President has repeatedly ousted leaders of independent agencies despite federal laws meant to shield those regulators from politics.

An emerging field of history asks if we can ever really understand how our forebears experienced love, anger, fear, and sorrow.

How an outsider, once ignored by the public-health establishment, became the most powerful man in science

The Thanksgivings of yore featured overcooked turkeys and Jell-O salad. Surely we’ve evolved.

The democratic party is falling behind while Trump accelerates technology innovation. Related: The surprising issue driving a wedge between Trump and his MAGA base

Government-spec’d glory projects produce tech demos. Enduring progress demands a better way forward. Counterpoints KEY TAKEAWAYS OF FIRST LINK ABOVE: In this op-ed, Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic, argues that government-led “glory projects” ultimately hurt the aerospace industry they were meant to advance. He writes that both the Apollo and Concorde programs chased prestige over practicality, producing technological marvels with no sustainable path forward. Scholl belie

Before we can build the future, we have to imagine it. KEY TAKEAWAYS In this op-ed, Beatrice Erkers argues that progress begins with culture: the stories, symbols, and shared visions that make certain futures feel worth building. She explores how cultural forces like memes and movies act as “invisible infrastructure,” shaping technology, policy, and ambition long before they materialize in the real world. According to Erkers, we must deliberately invest in a culture of hope —

New special issue “The Engine of Progress” is out now.

New devices navigate without satellites or risk of enemy jamming signals Quick Summary Scientists are exploring the use of quantum sensors as a secure alternative to GPS with military and civilian applications. A recent test involved a device that shines lasers at atoms that behave like compass needles. GPS signal jamming and spoofing has become commonplace, leading scientists to explore the quantum properties of atoms to aid navigation in contested environments.

The NIH is picking up Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s argument that a healthy immune system can keep even pandemic germs at bay. Related

Your brain does some weird stuff. Neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains the surprising science behind these everyday mysteries.

These expert-recommended books reveal how big ideas can shape — and sometimes redefine — human progress.

The General Atomics linkup is a first for the Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft effort.

Energy constraints in the artificial-intelligence race are causing tech companies to think out of this world

This week, we search for the answer to a deceptively simple question: why is the brain divided? Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist explains why popular distinctions between the “left brain” and “right brain” aren’t supported by research. He argues that one hemisphere has come to shape Western society — to our detriment.

In this excerpt from the new book ‘Speak Data,’ the Wharton professor and best-selling author shares his thoughts on how we interpret and communicate information

Qasem Waleed is a 28-year-old physicist who has lived in Gaza his whole life. In 2024, he joined a chorus of Palestinians sharing videos and pictures and writing about the chaos and violence they were living through, as Israel’s military bombardment devastated their lives. But Qasem was trying to describe his reality through the lens of the most notoriously confusing and inscrutable field of science ever, quantum mechanics. We talked to him, from a cafe near the Al-Mawasi sec

America holds a sizable lead, but China is working to tip the scales with a sweeping countrywide push, betting ‘swarms beat the titan’ Related Related 2 Related 3 Related 4 Related 5 Related 6 Related 7

What if the first search for life beyond Earth actually succeeded?

Soft batteries and water-walking robots are among the many creations made possible by studying animals and plants.