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Physics

Einstein enjoyed a 20-year friendship with African-American civil rights leader and actor Paul Robeson (far right). Also shown are former vice president Henry Wallace (left) and Lewis L. Wallace of Princeton University (second from right).

How Albert Einstein Used His Fame to Denounce American Racism

The world-renowned physicist was never one to just stick to the science

This photo shows the Berkeley 60-inch cyclotron, build in 1939. The year before, technetium-99 was discovered by Emilio Segrè and Glenn Seaborg using the facility's 37-inch cyclotron. Ernest Lawrence, the cyclotron's inventor, is standing, third from left.

Old Particle Accelerator Tech Might Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Shortages of important supplies for nuclear medicine has researchers looking for answers on how to produce technetium-99

Babe Ruth's first major-league team was the Boston Red Sox, where he was a star player. When he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, the "Curse of the Bambino" began and the Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004.

Why Was Babe Ruth So Good At Hitting Home Runs?

People have been using science on the Great Bambino since the 1920s

Frogs have a sticky secret: spit.

New Research

Special Spit Helps Frogs Get a Grip on Insects

Secretly sticky spit snatches snacks, study shows

CERN Weasel 2

Trending Today

Museum Displays the Weasel that Brought Down Particle Physics

A stone marten that disrupted the Large Hadron Collider in November goes on display in Rotterdam in an exhibit about human-animal mishaps

New Research

Scientists Capture a “Sonic Boom” of Light

A new, ultra-fast camera recorded the phenomenon for the first time

Being stuck in a crowd can be an overwhelming experience. Physicists and computer scientists bring some order to the chaos.

How Fluid Dynamics Can Help You Navigate Crowds

If you plan to be in a seething mass of humans at some point—whether it’s an inauguration or protest thereof—here’s how to keep yourself safe

The bow-shaped wave on Venus

New Research

Scientists Spot Massive Wave in Venus’ Atmosphere

The 6,200-mile long bow-shaped wrinkle may have been caused by gravity waves

It can get much, much colder than this.

New Research

Scientists Make the Coldest Object on Earth

Researchers cooled a tiny aluminum drum almost to absolute zero and think they can go even further

Dendrite Star snowflake

Cool Finds

This Historical Figure Wore the Label “Snowflake” With Pride

Wilson Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snowflake in 1885

There's more to H20 than meets the eye.

New Research

Scientists Find That Water Might Exist in a Whole New State

Think water comes in just liquid, ice and gas? Think again

Besides exceptional facial hair, what could these two gentlemen have in common?

Think Big

The Hidden Connections Between Darwin and the Physicist Who Championed Entropy

These magnificently bearded men both introduced a dose of randomness and irreversibility into the universe

The Nobel Prize, named after the repentant creator of dynamite, has been awarded nearly every year since 1901.

What Does It Take to Win a Nobel Prize? Four Winners, in Their Own Words

Some answers: Messiness, ignorance and puzzles

Obi the parrotlet

New Research

How a Goggle-Wearing Parrot Could Help Future Robots Fly

By flying through a haze and lasers, Obi the parrotlet helped researchers figure out how much lift birds produce

New Research

Was the Speed of Light Even Faster in the Early Universe?

Physicists propose a way to test if light exceeded Einstein’s constant just after the Big Bang

OK Go for launch: Andy Ross, Tim Nordwind, Damian Kulash Jr. and Dan Konopka

American Ingenuity Awards

How OK Go Has Revolutionized the Music Video

To pull off one of their most daring videos, they needed a borrowed Russian transport jet, spreadsheets and calculus, and a lot of motion-sickness medicine

LIGO's founding fathers, from left: Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish. Not pictured: Ronald Drever

American Ingenuity Awards

Meet the Team of Scientists Who Discovered Gravitational Waves

This year, the geniuses behind LIGO announced that they had finally found what Albert Einstein had predicted a century ago

Electron escaping a helium atom

New Research

Meet the Zeptosecond, the Smallest Slice of Time Yet Recorded

Using an two types of lasers, researchers measured the ejection of helium electrons with previously unheard of precision

Sylvester James Gates, a theoretical physicist and voice for faith and science.

Think Big

Why Theoretical Physicist Sylvester James Gates Sees No Conflict Between Science and Religion

“I got used to the idea that questions had answers.”

In the team's new approach, the whole shape of the wing can be changed, and twisted uniformly along its length, by activating two small motors that apply a twisting pressure to each wingtip.

NASA’s New, Super-Efficient Airplane Wing Comes With a Twist

The agency and several universities have designed a flexible wing that could reduce the cost of building and fueling airplanes

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