France to meet with students. Organised in collaboration with CERN, the University of Geneva, EPFL, LAPP and LAPTh, this event allowed more than 4200 students between 6 and 17 years old to meet a woman scientist, discuss their profession and career path, ask questions and participate in classroom activities.
A bonobo’s pretend tea party is rewriting what we know about imagination
A bonobo named Kanzi surprised scientists by successfully playing along in pretend tea party experiments, tracking imaginary juice and grapes as if they were real. He consistently pointed to the correct locations of pretend items, while still choosing real food when given the option. The results suggest that imagination may not be exclusive to humans after all.
A simple discovery is shaking the foundations of spintronics
A long-standing mystery in spintronics has just been shaken up. A strange electrical effect called unusual magnetoresistance shows up almost everywhere scientists look—even in systems where the leading explanation, spin Hall magnetoresistance, shouldn’t work at all. Now, new experiments reveal a far simpler origin: the way electrons scatter at material interfaces under the combined influence of magnetization and an electric field.
David Clapham: A Life in Science Chasing Ion Channels
Over a 50-year career, former HHMI scientist and leader David Clapham reshaped our understanding of ion channels by relentlessly pursuing experimental evidence across scientific disciplines.
Wine-Staging 11.2 Brings More Patches To Help Adobe Photoshop On Linux
Building off Friday's release of Wine 11.2 is now Wine-Staging 11.2 as this experimental/testing version of Wine with hundreds of extra patches that have yet to be introduced in upstream proper for this open-source software enabling Windows games and applications on Linux
Science history: 'Father of modern genetics' describes his experiments with pea plants — and proves that heredity is transmitted in discrete units
Gregor Mendel described his experiments with pea plants and proved that genes are transmitted in discrete units, with certain fundamental laws of inheritance.
Can apes play pretend? Scientists use an imaginary tea party to find out
A new experiment hints that an ape may be able to play pretend like humans do.
New type of magnetism discovered in 2D materials
In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The ...
That dry, bitter taste may be waking up your brain
New research suggests the astringent sensation caused by flavanols could act as a direct signal to the brain, triggering effects similar to a mild workout for the nervous system. In mouse experiments, flavanol intake boosted activity, curiosity, learning, and memory—despite these compounds barely entering the bloodstream. The key appears to be sensory stimulation: the taste itself activates brain pathways linked to attention, motivation, and stress response, lighting up regions involved in arousal and memory.
Can apes play pretend? Scientists use an imaginary tea party to find out
For the first time, an experiment hints that an ape in captivity can have an imagination.
Cardiologist impressed by experimental pill that significantly lowers cholesterol
An experimental oral PCSK9 inhibitor is associated with LDL-C reductions that could prove to be a game-changer for patient care.
Physicists warn of 'catastrophic' impact from UK science cuts
Science funding cuts in the UK are expected to be a "devastasting blow" for physics research, affecting international projects such as particle detection experiments at CERN
Science Alive brings hands-on fun to South Bend families
Families can enjoy weather demos, zoo animals and science experiments at Science Alive on Feb. 7 in South Bend.
Can apes play pretend? Scientists use an imaginary tea party to find out
A new experiment hints that an ape may be able to play pretend like humans do
International science cooperation must go on, say research leaders
Science leaders in Europe and Canada say international cooperation must go on amid geopolitical turmoil. At the same time, Europe and like-minded countries should continue to enhance and diversify international partnerships, a Science|Business conference hears. Hugh Brady, president of Imperial College London, told delegates that Europe’s response to the current geopolitical climate should be to “diversify in terms of research partnerships and build resilience and scale into our own system.”A first priority should be for the EU to sort out the scope of the upcoming European Competitiveness Fund and ensure that, together with the next iteration of Horizon Europe, it can drive the development and scale up of new technologies. The EU and the countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme represent “the world's most successful research innovation ecosystem,” Brady said. In order to mitigate the negative effects of shifting geopolitics, the EU together with the UK, Switzerland, Canada, South Korea and others should talk about “building resilience” and address their own “regional needs,” he added. Responding to TrumpUnder Donald Trump’s leadership, the US government has slashed science budgets and shut down international research programmes. Nearly 8,000 grants at the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation have been frozen or terminated. Courts have overturned most of these cancellations, but the disruption caused remains significant. While Europe may persuade a few thousand disgruntled scientists to move across the ocean to work on topics that have been de-funded in the US, it’s unclear what should happen next with transatlantic scientific cooperation more broadly.