Interspersed with the plot of Particle Fever are artful explanatory animations and commentary by six articulate physicists. Through these characters, we learn that the Higgs is a stepping stone toward a deeper understanding of the universe.
Coral polyps kick up a whirling vortex of water by whipping their hairlike cilia back and forth in the photography winner of the 2013 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.
A gliding snake gets some lift by spreading its ribs, but much about its flight remains a mystery.
Biological fuel cells that generate electricity by harnessing sugars and oxygen in the body may one day power implanted devices in humans and other animals.
Recent advances in controlling the quantum behavior of particles have inspired physicists to dream of a global clock that would tell the same time everywhere. It would be hundreds of times as accurate as current atomic clocks.
Astronomers say they have glimpsed a brightly lit strand of the cosmic web, the universe’s underlying structure
Insects and green slime may justify the slow mammal’s risky descent from trees.
The mantis shrimp sees each color separately with one of a dozen kinds of specialized cells, a system that may help the animal quickly see colors without a lot of brainpower.
DNA binding creates potentially nontoxic tumor-targeting structures.
Pollinators tricked into mating with a plant become harder to fool a second time.
Mating with evolutionary cousins produced genetic trade-offs for Stone Age people.
A DNA-snipping technique inspired by bacteria shows therapeutic promise.
Tiny synthetic structures modeled after bone are as sturdy as metal.
Ancient Chinese fossil beds were preserved by high-speed rivers of volcanic rock and gas.
An experiment has simulated the long-sought magnetic particle.
A new prosthetic hand restores a sense of touch by stimulating nerves in the arm.
Drug that lowers chloride levels in brain cells staves off symptoms in mice and rats.
Blue straggler stars can continue to burn hot after taking material from a stellar companion.
Fusion energy output hits modest milestone at National Ignition Facility.
A surprising affinity for moving across the forest floor may aid threatened apes.
Grey seals and beluga whales encounter killer microbes as ranges change.
Lead paint under the surface of the work gives away the artist’s indecisiveness.
Tagged with sensors, toothy fish gather weather and climate data in remote Pacific waters.
The hottest thing in human evolution studies right now is DNA extracted from hominid fossils. Svante Pääbo, the dean of ancient-gene research, explains in Neandertal Man how it all began when he bought a piece of calf liver at a supermarket in 1981.
Me, Myself, and Why is an ambitious effort to dissect the hodgepodge of genetic and environmental factors that sculpt people’s identities.
With mighty bursts of rehydration, bacterial spores offer a new source of renewable energy.
Of the 51 tons of antibiotics consumed every day in the United States, about 80 percent goes into animal production.
From the February 29, 1964, issue: Psychologists are as puzzled as parents over the explosive effect the Beatles are having on American teen-agers.
