Context

Science past and present

  1. Science & Society

    Informed wisdom trumps rigid rules when it comes to medical evidence

    Narrative reviews of medical evidence offer benefits that the supposedly superior systematic approach can’t.

    By Tom Siegfried
  2. Cosmology

    Remembering Joe Polchinski, the modest physicist who conceived a multiverse

    String theorists lament the death of Joe Polchinski, one of their field’s most esteemed and respected thinkers.

    By Tom Siegfried
  3. Science & Society

    Top 10 papers from Physical Review’s first 125 years

    The most prestigious journal in physics celebrates its 125th anniversary, highlighting dozens of its most famous papers.

    By Tom Siegfried
  4. Astronomy

    Speed of universe’s expansion remains elusive

    A discrepancy between two measures of the universe’s expansion rate suggests the presence of some unknown astronomical feature.

    By Tom Siegfried
  5. Science & Society

    2018’s Top 10 science anniversaries

    2018’s Top 10 anniversaries include notable birthdays and discoveries in math, science and medicine.

    By Tom Siegfried
  6. Science & Society

    First controlled nuclear chain reaction achieved 75 years ago

    The anniversary of the first controlled nuclear chain reaction marks an achievement of immigrants who served America in World War II.

    By Tom Siegfried
  7. Science & Society

    Philosophical critique exposes flaws in medical evidence hierarchies

    Rankings of research methods for validity of medical evidence suffer from logical flaws, an in-depth philosophical critique concludes.

    By Tom Siegfried
  8. Science & Society

    An American astronomical evangelist coined the phrase ‘island universe’

    Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel, a Civil War general nicknamed ‘Old Stars,’ first used ‘island universe’ in his monthly astronomy magazine.

    By Tom Siegfried
  9. Quantum Physics

    Quantum mysteries dissolve if possibilities are realities

    Quantum mysteries can be avoided if reality encompasses possibilities as well as actualities, a new paper proposes.

    By Tom Siegfried
  10. Science & Society

    Debates on whether science is broken don’t fit in tweets

    Amid debates over whether science is broken, many experts are proposing repairs.

    By Tom Siegfried
  11. Astronomy

    Eclipses show wrong physics can give right results

    Math for making astronomical predictions doesn’t necessarily reflect physical reality.

    By Tom Siegfried
  12. Quantum Physics

    Modern-day Alice trades looking glass for wormhole to explore quantum wonderland

    A new paper shows how the possibility of wormholes linking quantum-entangled black holes could be tested in the laboratory.

    By Tom Siegfried