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Conceptual illustration of cosmic rays with students in the background

Students become scientists on International Cosmic Day

10/01/24

Chris Patrick

Every November, students, teachers and scientists worldwide gather virtually to learn about Earth’s cosmic visitors.

04/01/08

Rare decays

Scientists search for rare decays to test their understanding of how matter behaves.

04/01/08

One more physicist goes to Congress

Upon becoming the third physicist in the 110th US Congress, Bill Foster called his election “a pretty successful experiment.”

02/01/08

In August 1982, Margaret Thatcher, then prime minister of the United Kingdom, paid a private visit to the European laboratory CERN. On her arrival she told Director General Herwig Schopper that she wanted to be treated as a fellow scientist.

02/01/08

Dating a saint

Two towns in Italy lay claim to relics from St. Francis of Assisi–pieces of clothing and an embroidered cushion from his deathbed.

02/01/08

Biking the snow away

After seeing a documentary on Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, in which men ate shoe leather to survive in bone-chilling temperatures, David Peterson felt kind of silly about letting snow stop his bicycle ride to work.

02/01/08

Czech kimono challenge

Tokio Ohska had an opera to direct. As always, there were lighting, scenery, and music issues to contend with. But finding costumes to fit a cast of Europeans? That was a new challenge.

02/01/08

Chateau Neuf du PEP

No one is able to claim credit for the ancient wooden sign that hangs on the porch of the old Positron Electron Project buildings at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

02/01/08

W boson

The W boson is a charged force-carrying particle that transmits the weak force.

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