Kilogram Redefined. The Metric System Overhaul Is Complete
On the morning of Friday, November 16, scientists and diplomats crammed into an auditorium in Versailles, a stone’s throw from the Sun King’s gilded chateau. Patrick Abbott, an American physicist, had flown into France for the long weekend. Forehead gleaming and blue suit jacket draped across his lap, Abbott watched from a packed balcony as…
Trump's Immigration Speech Won't Change Minds, Science Says
When President Trump first announced he would deliver a primetime address about the border wall, people objected. They argued that the networks shouldn’t run it, given Trump’s record of lying about immigration issues and the precedent of not airing presidential speeches deemed purely political. Misinformation experts warned that if news organizations do air the speech,…
China’s Moon Lander Wakes Up From Its Long, Ultra-Cold Night
We already know it’s chilly on the moon. A lunar night lasts 14 Earth days, and its temperatures can dip into a cold so punishing it makes the polar vortex look like a hot tub. But yesterday, China’s space agency announced that the frigidity of the lunar night is even more intense than we’d thought:…
You Can Drink Champagne in Space—Yes, Really
Space travel used to be something that only people with the right stuff could experience. But advances in commercial space tourism is changing all of that. Virgin Galactic is registering passengers online. SpaceX announced it would send two lucky passengers around the moon in the next year or two. But space travel is still likely…
Dark Matter Hunters Are Looking Inside Rocks for New Clues
In nearly two dozen underground laboratories scattered all over the earth, using vats of liquid or blocks of metal and semiconductors, scientists are looking for evidence of dark matter. Their experiments are getting more complicated, and the search is getting more precise, yet aside from a much-contested signal coming from a lab in Italy, nobody…
For Pi Day, Calculate Pi Yourself Using Two Colliding Balls
This is at least my ninth year of writing about Pi Day—here is my post from 2010. Of course it's called Pi Day because the date, 3/14, is similar to the first three digits of pi (3.1415 …). At this point I've built up a whole library of fun things in honor of Pi Day.…
Tonight: Watch SpaceX Announce Its First Passenger to the Moon
Update: Read our coverage of the event—and the reveal of Yusaku Maezawa as SpaceX's mystery passenger. Tonight will be a big night for space tourism. SpaceX, the private spaceflight company spearheaded by Elon Musk, will reveal the identity of the mystery passenger who booked a trip around the moon on the company's massive BFR rocket.…
Don't Save the Planet for the Planet. Do It for the Beer
What beer wants to know is, why do you hate America? How can you just sit in front of the game on Super Bowl Sunday, ice cold domestic lager close to hand, and not consider the future of that great institution? No, not the Super Bowl—the beer. Beer is America. Americans drank 2.9 billion cases…
When Your Phone Sucks You Into the Void, This App Notices
Every night, an hour before bed, I stash my phone inside a drawer in my living room. Most days I retrieve it the following morning, when I'm heading out the door. It's a simple habit, but one that has helped me reclaim some focus from my smartphone—my personal fix for a growing problem that user…
We Can Still Avoid a Repeat of Last Year's Deadly Flu Season
As flu season nears its annual peak, between 8 million and 9.5 million people in the US have already been sickened by various strains of the respiratory virus, according to new estimates released Friday by federal health officials. That report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also estimates that approximately 100,000 people have…