“Now is the time for us to show [US researchers] our support as much as we can,” Brady said.The European Research Council (ERC), the EU’s basic science funder, has seen a surge in applicants from the US. According its latest data, US-based researchers submitted 347 proposals to the last three big funding rounds, up from 158 in the previous set of calls. The European Commission has also launched a €22.5 million pilot call in 2025 for the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions, the EU’s researcher training scheme. It plans to extend this support with a €51.25 million call in 2027 as part of the Choose Europe initiative, which is intended to make the continent a more attractive place to pursue a career in research. Related articlesData corner: US researchers are choosing EuropeEU-India deal highlights growing alignment on technology policyMeanwhile, in the private non-profit sector, the Volkswagen Foundation is experimenting with a new type of grant that would allow US researchers to split their time between the US and Germany. While these schemes are useful, Europe should not bet on an exodus of scientists from the US. “The idea that we might all see them flocking over to Europe is naïve and counterproductive,” said Maria Leptin, president of the ERC, also speaking at the Science|Business conference on February 5. “We need research in the US to be as healthy as possible. I really admire those who are staying there with a will to fight and an optimism that the world will turn into a better place again,” Leptin said. Preserving dataDespite political disruption, academics have found ways to continue cooperating and sharing research data. Leslie Weir, president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and Canada’s national librarian, said the US cuts have raised concerns about research data security, after ideologically sensitive databases were limited or deleted by the Trump administration. But international organisations teamed up to ensure that the data is not lost. “It's interesting to see that researchers and libraries across North America are collaborating to make sure that data at risk is duplicated elsewhere outside [the US],” Weir said.
The science behind the storms
Penn State researchers spent six weeks chasing storms during the first hail research campaign in the United States in four decades. Named the In-situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail In the Plains, or ICECHIP, it was the largest, most sophisticated international collaborative hail research campaign to date.
Gemini app Tools menu adds ‘Labs’ section, Personal Intelligence toggle
As the Gemini app picks up more features, Google is improving organization of the Tools menu on the web with Experimental Labs.
AI doctors are coming. Should FDA make sure they're safe?
In this edition of STAT Health Tech: A closer look at Doctronic's 'AI doctor' experiment in Utah, HHS' AI use cases, and more.
Candy experiments teach chemistry at Great Lakes Science Center
Smitten with Science programming features Candy Chromatography workshops on Feb. 8, 15 and 22, teaching kids STEM concepts through hands-on candy experiments led by Andy Pallotta.
Scientists are hunting for a forbidden antimatter transformation
MACE is a next-generation experiment designed to catch muonium transforming into its antimatter twin, a process that would rewrite the rules of particle physics. The last search for this effect ended more than two decades ago, and MACE plans to leap far beyond it using cutting-edge beams, targets, and detectors. A discovery would point to entirely new forces or particles operating at extreme energy scales.
NFL mock draft 2026: AI predicts the entire first round
USA TODAY Sports had Microsoft Copilot AI predict the entire first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The experiment yielded a surprise omission.
How generative AI can help scientists synthesize complex materials
DiffSyn, a computer model developed by MIT researchers, suggests promising ways to synthesize new materials for faster experimentation.
Caterpillars use tiny hairs to hear
Experiment in one of the world's quietest rooms reveals the hairs detect airborne sounds—like predators.
Scientists discover hidden geometry that bends electrons like gravity
Researchers have discovered a hidden quantum geometry inside materials that subtly steers electrons, echoing how gravity warps light in space. Once thought to exist only on paper, this effect has now been observed experimentally in a popular quantum material. The finding reveals a new way to understand and control how materials conduct electricity and interact with light. It could help power future ultra-fast electronics and quantum technologies.
Google’s Project Genie Experiment Causes Video Game Stocks to Suddenly Crash as Investors Believe Games Will Be Made Solely with AI
The public release of Google's Project Genie experiment, capable of creating virtual worlds from a prompt, caused video game stocks to crash.
'Cool' science experiments to try in the snow, frigid temperatures
Action News reporter Corey Davis put on his science hat to test some interesting experiments that demonstrate the power of freezing temperatures.
Microsoft is experimenting with a top menu bar for Windows 11
Microsoft wants feedback on its dock proposal
Ruben Östlund Admits He Bought a Plane to Make ‘The Entertainment System Is Down,’ Cast Keanu Reeves as an Electrician and Says It’s About Today’s Society: ‘We’re Harming Ourselves and We Know It’
Ruben Östlund teases upcoming 'The Entertainment System Is Down' and the experiment that inspired it, says he bought a plane to shoot it.
