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This story is part of a special package being published this week about the barriers Black physicists face and potential models for change. Read more C. Smith/Science Physicist Mary James was a sophomore at Hampshire College in Massachusetts in 1974 when a professor encouraged her to apply for a prestigious internship at a world-class laboratory. … Read more
The map of a distant, lobe-shaped object called Arrokoth (2014 MU69) now has official names to accompany the images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. After the spacecraft zoomed by the lobe-shaped world in 2019, managers of the mission — most famous for its flyby of Pluto four years before — announced the proposed feature names … Read more
This story is part of a special package being published this week about the barriers Black physicists face and potential models for change. Read more C. Smith/Science Roy Clarke missed the freewheeling atmosphere of the legendary Bell Telephone Laboratories after he left Bell to join the physics faculty at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann … Read more
The sharp mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope will finally be able to probe into the atmospheres of sub-Neptunes, which are mysterious planets that aren’t found anywhere near Earth. The observatory is in the middle of a commissioning period that will last until about June. But when it is ready, the observatory will seek out sub-Neptunes … Read more
Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin. You’re probably familiar with the concept of evolution. Living things evolve by accumulating genetic changes, which are then weeded out or preserved through a process of natural selection. Turns out the same thing happens in music. And by using the same software that’s used to … Read more
Get ready to shake in your seat and squeal in terror with this collection of the best space horror games. They say that in space no one can hear you scream, but you’re not in space, so scream as loud as you like! We think all of the titles mentioned here are worth checking out … Read more
In the late 19th century, Florence Nightingale revolutionized hospital design in what became known as Nightingale wards. The signature innovation of these wards was large windows that allowed cross-ventilation and abundant natural light. Nightingale believed that the light and air quality in a hospital’s environment play an important role in speeding patient recovery. In the … Read more
Blood vessels are pretty important when it comes to the healthy functioning of the body, and researchers and health professionals need to know as much as possible about where these tiny transport channels are going. A newly developed 3D visualization technique should help. It’s called VascuViz, and it uses a quick-setting polymer mixture that … Read more
Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has unleashed an outpouring of condemnation from scientists and research organizations worldwide. Some organizations in Western nations have moved to quickly sever links with Russia—cutting off funding and resources and ending collaborations with Russian scientists. And from Mauritius to Latvia, national science academies and groups of researchers have issued statements … Read more
Scientists can now reliably create a strange quantum object called a domain wall. The discovery could lead to new quantum technology and to a better understanding of quantum particles in general. Domain walls form when groups of atoms at very low temperatures segregate into different clumps, or “domains.” Between those domains forms a “wall” that … Read more