Ask Ethan: Why do scientists avoid the possibility of God? - Big Think

Schematic of an observational experiment using an X-ray free-electron laser to study the plasma formation dynamics of a microscale rod assembly target under a high-intensity femtosecond laser. Credit: National Institute for Fusion Science Understanding instabilities and turbulence in plasmas is one of the key challenges across a wide range of plasma research fields, including nuclear fusion, astrophysics and laser-plasma physics. In plasmas, slight disturbances can grow due to instabilities, and energy is transferred between structures of various sizes due to turbulence. These phenomena give rise to structures ranging from very small to large, which significantly influence the overall motion and energy flow of the plasma.

An ideologue should hate paleontology. It is always turning up something new. And sometimes the new stuff is really inconvenient. At one time, Neanderthal man was our dumb cousin. His stupidity caused him to lose the Darwinian battle for survival. National Geographic had the story back then.

This is the sound of our solar system's giants. By converting astronomical data into audio, we can now 'listen' to Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. This process, called sonification, translates light detected from the planets into unique and ethereal soundscapes.

While these grainy, black-and-white images might not look like much today, they were a huge deal at the time.

Chen and his team pioneered an innovative "negative-curvature interface" strategy in alloys. The graphic illustrates how negative-curvature interfaced nanoprecipitates harden the novel microstructures of the designed alloy. Credit: Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-74629-1 Metallic materials used in extremely cold environments must maintain high strength, ductility and fracture toughness to support applications in aerospace, clean energy, superconducting systems and deep-space exploration. However, traditional alloys often suffer performance degradation at ultralow temperatures because of the long-standing trade-off between strength, ductility and toughness. Although metals may become stronger at lower temperatures, they can also become more brittle and prone to fracture.

Weighted mean FO for the 230 species in our models. Credit: Biology Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2026.0079 What seabirds eat might seem like a good starting point for identifying species that tend to accumulate plastic in their digestive systems. Yet a recent global analysis suggests that mapping the evolutionary relatives of birds could offer better clues than their diets or feeding methods alone.