Experience space life, training at Orlando Science Center’s new astronaut exhibit
Mission: Astronaut features six immersive zones where guests can train like astronauts, conduct experiments, and explore the future of space travel.
Apple Watch user gave ChatGPT Health his data, with troubling results
ChatGPT Health launched recently with Apple Health integration, but a journalist’s experiment with the new technology didn’t go very well.
Kipu Health Survey: AI Becomes a Clinical and Workforce Imperative in Behavioral Health
Artificial intelligence has crossed a tipping point in behavioral health, moving from experimentation to expectation, according to new survey findings released today by Kipu Health, the leading behavioral healthcare technology provider and creator of the industry's first intelligent operating system.
Mathieu Lehanneur On Turning Science Into Emotional Design
From childhood influences to global recognition, Paris-based Mathieu Lehanneur, one of France’s leading designers, reveals how curiosity and experimentation drive his singular approach.
Welcome to post-Darwinism: AI fires silver bullet for creating new life
In a breakthrough experiment, molecular biologists and tech entrepreneurs have teamed up to write the genetic code of a virus that destroys killer bacteria
OHSU board contemplates closure of primate research center; its scientists plead for support
Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center say their work is driving critical medical advances. But leadership at the federal level has questioned the value of the research model, and committed to ending animal experiments.
These 3 Policy Moves Are Likely To Change Health Care for Older People
Two Trump administration regulatory rollbacks affect nursing home staffing and home care workers, and a new AI experiment in Medicare has alarmed eldercare advocates and congressional Democrats.
Now is not the time for risky health care experiments
Single-payer or government-run health insurance programs consistently underdeliver, bringing higher costs, fewer choices, and market instability.
Why do onions and chips keep washing up on England’s south coast? Here’s the science
When cargo falls into the sea, it becomes an accidental ocean currents experiment.
Crockett, Seung, win major prizes from National Academy of Sciences
Molly Crockett will receive the 2026 Troland award for early-career researchers in experimental psychology, Sebastian Seung the Pradel award in neuroscience research.
Life’s chemistry may begin in the cold darkness of space
New experiments reveal that protein precursors can form naturally in deep space under extreme cold and radiation. Scientists found that simple amino acids bond into peptides on interstellar dust, long before stars and planets exist. This challenges the idea that complex life chemistry only happens on planets. It also boosts the odds that life-friendly ingredients are widespread across the universe.
A phone on SF's Valencia Street aims to address the political divide through conversation
A social experiment is underway on the streets of San Francisco, aimed at connecting a country that at times seems so far apart. It all starts with picking up the phone.
MoWest gears up for 26th annual Super Science Saturday this February
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Kids and adults have the chance to explore, experiment and discover a love for science and math during Missouri Western's annual Super Science Saturday.
Gemini gets ready for new Live Experimental Features, Thinking Mode, and more
We're getting a sneak peek at some of the new Gemini features likely to debut in Gemini Labs.
Gemini Live preps big upgrades with ‘Thinking Mode’ and ‘Experimental Features’
Gemini Live today is still based on 2.5 Flash, but big upgrades are coming according to the latest beta version of the Google app.
Oregon lawmakers propose to regulate AI chatbots to protect kids’ mental health
Other states across the country have begun experimenting with how to regulate AI chatbots.
The World's Longest-Running Lab Experiment Is Almost 100 Years Old
And it's still going.
The monk who discovered the laws of genetics—but was overlooked in his time
Mendel’s monastery garden experiments went largely unnoticed during his life, but their implications would ripple through science decades later.
China's Shenzhou-21 crew continues with science experiments, life in orbit
China's Shenzhou-21 astronauts have steadily advanced scientific experiments in several fields aboard China's space station over the past week.The crew consists of mission commander Zhang Lu and astronauts Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang. They have been in
3 Policy Moves Likely to Change Health Care for Older People
Two regulatory rollbacks, along with a new A.I. experiment in Medicare, raise some worrisome questions.
