Sean Carroll: The multiverse might be impossible to test directly. Even if such a theory were true, the worry goes, how would we ever know? Is it scientific to even talk about it?
As a ball rolled down an incline, young Sylvester James Gates, along with the other students in his class, were tasked with timing it and observing the principles of mechanics in action. “I saw a piece of magic happen right before my very eyes,” he says. “Because, while I was well aware that mathematics was…
Researchers from Australia have developed a genetic test that can predict an individual’s risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). The test will be particularly useful to detect autism in people whose families have a history of the developmental disorder. ASDs are a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral…
Over the years of writing and teaching, I have tried to free myself of constraints I felt, limits to the range of exploration I could make, to the kind of intuition I could credit. I realized gradually that my own religion, and religion in general, could and should disrupt these constraints, which amount to a…
The 12 matter particles we know about are all the types there are, according to researchers analysing CERN data. Matter particles, also called fermions, are the elementary components of the universe, making up everything visible in the universe. “For a long time, however, it was not clear whether we know all components,” says Professor Ulrich…
Humans have created some pretty ingenious myths to explain the world around us: the sun and the moon chase each other across the sky because of an ancient disagreement or lustful encounter; a strangely shaped Hawaiian mountain called Nounou is a sleeping giant; the ostrich’s long neck is the result of straining to keep an…
Brain researchers and philosophers of mind have focused on brain processes, neural computations, and their correspondences with the physical world. But what if we should be focusing on what is not there instead? Author Metanexus Editors