A scientist, in a broad sense, is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word. Scientists perform research toward a more comprehensive understanding of nature, including physical, mathematical and social realms.
All stories in Scientist
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The forgotten woman who discovered the greenhouse effect
When did we first realize that we had the potential to warm our planet’s climate? You could go all the way back to 1827, ...
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Scientists used stem cells to create a new life-form: Organic robots
Straight out of the 1990s and the plot of Jurassic Park, a team of scientists have successfully created an entirely new life-form ...
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New archaeology findings are redefining human history faster than ever
In 1924, a 3-year-old child’s skull found in South Africa forever changed how people think about human origins. The ...
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Australian scientists need your help keeping track of exotic bees (please)
Bees get a lot of good press. They pollinate our crops and in some cases, make delicious honey. But bees around the world ...
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Remembering Stephen Hawking on his 78th birthday: A legacy of humanity
Stephen Hawking passed away on 14 March 2018. His work changed literally everything we know about the cosmos and our place ...
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Scientists explain why we (probs) won't rebel against totalitarian rulers
Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, described the horror of the authoritarian regime of Gilead. In this theocracy, ...
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Why tinnitus is still such a mystery to ear scientists
Despite the many groundbreaking medical advances of the last century, there are still some conditions that continue to perplex ...
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Israeli scientists discover how to trigger pancreatic cancer cells to self-destruct
Israeli scientists say a new study has shown that a small molecule called PJ34 has triggered the self-destruction of human ...
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[Best of 2019] NASA engineer says Viking missions discovered life on Mars in the 1970s
Gilbert Levin, a NASA engineer who worked on the Viking missions, says he's “convinced we found evidence of life of Mars ...
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[Best of 2019] Meet the scientist who thinks we all exist in multiple universes
The increasingly popular theory of Many Worlds suggests every fundamental event has multiple possible outcomes and splits ...
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Scientists were wrong, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is not dying
In the last 10 years, but in the last five months in particular, the press has reported dire warnings that the Great Red ...
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The rate of the universe's expansion is in dispute — but a new measurement offers hope
Advances in astronomical observation over the past century have allowed scientists to construct a remarkably successful model ...
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Decoding how some animals pause pregnancies could unlock new cancer treatments
Putting your pregnancy on pause until the time is right to give birth sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but for ...
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India may have another crack at soft landing on the moon in 2020
In Septemeber, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) tried to be a part of history by attempting a soft landing on ...
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Scientists discovered a galactic ghost — but there’s nothing paranormal about it
It’s a classic Halloween tale. A group of ghost hunters visit a grand old house that is rumoured to be haunted. But after ...
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New evidence shows an extraterrestrial collision may have kicked off the Earth’s rapid cooling 12,800 years ago
What kicked off the Earth’s rapid cooling 12,800 years ago? In the space of just a couple of years, average temperatures ...
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Something is killing galaxies, and scientists don’t understand why
In the most extreme regions of the universe, galaxies are being killed. Their star formation is being shut down and astronomers ...
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Scientist Alexander von Humboldt was v influential and v forgettable (sad)
Alexander von Humboldt sought to see and understand everything. By the time he drew his self-portrait at age 45, Humboldt ...
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Scientists are trying to build a conscious machine — here’s why it will never work
Many advanced artificial intelligence projects say they are working toward building a conscious machine, based on the idea ...
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How scientists detected water on a potentially habitable exoplanet for the first time
With more than 4,000 exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than our sun – discovered so far, it may seem like we ...
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Science needs myths and stories to keep it ethical
I can still remember the horror of discovering that everything I had worked on was wrong. I was a PhD candidate just starting ...
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Here's what the actual research says about the dangers of cannabis use
A research team parsed 68 current cannabis studies last year on behalf of the Canadian government. The goal was to determine ...
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Trump-appointed NASA head just declared Pluto a planet again
NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine – a politician who's probably seen one or two episodes of “Cosmos” – has officially declared ...