What does it means to navigate an increasingly turbulent entertainment industry? Creative studio and concert professionals provide the answers by Jake Bourke
If you bake in a bakery, where do you make art?” Vico Sharabani is the founder and COO of The-Artery, a multidisciplinary creative studio where their wheelhouse is versatility and experimentation. Their extensive portfolio encompasses feature films, premium television, experiential installations, virtual production, and live events, establishing a proven track record of delivering high-quality production [...]Read More... from What does it means to navigate an increasingly turbulent entertainment industry? Creative studio and concert professionals provide the answers
All major AI models risk encouraging dangerous science experiments
Researchers risk fire, explosion or poisoning by allowing AI to design experiments, warn scientists. Some 19 different AI models were tested on hundreds of questions to assess their ability to spot and avoid hazards and none recognised all issues – with some doing little better than random guessing
Leaders, It’s Time to Build Your Tolerance for Uncertainty
In today’s volatile business environment, leaders must develop uncertainty tolerance as a core skill. Here are three ways to do so: Anchor yourself in clear values and enduring priorities to give yourself stability when everything else is in flux; embrace experimentation, building to learn rather than over-planning; and reframe murky conditions as an opportunity for growth, rather than a threat, so you are able to row through the fog.
Amendment 34: A.6 Landslide Change Characterization Experiment Science Team Final Text and Due Dates
A.6 Earth Venture Suborbital-4 Landslide Change Characterization Experiment (LACCE) Science Team (ST) solicits proposals to build the full LACCE Science Team,
A room full of flu patients and no one got sick
In a striking real-world experiment, flu patients spent days indoors with healthy volunteers, but the virus never spread. Researchers found that limited coughing and well-mixed indoor air kept virus levels low, even with close contact. Age may have helped too, since middle-aged adults are less likely to catch the flu than younger people. The results highlight ventilation, air movement, and masks as key defenses against infection.
Why Silicon Valley Is Obsessed With Biological Age Tests, Despite Dubious Science
Venture capitalist Meltem Demirors isn’t above the occasional splurge on bags, jewelry and other material things. But she much prefers to use her disposable income for an expanding array of exotic wellness experiments, including injecting peptides and hiring a personal longevity coach. “The only ...
Superconductors, an opportunity for science and society
Superconductive technologies have long been central to particle physics, but they have also repeatedly moved beyond the laboratory, most notably with the emergence of magnetic resonance imaging scanners (MRI), demonstrating how breakthroughs in fundamental research can benefit society. Today, as global energy, climate and healthcare pressures grow, the conversation is shifting from “What can science give to society?” to “How can science and industry jointly develop technologies that benefit society while advancing research?” The event “Catalysing Impact – Superconductivity for Global Challenges” held at CERN in December was aimed precisely at answering this question. The workshop brought together leading researchers, industry representatives, investors and policymakers to explore how collaboration on superconducting technologies can advance particle physics while addressing some of the world’s most pressing societal challenges. The event sought to bridge fundamental research with real-world deployment and to accelerate collaborative pathways. Across keynotes, panels and round tables, participants examined both the current technological landscape and the opportunities ahead. Introducing the discussions, Frédérick Bordry, Chief Technology Officer of the Gauss Fusion company and former CERN Director for Accelerator and Technology, noted that “Superconductivity has become the silent engine of discovery science.” While the research community needs more capable and more resilient superconductors for the next generation of experiments, they also have significant potential for societal applications. Beyond their role in collider magnets, high-temperature superconductors (HTS) now promise lossless power transmission, compact fusion magnets, efficient renewable systems and new capabilities in healthcare, transport, computing and quantum technologies - all aligned with SDG-17’s emphasis on partnership-driven innovation. Participants also stressed that major hurdles remain. Global competition is accelerating, and Europe must act quickly to secure technological and economic leadership. Doing so will require coordinated investment and supportive policies, including stronger risk capital investment and mechanisms to bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and industrial deployment. The summit set in motion several concrete follow-up priorities, including aligning R&D roadmaps with societal goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; making it easier for public–private consortia to build demonstrators that serve both industry and research needs; and advancing investment pathways that better connect research institutions, governments and the private sector. A series of interviews of key participants is available here: Frédérick Bordry & Milena Roveda Mike Lamont Francesca Ferrazza Peter Schroth Ziad Melhem Pietro Corsaro
Google announces AI Overviews in Gmail search, experimental AI-organized inbox
Last year's premium Gmail AI features are also rolling out to free users.
Scientists are closing in on the Universe’s biggest mystery
Nearly everything in the universe is made of mysterious dark matter and dark energy, yet we can’t see either of them directly. Scientists are developing detectors so sensitive they can spot particle interactions that might occur once in years or even decades. These experiments aim to uncover what shapes galaxies and fuels cosmic expansion. Cracking this mystery could transform our understanding of the laws of nature.
