Author: Roxana Scopa

The remarkable science that helped me understand what it means to be a physicist.

The biochemist explains the elements of life, sex, and aging.

The increasingly complex border between science and society is changing both.

Moving from naive to purposeful practice can dramatically increase performance.

How the chili pepper got to China.

When you observe a solar eclipse—with great care, of course—what you see is a thin, red crescent outlining the blocked-out Sun and, extending beyond it, a stark white mane. This is the corona, an aura millions of miles thick of superheated plasma. It’s natural to assume the corona is cooler than the sun’s blazing surface. […]

The geometric rules behind fly eyes, honeycombs, and soap bubbles.

The Cambrian explosion of animal life now seems more like a whimper.

In May 2015, an official vote was held by the Oxford University Student Union about clothing policy. It was over whether to keep “subfusc,” a traditional uniform dating back to the mid-seventeenth century—comprised of a dark suit or skirt, black shoes, white shirt, and a white or black bow tie or ribbon—mandatory for exams. The […]