Context
Science past and present
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Cosmology
Top 10 cosmological discoveries
The cosmic microwave background radiation has played a part in many of cosmology’s greatest discoveries.
- Cosmology
Inflation rides gravity waves into cosmological history
The discovery of gravity waves in the cosmic microwave radiation signals the success of inflationary cosmology.
- Science & Society
Top 10 scientists of the 13th century
Modern science began to emerge in Western Europe centuries before the Scientific Revolution, thanks to a few scholars who were ahead of their time.
- Science & Society
Medieval cosmology meets modern mathematics
Applying modern math to Robert Grosseteste’s theory of the heavenly spheres reveals a medieval idea’s similarity to modern cosmology.
- Physics
Key to free will may be stripping reality naked
If reality emerges from an unseen foundation, human free will could influence the future.
- Quantum Physics
Finding a quantum way to make free will possible
Maybe quantum influences from the Big Bang make humans unpredictable, permitting the possibility of free will.
- Quantum Physics
Einstein was wrong about spooky quantum entanglement
Einstein’s biggest blunder wasn’t about vacuum energy in space, but in confusing people about quantum entanglement.
- Math
There’s something suspicious about using statistics to test statistics
The use of statistics to validate medical studies suffers from flaws of faulty assumptions.
- Math
To make science better, watch out for statistical flaws
Study denying that most medical research papers are wrong may turn out to be wrong.
- Quantum Physics
Tom’s Top 10 interpretations of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics has given birth to dozens of interpretations, which themselves need interpretations.
- Physics
Quarks celebrate their 50th anniversary
In a 1997 interview with Context blogger Tom Siegfried, Murray Gell-Mann discussed the origin of the idea for the subatomic particles that he named quarks.
- Quantum Physics
Gell-Mann, Hartle spin a quantum narrative about reality
The “consistent histories” approach to quantum physics removes any role for people in creating “quasiclassical” reality.