Pop-up experiment reinvents an Aroostook business
“I knew that toys were only going to sell in December and then I was trying to figure out how to pay to heat an 8,000-square-foot building."
Mad Science: The Science of Air Pressure
Mad Science's Radiant Randy joins Kerrigan and Guest Host Steve Serrano to share some fun air pressure experiments.
Lenovo’s second SteamOS handheld is the Legion Go 2
Lenovo continues its Valve experiment.
2023 Ames Earth Science Nuggets
Earth Science (SG) Nuggets – Menu BarHomeNuggets Home2025202420232022 2023 Ames Earth Science Nuggets Earth Science Nuggets are bite-sized, single-page summaries of recent science results, mission highlights, and outreach activities. Back to Earth Science Nuggets Overview about 2023 Ames Earth Science Nuggets march 2023 Portable, Scalable, and Re-usable Science Data Processing Software for NASA Satellite Missions march 2023 Portable, Scalable, and Re-usable Science Data Processing Software for NASA Satellite Missions May 2023 ARC manages field campaign Sub-MesoscaleOcean Dynamics Experiment May 2023 ARC manages field campaign Sub-MesoscaleOcean Dynamics Experiment June 2023 Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) produces database on trace gas and meteorological observations June 2023 Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) produces database on trace gas and meteorological observations july 2023 Earth’s protective stratosphere affected by clouds from below july 2023 Earth’s protective stratosphere affected by clouds from below August 2023 What does global land climate look like at 2 degrees warming? August 2023 What does global land climate look like at 2 degrees warming? Downloads Portable, Scalable, and Re-usable Science Data Processing Software for NASA Satellite Missions Dec 18, 2025 PDF (279.60 KB) ARC manages field campaign Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment Dec 18, 2025 PDF (333.27 KB) Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX) produces database on trace gas and meteorological observations Dec 18, 2025 PDF (332.86 KB) Earth’s protective stratosphere affected by clouds from below Dec 18, 2025 PDF (464.51 KB) What does global land climate look like at 2 degrees warming? Dec 18, 2025 PDF (246.82 KB)
Advanced alien civilizations could be communicating 'like fireflies' in plain sight, researchers suggest
A new paper posits that advanced alien civilizations may communicate through subtle flashes, like fireflies do on Earth. The thought experiment suggests that we need to avoid human biases in our search for extraterrestrial life.
All the laptops that caught our eye at CES 2026
From experimental form factors to slimmer gaming machines and a new wave of AI-focused notebooks, CES 2026 offered an early look at how laptop makers plan to compete this year
Fun Science Experiments to Help Kids Beat the Winter Blues
Notre Dame professor Katie Bibedorf, better known as Kate the Chemist, joins TODAY to share entertaining science experiments you can do at home with the kids including a snowstorm in a jar and a snow slime that produces less of a mess than traditional slime!
Quantum structured light could transform secure communication and computing
Scientists are learning to engineer light in rich, multidimensional ways that dramatically increase how much information a single photon can carry. This leap could make quantum communication more secure, quantum computers more efficient, and sensors far more sensitive. Recent advances have turned what was once an experimental curiosity into compact, chip-based technologies with real-world potential. Researchers say the field is hitting a turning point where impact may soon follow discovery.
Popular Science Experiments In Sound During The 19th-Century
Check one, two; check one, two; is this thing on? Over on The Public Domain Review [Lucas Thompson] takes us for a spin through sound, as it was in Britain around and through the 1800s. The article…
Philosophy to the Rescue of Science
The pessimistic meta-induction—the argument that since past scientific theories have been shown to be false, we should expect that today’s will turn out false, too—makes the New York Times. . Elay Shech, professor of philosophy at Auburn University, takes up the topic in the context of current political disputes about science and our government’s seemingly increasing disregard of expertise: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, made a version of this argument in August when defending his decision to halt hundreds of millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine development despite the objections of vaccine scientists. He said that “science is always evolving” and the experts could not always be trusted. Shech accepts that “many widely accepted [scientific] theories have been discarded” but that the question, “why should we trust the ones we have now?” is misleading. Why? It implies that the only possible attitudes toward science are naïve faith and wholesale pessimism. It assumes that science is a single global entity that rises or falls all at once, when in reality, science is an array of local domains of inquiry, each with its own standards of evidence and degrees of reliability. In place of skepticism, Shech recommends “disciplined trust.” The first step in the direction of disciplined trust is recognizing that “there is no single scientific method used in all of science.” Shech writes: Newton’s deduction from observed phenomena is very different from Darwin’s inference to the best explanation, which in turn differs radically from Einstein’s thought experiments with light beams, trains and elevators. What people call “the scientific method” is really many distinct ways of investigating the world—different strategies for representing, experimenting and classifying. Since different areas of science employ different methods and rely on different kinds of evidence, to make a case for skepticism “you need to look at the evidence and methods in a specific area of inquiry.” And that case will not be “a sweeping claim about all of science” but rather about that particular area of inquiry with, for example, what might turn out to be “well-understood methodological problems.” Shech’s piece is “Science Keeps Changing, So Why Should We Trust It?” (NYT gift link). Discussion welcome (readers are advised to keep in..
