Science Dictionary

He starred with Superman, drove the getaway car at Pluto's demise and was voted sexiest astrophysicist by People magazine. Is there anything Neil deGrasse Tyson can't do?

By Laurie L. Dove

He is famous for a phrase he never said, for wearing turtlenecks and for hosting the original 'Cosmos' TV series. As enthusiastic about the stars as he was about marijuana, Carl Sagan led a very surprising life.

By Laurie L. Dove

From astronauts to doctors to an archaeologist, we present eight scientists whose contributions to science, engineering and math were inseparable from their identities as Indigenous Americans.

By Dave Roos

Under the right conditions, hot water can somehow freeze faster than cold water. It's called the Mpemba effect. We'll explain how it happens.

By Dylan Ris

Einstein famously called the phenomenon "spooky action at a distance," and physicists just won the Nobel Prize for their work on it, but what is quantum entanglement?

By Andreas Muller

Van Allen Radiation Belts, two zones encircling the earth in which there are relatively large numbers of high-energy (fast-moving) charged particles.

By Yara Simón

The number 137, which is significant in multiple applications, has long been an object of fascination for physicists, mathematicians and mystics.

By Patrick J. Kiger & Austin Henderson

Questions, theories and debates about quantum physics can get muddled because of a number of myths and misconceptions. Here are four of them.

By Alessandro Fedrizzi & Mehul Malik