Physical Science

What was once fringe science is becoming mainstream — scientists now believe that humans may be able to detect Earth's magnetic field.

By Jesslyn Shields

Whether the circle is as big as planet Mars or as small as a tennis ball, the ratio of its circumference divided by its diameter will always equal pi (3.14). But why?

By Marshall Brain & Dave Roos

If you've ever had a half-frozen beer explode on you, you know that yes, alcohol freezes — but not all types freeze at the same rate. We'll let you in on the secrets to frozen alcoholic delights.

By Alison Cooper

It’s the ultimate cheat sheet for science class — and it’s right there hanging on the wall. What do you really know about the indispensable periodic table of elements?

By Nathan Chandler

The story of how the first new blue pigment in 200 years was discovered and took its place in the crayon box.

By Loraine Fick

The proposed collider would dwarf the existing Large Hadron Collider. But is the $22 billion price tag worth it?

By John Perritano

Autopsies have been around since ancient times, but they seem so shrouded in secrecy. What goes on when a corpse goes under the knife?

By Mark Mancini

We hold our nose and investigate.

By Carrie Tatro

Is it its own special type of particle? A wave that's flowing through another medium? Or is there some creepy, unknown substance surrounding us that we simply don't perceive or understand?

By Nathan Chandler

For more than a century, the mass of a kilogram was defined by a weight stored in a French vault. But now, instead of a hunk of metal, the kilogram's mass will be tied to a mathematical equation.

By Dave Roos

You know that sound synonymous with a certain laser blaster from a galaxy far, far away? Yeah. It sounds like that.

By Mark Mancini

Why do most of us start relaxing as soon as we smell lavender or vanilla? Is it the memories they conjure up or is there a chemical reason?

By Dave Roos

The scutoid is kind of like the Higgs boson. Researchers theorized the new shape existed. And then they went looking for it.

Sir Michael Atiyah says he has proven the Riemann Hypothesis, one of the long-unsolved problems in mathematics.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Something very strange is afoot above the frozen landscape of Antarctica.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Forensic linguists may never get their own TV show, but these scientists do help solve crimes in their own way.

By John Donovan

We caught up with everyone's favorite boson to see what it's been up to and exactly how it decays.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

CERN researchers have successfully tested a new way of accelerating electrons to high energies through proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration.

By Patrick J. Kiger

You probably have a bottle of the stuff at your house. Have you ever seen it come in any color bottle besides brown?

By John Perritano

The Trump administration quietly changed the rules on asbestos use in the U.S. What does that mean?

By John Donovan

Spanish researchers recently uncovered a new geometric shape that allows human tissue to curve. But how?

By Robert Lamb

You've heard of Google, but what about a Googol? If not, then this tutorial is for you.

By Mark Mancini

Scientists have developed a blood test that can give an approximate age of a person within an hour.

By Alia Hoyt

Scientists are using 3-D printers to make human corneas, an advancement that could end the perennial shortage of corneas from donors.

By Laurie L. Dove

Our fingerprints serve to definitively identify us forever, right? But do they? How long do fingerprints remain usable as identification after we are dead?

By Patrick J. Kiger