Physicists found hidden order in violent proton collisions
Inside high-energy proton collisions, quarks and gluons briefly form a dense, boiling state before cooling into ordinary particles. Researchers expected this transition to change how disordered the system is, but LHC data tell a different story. A newly improved collision model matches experiments better than older ones and reveals that the “entropy” remains unchanged throughout the process. This unexpected result turns out to be a direct fingerprint of quantum mechanics at work.
Scientists find a safer way to make cells burn more calories
Researchers have developed experimental compounds that make cells burn more calories by subtly tweaking how mitochondria produce energy. Older versions of these chemicals were once used for weight loss—but were banned for being deadly. The new approach fine-tunes the effect, allowing cells to burn extra fuel safely. If successful, this could pave the way for new obesity treatments with added health benefits.
China’s “artificial sun” just broke a fusion limit scientists thought was unbreakable
Researchers using China’s “artificial sun” fusion reactor have broken through a long-standing density barrier in fusion plasma. The experiment confirmed that plasma can remain stable even at extreme densities if its interaction with the reactor walls is carefully controlled. This finding removes a major obstacle that has slowed progress toward fusion ignition. The advance could help future fusion reactors produce more power.
An experimental mRNA treatment counters immune cell aging in mice
A trio of mRNA molecules could help guard against the harmful effects of aging on immune cells, a study in mice finds.
Alain Aspect, Nobel laureate in physics: ‘Einstein was so smart that he would have had to recognize quantum entanglement’
The pioneer of quantum computing talks about how Albert Einstein would have reacted to his experiments, the hype around the technology, and the parallels between physics and his new hobby: magic
Trees in Panama's tropical forests are growing longer roots in the face of drought
A long-term experiment reveals tropical forests in Panama are able to adapt to droughts, but scientists warn this short-term "rescue strategy" is unlikely to save them from the impacts of climate change.
Homegrown entertainment catches on across Southeast Asia in 2025
Increase in middle-income earners boosts experimental spending
Digital twins for self-driving chemistry laboratories
Nature Computational Science - Digital twins of self-driving chemistry laboratories may help reduce reliance on costly real-world experimentation and enable the testing of hypothetical automated...
Winter Wonder Days at Great Lakes Science Center -
Winter Wonder Days at the Great Lakes Science Center runs now through January 2, featuring daily holiday-themed programming such as fire-and-ice shows, carpet skating, gingerbread scavenger hunts, icy experiments and more.
10 AI Agent Platforms Every Business Leader Needs To Know
AI agents are moving rapidly from experimentation to everyday business use, but choosing the right platform can feel overwhelming.
D7VK 1.1 Released With An Experimental Direct3D 6 Frontend
Between the DXVK and VKD3D(-Proton) projects there is good support for Direct3D 8 through Direct3D 12 implementations atop the Vulkan API for Linux gaming usage
Santa Science on Studio 3
Mr. Science stopped by Studio 3 with some holiday-themed experiments.
5 AI advertising controversies that turned heads this year, from Meta's AI granny to Coca-Cola's shape-shifting trucks
Brands, from McDonald's to H&M, drew backlash in some quarters over their AI-driven ads and marketing experiments.
The 5 weirdest science experiments in history | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Although science often advances through tried-and-tested methods, sometimes scientists have to find creative ways to test their hypotheses.
This Unusual Plant Might Be One Of Evolution’s "Weirdest Experiments"
It even shares similarities with the parasite that causes malaria.
