A planet born from a dead star? Hubble saw the clue in 1999: niobium, never before seen in a white dwarf. Here is what astronomers found, and why it matters.
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Bethe Strings: A 1931 Prediction Physicists Can Now Build
Bethe strings were predicted in 1931 and first glimpsed in a magnet in 2018. Now physicists have built them from atoms. What was found, and why it took so long.
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Quark-Gluon Plasma Behaves Like a Liquid. One Quark’s Wake Shows It.
Quark-gluon plasma, the matter that filled the newborn universe, flows like a liquid. One quark’s wake showed it. What was found, and what is still unknown.
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Jumping Gene BC200: A Brain Helper Found Inside a Virus
The jumping gene BC200 helps human brain cells and still moves through DNA. Scientists found two copies of it hiding inside a skin virus. Here is what it means.
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The Moon Cave That Might Be Hiding Under This Hole
NASA just picked a mission to find out if a hole on the Moon opens into a moon cave. What the radar already saw in 2017, and why rock beats anything we build.
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Chang’e-6 Moon Samples Hold Iron Never Found on the Moon Before — and It May Remember
Chang’e-6 moon samples from the far side hold a form of iron never found on the Moon before. Its tiny grains may keep a magnetic record for billions of years.
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What Is the Butterfly Effect? A Rounded Number Started It
What is the butterfly effect? In 1961 a scientist rounded one number and got a whole new forecast. What he really found, and what the famous phrase gets wrong.
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What Is Murphy’s Law? It Began as a Warning, Not a Curse
What is Murphy’s Law? “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” The engineer it is named for meant it as a warning, not a curse. Here is the real story.
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What Is the Overview Effect? What Astronauts See From Space
What is the overview effect? Why astronauts who see Earth whole come home changed, what the research found, and why the same view gave them different answers.
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Doomsday Equation: 13 November 2026, and What Went Right
The doomsday equation, published in 1960, said our numbers would hit infinity on 13 November 2026. It won’t happen, and the reason is the best part.