SCIENCE is under assault. In the US and throughout the world, rhetoric about evolution, stem cells, global warming and other controversial and cutting-edge technologies often transcends legitimate ...

Scientists and storytellers alike agree—Diwali’s glow is more than symbolic, it measurably lifts moods, strengthens communities, and connects cultures worldwide. As autumn nights grow longer, a glow ...

This essay is part of Demystifying the Mind, a special report on the new science of consciousness. The next installments will appear in the February 25 and March 10 issues of Science News. When ...

The periodic table stares down from the walls of just about every chemistry lab. The credit for its creation generally goes to Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian chemist who in 1869 wrote out the known ...

As the semanticist S.I. Hayakawa stressed in his classic book Language in Thought and Action, words are not the things they represent. Words are symbols. It’s the manipulation of those symbols that ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

The barrage of symbols and health claims on food these days may leave consumers confused about which products are truly good for them. To help clear this confusion, federal agencies should develop a ...

A classic symbol of winter’s chill, rows of icicles hanging dramatically off roofs and trees show off the simple artistry of nature. But there’s more to them than their fleeting beauty: Icicles are ...

The National Academy of Sciences added a “foreign associate” to its goodly company: Russian physicist Peter Kapitza, Hero of Socialist Labor. He was worthy of the honor. Besides a monster string of ...