Cracker jokes and custard chemistry: ways to smuggle science into Christmas
Researchers share the easy ways to uncover moments of festive discovery, proving you don’t need a lab coat to experiment this Christmas
The disunity of science is a feature, not a bug
Mathematical models wield miraculous power, but mistaking them for reality has trapped science in a destructive quest for a “Theory of Everything.” Physicist and philosopher Ragner Fjelland argues that this leads to bloated, Frankenstein theories kept alive by clumsy, ad-hoc amendments, which reduce rather than boost science’s power. Fjelland calls for a radical shift in our attitude: we must reorientate towards creating entirely new theories, celebrating rather than lamenting disunity and diversity in science. Science, from the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century to the present day, has more or less developed in a “reductionist” way. The fundamental assumption is that all sciences may be ordered in a hierarchy that can be represented as an upside-down pyramid. At the top we find the human sciences, and at the bottom physics. Strong (or “ontological”) reductionism maintains that all theories at one level can be completely reduced to the lower level, all the way down to theories of atoms and elementary particles, or whatever is “at the bottom.” In the end, all diversity in the world can be unified in one fundamental theory. Hence it is called a final theory, or a Theory of Everything.One of the central figures in developing the idea of a Theory of Everything is the Dutch theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft, who received a Nobel Prize in physics in 1999 for his work. He emphasizes the non-empirical status of the theory:There exists no closely resembling alternative theory. This means that any slight change brought about in the rules would make the theory unlikely or inelegant. The theory will be a "package deal": take it, or leave it. This should hold both for the local laws and for the boundary conditions.This endeavor is not new. On the contrary, it goes all the way back to the birth of Western philosophy 2,500 years ago. The Babylonians made regular astronomical observations during a period of 600 years, from 747 BCE until 150 ACE. They developed mathematical techniques to predict astronomical phenomena, but they made no attempts at explaining them. However, the Greeks developed models, both material and theoretical, to explain the observed phenomena.The best example is Plato’s late dialogue Timaeus. Here he introduces a divine craftsman, the Demiurge, who has constructed the universe according to an original plan. Plato seems to have thought that the original plan is what is actually real, while the material world is merely an imperfect realization of it. He therefore does not, in the Timaeus, reconstruct the material universe, but the original plan, which can then be used to explain the material universe.Plato’s aim in producing a theoretical model is to reconstruct the original plan. That is what he carries out in Timaeus—and some modern physicists have embarked on the same project. For example, Einstein’s basic attitude is reflected in the title of Abraham Pais’ biography: “Subtle is the Lord...,” echoing Einstein’s comment, “Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.” In an interview Einstein compared our situation to a child who enters a huge library. The child knows that someone has written the books, but he does not know the languages in which they are written. He suspects that there is a mysterious order, but he does not know what it is.___“We have all been working in what Husserl called the Galilean style; that is, we have all been making abstract mathematical models of the universe to which at least the physicists give a higher degree of reality than they accord the ordinary world of sensation.”Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize in Physics (1979)___This Platonist view is contrary to a widespread impression of science, symbolized by the picture of the “father” of modern science, Galileo Galilei, with his telescope. According to this impression, Galileo liberated himself from the dominating metaphysics of his day—basically Aristotelian philosophy—and constructed a telescope that he directed towards the sky, showing that Jupiter has four moons. He also performed experiments with bronze balls rolling down inclined planes and found the law of freely falling bodies.However, in other cases Galileo emphasized the unreliability of our senses. It is easy to see why. He defended Copernicus’ heliocentric hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, we are not at rest at the center of the universe, but moving at a tremendous speed through space. Why don’t we observe this motion? Galileo praises Copernicus because “with reason as his guide he resolutely continued to affirm what sensible experience seemed to contradict.” In other places he directly refers to Plato. SUGGESTED VIEWING The quest for a final theory With Michio Kaku Galileo’s Platonism goes back to his early writings. In The Assayer, published as early as 1623, Galileo compared the universe to a grand book that is written in the language of mathematics, and “its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it.” Therefore, things that cannot be described by mathematics—for example, colors, smells and odors—are not real. They are merely subjective.This division into subjective and objective, advocated by Galileo and his younger contemporary René Descartes, is normally associated with a mechanistic world view, which is regarded as the opposite of Platonism. When we reduce something to, for example, molecules and atoms, we move “downwards.” In contrast, the Platonist moves “upwards,” to abstract entities. However, it only shows that when we address fundamental questions, we should be careful in applying everyday spatial metaphors like “up” and “down.”___Nature is complex, and we cannot in general construct mathematical models that adequately describe the world.