Philip Ball
14 October 2026
The plague? You’re more likely to die from the common cold
Yes, there was a case in Siberia, which is bound to cause alarm. But the real reason is why a Russian lab is studying the plague in the first place
Read the full article07 October 2026
The quantum algorithm that could crack the world
Back in the 1990s, the scientist Peter Shor devised a quantum computer algorithm that could undermine almost all digital security. Has its time come?
Read the full article30 September 2026
There is a word for this, and that word is ‘eugenics’
A company is offering a service that lets parents select the embryo they find most genetically acceptable. If you think this sounds sinister, that’s because it is
Read the full article23 September 2026
Why have scientists created a mouse with a human brain?
It sounds like a grotesque idea, and also a morally dubious one. What does a group of scientists at Stanford hope to achieve?
Read the full article16 September 2026
AI has made a genuine breakthrough
And this one really is a big deal – although, as with everything connected with the new technology, it comes with a healthy side-order of controversy
Read the full article14 September 2026
Apocalyptic AI fantasies are a stupid, annoying distraction from its real problems
The people who work in AI are not gurus and most of their predictions have been wrong. Working in the industry makes them less reliable commentators, not more
Read the full article09 September 2026
Has human kind just had its first glimpse of dark matter?
The equations say that something has to be holding all these galaxies together, or they’d just fly apart. That’s dark matter – has a new experiment finally found it?
Read the full article30 August 2026
What is the answer to life, the universe and everything? We asked AI…
A recent mathematical breakthrough by an AI model suggests that it can, but when it comes to questions of morality, empathy and inspiration, things start to look very different
Read the full article28 August 2026
Nathan Cofnas and the great free speech con
Those defending Jason Arday’s accuser consider themselves to be politically neutral defenders of academic values. They are deluded
Read the full article20 August 2026
The new Trump vaccine order could kill thousands of Americans
Trump knows nothing about science, and neither does his health secretary RFK Jr. Both are paranoid fantasists with no grasp of the facts – it could prove deadly
Read the full article14 August 2026
AI is designing viruses – what could possibly go wrong?
There needs to be much stricter controls on who can access the genetic data of viruses. AI is making that situation all the more urgent
Read the full article12 August 2026
The grotesque show trial of Anthony Fauci
The White House’s chief medical adviser was not perfect during Covid, but science must resist his persecution by conspiracy-deranged Republicans
Read the full article05 August 2026
Can Andy Burnham save Jodrell Bank, an icon of northern science?
It was an observatory so successful that the Soviets tried to assassinate its head scientist. If the government closes it now, it will complete the KGB’s work
Read the full article29 July 2026
The mystery woven into the Shroud of Turin
New DNA evidence cannot settle the centuries-old debate – in fact it adds another twist to one of history’s greatest mysteries
Read the full article22 July 2026
Bees are smarter than we ever imagined
Extraordinary new experiments suggest these remarkable insects may think and feel in ways we are only beginning to understand
Read the full article15 July 2026
Sorry Geoffrey Hinton, but AI isn’t conscious
The problem is that it’s impossible to separate what a brain does from what it actually is
Read the full article08 July 2026
Anish Kapoor’s dark matter
The Hayward Gallery’s new exhibition showcases artworks so black that they seem to undermine the very rules by which we perceive the world
Read the full article01 July 2026
What if we’ve got ultra-processed foods wrong?
Fresh analysis of dietary trials raises some awkward questions about UPFs and evidence-based science
Read the full article10 June 2026
How to save science from populism
Victor Orbán waged a war on science so fierce that it amounted to a political attack on knowledge itself. Now he’s gone, Hungary’s scientific recovery is a lesson for the world
Read the full article03 June 2026
Making Pluto Great Again
Jared Isaacman’s bid to restore Pluto’s planetary status looks less like science and more like populism in space
Read the full article27 May 2026
Ebola, USAID and how Musk’s spending cuts will kill millions
Decisions taken by the department he led to reduce aid to Africa have made the current Ebola outbreak worse. The total effect of what he did will be catastrophic
Read the full article22 May 2026
Robotaxis: a solution in search of a problem
Self-driving taxis are already on the streets and close to going into service. But are they simply an expensive gimmick?
Read the full article20 May 2026
Why science needs to talk about failure
Scientific breakthroughs often emerge from experiments that go wrong – but modern research culture rewards only success
Read the full article07 May 2026
Hantavirus: the disease with no vaccine
A fatal outbreak has occurred on a cruise ship after it docked in South America. There will be no new pandemic, but it’s a reminder of the lesson of Covid: that wild animal populations are awash with diseases we do not understand
Read the full article06 May 2026
Talking nonsense about Artemis II
There are a lot of stories circulating about the scientific benefits of space travel and of mining the lunar surface. A huge number of them are complete nonsense.
Read the full article29 April 2026
Could climate change bring malaria back to Britain?
The warming climate is pushing disease-carrying insects as far north as the Arctic – with unsettling implications for Europe
Read the full article22 April 2026
Do we really have a right to science?
The promise that everyone can benefit from science rings hollow in a world of inequality and exclusion
Read the full article15 April 2026
What was the point of the Artemis moon mission?
It’s clear what the Trump administration wanted – but what did anyone else get out of it?
Read the full article01 April 2026
The dangerous myth of ‘neutral’ technology
The notion that innovation is value-free conceals the political and ideological agendas behind it
Read the full article25 March 2026
Meningitis and the dark lessons of Covid
An outbreak of the disease in Kent highlights the importance of challenging the misleading stories that are beginning to emerge about Covid
Read the full article18 March 2026
Henrietta Lacks: Did scientists steal her cancer?
A woman in a US hospital had a sample taken of her cancer cells that went on to become the most important biopsy in all medicine. Is her family due compensation?
Read the full article11 March 2026
Were humans writing 40,000 years ago?
New research suggests that mysterious symbols carved by early humans may have functioned like a primitive writing system
Read the full article