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Study: Either the Hubble Constant is wrong or the universe is ripping itself apart
The science community has a crisis on its hands. Some anarchist physicists recently started kicking the tires on the Standard ...
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Scientists at an aquarium just figured out how to save Florida's 'Great Barrier Reef'
Scientists in Florida may have just saved the the third largest coral reef on the planet. Florida Aquarium Senior Coral ...
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The internet's idiots are already trying to discredit Katie Bouman’s historic accomplishments
People online have pointed out how Bouman wasn’t the only one on the team or the only author of the research papers so ...
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Scientists think light and noise from Earth could attract aliens
Since the first use of electric lamps in the 19th century, society hasn’t looked back. Homes and streets are lit at all ...
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Forget qubits: Quantum physicists successfully teleported 'qutrits' in breakthrough experiments
Two independent research teams recently published studies indicating they've successfully teleported a qutrit -- possibly ...
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Scientist have made a contact lens that lets you zoom in by blinking
Scientists from the University of California, San Diego, have created a new robotic soft contact lens that lets you zoom ...
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How scientists could one day predict your memories
Do you remember your first kiss? What about your grandma dying? Chances are you do, and that’s because emotional memories ...
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Malaria won't be solved by feeding mosquitos sugar, researchers conclude
The teasing temptation of a sugary treat can often get the better of us. But don’t worry, we’re not the only ones. The ...
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The European Space Agency is building a ‘comet interceptor’ to uncover space secrets
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced yesterday that it's planning to make a 'comet interceptor' probe within the next ...
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Studying naked mole-rats could be the key to breakthroughs in treating pain and cancer
The naked mole-rat is perhaps one of the most bizarre beasts on the planet. At first glance, it looks like little more than ...
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How to read a scientific research paper
Welcome to TNW Basics, a collection of tips, guides, and advice on how to easily get the most out of your gadgets, apps, ...
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The Earth’s magnetic north pole is shifting rapidly, but the northern lights will stay where they are (for now)
Like most planets in our solar system, the Earth has its own magnetic field. Thanks to its largely molten iron core, our ...
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If you lose a body part, other bits get a sensory boost – thank you, brain
When you wake up in the middle of the night in total darkness, it can feel as if you have auditory superpowers. Suddenly, ...
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Scientists bio-hacked E. coli to create synthetic life
Escherichia coli, nobody's favorite dinner guest, just had the distinction of becoming the first living organism to have ...
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Game developers help NASA imagine what life in space will look like
NASA spent much of the 20th century commissioning painters and illustrators to imagine the future of space exploration. When ...
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Scientists: Earth might be ripped apart by gravity when the Sun dies
If it weren’t for the sun constantly showering us with energy, there would be no life on Earth. But eventually stars like ...
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Methane 'smelt' on Mars... but who dealt it?
The discovery of life on Mars would get pretty much everyone excited. But the scientists hunting for it would probably be ...
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Research: Humans can sense the Earth’s magnetic fields (just like bees)
Do human beings have a magnetic sense? Biologists know other animals do. They think it helps creatures including bees, turtles ...
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Science, like art, often begins with creativity and imagination
I don’t know why it took so long to dawn on me – after 20 years of a scientific career – that what we call the “scientific ...
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Humans have completely destabilized land animal diversity
Species living on land make up 85 percent to 95 percent of all biodiversity on Earth today. This is especially impressive ...
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China’s scientific achievements are surrounded by secrecy – but this could change
China’s recent scientific achievements – including its embryo gene-editing research and historic moon landing – appear ...
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The hidden secrets of insect poop
Insect defecation may not seem like one of the pressing scientific inquiries of our time, but in fact the faeces of these ...
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Study: Bizarre 'dark fluid' with negative mass could dominate the universe
Negative masses are a hypothetical form of matter that would have a type of negative gravity – repelling all other material ...
