Philip Ball
12 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 article09 October 2024
Should science be free from politics?
Scientific American magazine has endorsed Kamala Harris, but many in the science community have their concerns
Read the full article02 October 2024
Is AI ready for Nobel prize season?
As Nobel season approaches, speculation has begun in the scientific community
Read the full article25 September 2024
How to become invisble
The military’s investment in the technologies of invisibility should be a cause for concern
Read the full article18 September 2024
Are we ready for the future of IVF?
The ethical issues surrounding these developments are about far more than safety
Read the full article11 September 2024
Giant steps are what we take with water on the moon
China’s Chang’e-5 mission has fuelled a new lunar race after it brought back a sample of rock apparently containing water
Read the full article04 September 2024
Will there ever be a nuclear fusion breakthrough?
Fusion won’t arrive soon enough to solve global warming but it could become a commercial reality in the second half of the century
Read the full article28 August 2024
Critical Mass: Can humans be modified to live in space?
The exploration of genetic modification for space travel raises ethical questions about altering human biology
Read the full article21 August 2024
The moral dilemmas of embryo models
The UK’s regulator, HFEA, is having to grapple with the scientific, ethical and even philosophical challenges associated with synthetic embryo research
Read the full article07 August 2024
Critical Mass.. on Imane Khelif
The furore surrounding the Algerian boxer, who may have Swyer syndrome, highlights complex issues around gender and sport
Read the full article31 July 2024
Critical Mass.. on pandemics
The Covid inquiry report has exposed the systemic failures in the UK’s pandemic response
Read the full article24 July 2024
Critical Mass.. on science
In TNE’s new column, science writer Philip Ball provides news and analysis from scientists, policymakers and the frontiers of human knowledge
Read the full article