The Courage to Be Wrong: Reading the Biography of Stephen Hawking
In July 2010, the editorial department of Scientific American —where at the time I was on staff—received a review copy of a book was slated to come out in September.
Degrees of Freedom
The boundless dimensions of math and physics
Book Review: Our Magnetic Earth, by Ronald Merrill
A magnetic sense is now well documented in dozens of animal species. It turns out that tracking the geomagnetic field—that same invisible thing that points compasses—is handy for life, in lots of situations...
The Reawakening of X-Ray Delta One
--Come in, Dave. Dave, come in. Do you read me, Dave? Please come in, Dave. --Wh… where am I? --I am glad you are waking up, Dave. Your vital signs were fairly normal but I was having difficulties reawakening you...
Waiting for the Higgs, With the Man Who Built the LHC
They call it “the machine.”Thousands of physicists working at the LHC are looking for the Higgs boson and other new particles, and many of them have contributed to building the gigantic detectors that are taking most of the media limelight these days.But humming 100 meters under the Franco-Swiss border is the apparatus that makes it all possible...
Where's My Higgs? LHC Physicist Joe Lykken Speaks
On December 13, CERN will release the results of a new data analysis in the search for the Higgs boson. at the LHC. As I was reporting my article, which appeared today, on December 7 I spoke on the phone with Joe Lykken, a Fermilab staff theoretical physicist...
The Man Who Put the "Big" in "Big Bang": Alan Guth on Inflation
On the night of December 6, 1979--32 years ago today--Alan Guth had the “spectacular realization” that would soon turn cosmology on its head. He imagined a mind-bogglingly brief event, at the very beginning of the big bang, during which the entire universe expanded exponentially, going from microscopic to cosmic size...
A Step-by-Step Guide to Cosmology s Best-Kept Secret
In my previous post, I described the little-known and somewhat counterintuitive idea that objects in the distant universe appear larger and larger the farther they are, in a reversal of the usual rules of perspective...
The Cosmic Magnifying Lens
The observable universe is one big, giant magnifying lens.At large distances, objects appear to be larger than their true size, and the farther they are, the bigger they look.
On the Physics Nobels, The Atlantic Gets Dark Energy All Wrong
The piece run by The Atlantic last week on the Nobel Prizes for Physics, sadly, contained a number of misleading or inaccurate statements on physics and cosmology.Gregg Easterbrook, the journalist who wrote it, has a storied past as a science writer...
"`We Hate Math,' Say 4 in 10 -- a Majority of Americans"
How did I miss this until now? This clip has apparently been making the rounds of the Interwebs for years, but I couldn't resist posting it after I saw it on Facebook this morning.
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
Read
Anecdotes from the Archive
STAFF
Read
Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
Read
Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
Read
Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
Read
Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
Read
Dark Star Diaries
STAFF
Read
Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
Read
Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
Read
Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
Read
Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
Read
Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
Read
Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
Read
Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
Read
Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
Read
Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
Read
Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
Read
Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
Read
SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
Read
Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
Read
The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
Read
Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
Read