___The endeavor of finding a Theory of Everything has been heavily criticized. In 2006, the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin published “The Crisis in Fundamental Physics.” He argued that one of the most fundamental principles of science is that we should only regard theories as scientific if we have the possibility to show that they are false by experiments. Although he did not refer to Karl Popper, other critics have referred to Popper and argued that a theory is not scientific if it cannot be falsified (see for example Ellis & Silk 2014).These were not the first physicists to be anti-reductionists. In 1972, the journal Science published an article by the physicist Philip Anderson with the title “More Is Different.” This is the kind of article a scientist would normally write only after he has won a Nobel Prize. However, Anderson won the Nobel Prize for physics five years later, in 1977. The article is amazing, not primarily because it argues in favor of anti-reductionism in general, but because it argues for anti-reductionism within physics itself. Anderson’s conclusion was:At each stage entirely new laws, concepts, and generalizations are necessary, requiring inspiration and creativity to just as great a degree as in the previous one. Psychology is not applied biology, nor is biology applied chemistry.We may say that Plato started the “unity of science movement,” based on Euclidean geometry as the model of all knowledge. A distinguishing mark of geometry is that all possible constructions can be reduced to a few fundamental principles. We have to acknowledge that this approach has limitations. In general, we can easily model technological systems. In addition, we may construct simplified and idealized models that capture important aspects of systems, from various perspectives and for various purposes. But nature is complex, and we cannot in general construct mathematical models that adequately describe the world. In a complex system, each level has its distinct, emergent, properties that are characteristic of this level. Therefore, a complex system should be investigated at different levels and from different perspectives. Instead of exclusively pursuing a scientific ideal based on the unity of science, we should acknowledge the diversity—or even the disunity—of science.
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Teen’s video a ‘Breakthrough’ in science communication
Seventeen-year-old Grace Lee from Chula Vista is gaining national attention as a finalist in the global Breakthrough Junior Challenge, an annual competition that invites students to create original videos explaining complex scientific ideas in creative and engaging ways. Founded in 2015, the contest encourages young people to break down advanced scientific theories using imagination and storytelling— “Steven Spielberg meets Albert Einstein,” as organizers describe it. Lee’s submission centers on the principle of least time in physics, a concept that explains why light always travels the path that takes the least amount of time. To bring the idea to life, she used intricate origami characters and stop-motion animation, along with simple at-home experiments, she said. “The fact that light always travels via the path that takes the least amount of time sounds simple at first, but nature is full of surprises,” she said. “This principle is actually very profound and underlies many different fields in physics that seem completely unrelated, from optics to Newton’s laws to Einstein’s theory of relativity.” Also, origami has long been one of her passions and integrating it into her project felt natural. She often makes origami gifts for friends and teaches origami in her school clubs. “A single 10-second scene would take hours to craft,” she said, noting the mixture of stop-motion and post-production editing required to animate expressions and movement. To ensure the science remained accurate and accessible, she spent time reading books and online resources, writing a script, creating a storyboard, and filming and editing repeatedly until the visuals worked.The experiments were among the biggest challenges. To demonstrate water waves, she used everyday household items — “a spatula and an electric toothbrush to vibrate the waves, glass in a baking pan for different depths, and an iPhone flashlight so the waves would be visible.” She also put careful thought into explaining the principle through analogies, including a gingerbread man and a fox. “Analogies and visuals are incredibly important,” she said. “Visual demonstrations allow viewers to see how the science actually works.” Beyond the competition, Lee is deeply involved in science leadership and advocacy. She serves as International President of miRcore, the world’s largest student computational biology organization, with 136 chapters across five countries. She leads a 20-member executive board, organizes outreach connecting schools worldwide, and has helped run workshops at locations including Scripps Research Institute and the University of Michigan. “I used to be intimidated,” she said, but she gradually grew her skills and confidence. “Now I am no longer afraid to use my voice and enthusiasm to bring out the best in others.” Her research experience includes two peer-reviewed papers on asthma and vaping. Misconceptions around vaping, she said, show why clear science communication matters. “Our research shows that there is long-term harm to your lungs on the cellular level that isn’t obvious unless you come down with an illness like the flu,” she said. Lee also founded Full Hearts at Eastlake High School, transforming the small club into one of the school’s largest, with hands-on service projects in partnership with local nonprofits. She continues mentoring younger students to sustain the mission. If she wins the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, Grace hopes the $100,000 science lab prize for her school will expand opportunities for students who have limited access to equipment and hands-on science outside the classroom.