Philip Ball
05 June 2025
Is there really another planet out there?
2017 OF201 is the largest object to have been found in our solar system for more than a decade
Read the full article05 June 2025
The rise of bombs: how physics lost its innocence
How did an inquiry into the laws of nature produce a form of technology capable of annihilating civilisation?
Read the full article28 May 2025
Is science failing, or are we failing science?
Truly groundbreaking scientific discoveries may be on the decline – but it’s not because we’ve run out of big ideas
Read the full article21 May 2025
Why is Trump's America anti-science?
The US has long led the science world but now, researchers are moving abroad to continue their work
Read the full article14 May 2025
Is there a colour we’ve never seen before?
Scientists at the University of California claim to have created a new colour, called ‘olo’, which is outside the human visual spectrum
Read the full article07 May 2025
The dire truth about ‘de-extinction’
The creation of a genetically modified Ice Age wolf has sparked a scientific backlash over the politicisation of ‘de-extinction’
Read the full article30 April 2025
Is there life in a galaxy far, far away?
Astronomers have detected potential biosignatures on exoplanet K2-18b, but experts warn that the evidence is inconclusive
Read the full article23 April 2025
Unearthing the secrets of dark energy
Astronomers have discovered that the mysterious force accelerating the universe’s expansion appears to be weakening over time
Read the full article09 April 2025
A new glitch in the cosmic code
New findings at Cern offer tantalising clues to why the universe contains matter rather than antimatter – but answers remain elusive
Read the full article02 April 2025
The cancer vaccines under threat from MAGA
Researchers have developed a promising vaccine for pancreatic cancer, but its future is uncertain due to Robert F Kennedy Jr
Read the full article26 March 2025
The return of Nasa’s ‘stranded’ astronauts
The politicisation of SpaceX’s routine mission raises concerns over Nasa’s reliance on the increasingly erratic Elon Musk
Read the full article19 March 2025
What we can learn from Covid
The government is planning a major drill this autumn to test the UK’s readiness in the event of a new pandemic
Read the full article12 March 2025
Critical Mass: A cosmic close call that wasn’t
The chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Earth and causing catastrophic damage were always small, but the probability has now been downgraded to 0.001%
Read the full article05 March 2025
Trump’s war on science
The president’s funding freezes, gagging orders and ideological purges are wreaking havoc on US scientific research
Read the full article26 February 2025
Why conspiracists love bird flu
Despite the lessons from the pandemic, the demagogues and their followers are all too ready to embrace a cult of death
Read the full article12 February 2025
The scientific reality of Trump 2.0
As a universal criterion applied to individuals, the president’s executive order on gender ideology is hopeless
Read the full article05 February 2025
The quantum leap: a century of innovation
It’s 100 years since Werner Heisenberg developed the theory of quantum mechanics. No one could possibly have imagined how this discovery would be put to use in the future
Read the full article29 January 2025
The ethics and risks of editing our DNA
Polygenic editing – making changes to DNA – is now a reality. But are the medical benefits outweighed by the ethical risks and hidden dangers?
Read the full article22 January 2025
Do we trust algorithms too much?
As they can only take into account what they are given, they are fallible
Read the full article15 January 2025
Google’s Willow is a quantum leap in computing
The tech giant’s groundbreaking new chip is a gamechanger in the field of supercomputers – and the basis of powerful and potentially transformative technologies
Read the full article08 January 2025
What can Beethoven teach us about genetics?
The great German composer’s genetic makeup illustrates the dangers of polygenic screening
Read the full article01 January 2025
Will we return to the moon in 2025?
Nasa’s Artemis II mission is scheduled to orbit the moon in September, but don’t hold your breath – it’s already been put back more than once
Read the full article18 December 2024
What does the future hold for AI?
The scientific developments in AI in 2024 were just the tip of the iceberg
Read the full article11 December 2024
Why the Human Cell Atlas is so important
It may not quite be ‘Google Maps of the human body’, but it’s not far off
Read the full article04 December 2024
US scientists must be ready to face an onslaught
Donald Trump's picks for the big science and technology jobs seem calculated to spread despair. Scientists need to formulate a robust response
Read the full article27 November 2024
Critical Mass: Cracking the quantum gravity puzzle
Physicists are searching for evidence of the existence of particles known as gravitons – to determine if gravity is a ‘quantum’ affair
Read the full article20 November 2024
Max Planck's lessons for scientists
In times of state corruption and political interference, scientists remain ‘apolitical’ at their peril
Read the full article13 November 2024
Do we need a modern Darwin?
Biology is notoriously conservative about bold new ideas, so even the suggestion of modernising the evolutionary theory has caused a stir
Read the full article07 November 2024
Critical Mass: Science’s love-hate relationship with the Standard Model
For years, scientists have been trying to undermine the cornerstone of modern fundamental physics, but it stubbornly refuses to break
Read the full article30 October 2024
Understanding the science of water
We need water to survive. So why is ensuring its presence so controversial?
Read the full article23 October 2024
Can science save democracy?
The gap between academia and reality needs to be closed when navigating today's political climate
Read the full article14 October 2024
Who won the Nobel Prizes of 2024?
Is AI really science, or just hi-tech number crunching?
Read the full article