Let's protect science, from science
The current national public debate on scientific work raises challenges that invite deep and critical reflection on how we value and measure knowledge generation. For most of us who work in science, the process of knowledge generation culminates in a prized scientific publication. Getting an article published in […]
From the mystery of the kaons to the enchantment of the quarks: the legacy of Mary K. Gaillard
A few weeks ago, I learned of the passing—in May of this year at the age of 86—of Mary K. Gaillard, a titan of theoretical particle physics, the field that describes and predicts what happens to matter inside atoms and what exists there. Today we understand that there is a force that […]
Beauty that breaks the symmetry of the cosmos
Our universe is made primarily of matter, not antimatter. We are made of atoms, not anti-atoms. However, antimatter does exist. Ever since Paul Dirac wrote a famous equation in 1928 that treats space and time in the same way (combining Einstein's Special Relativity with Quantum Mechanics), we have anticipated […]
How muons science girls
Muons are elementary particles similar to the electrons in our atoms. But they are not found in atoms. They rain down on us like a cascade of particles from the sky, generated by the interaction of cosmic rays (such as high-energy protons) with our atmosphere. They are little-known particles, but they are abundant. There are almost 200 […]
Chile's arrival at CERN
Recently, national media have highlighted the news that CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has accepted Chile as one of its associate member states. CERN is currently home to the most sophisticated experiment exploring the limits of subatomic scales, the Large […]